Jason Hammel has been the one guy the Orioles can hand the ball to and know, no matter what happened last night, or for the last two nights, or for the last week, good results are coming tonight. Wednesday night at Camden Yards, the wheels came off of the Orioles most reliable chariot, and the birds were embarrassed by the Angels, 13-1.
Hammel (L, 8-3) was torched early and often. Torii Hunter, the second batter he faced, launched a hanging curve into the seats in left. A two-out rally in the third, sparked by a pair of walks and a 2-run single by Kendrys Morales, made it 3-1. And the halos decided to quit toying with the Orioles ace and deliver the dagger in the fourth, scoring three more times before Hammel was lifted.
Matt Lindstrom entered with one-out, and runners on the corners. Hunter stole second, and Orioles catcher Matt Wieters threw behind rookie Mike Trout, stationed at third. But third baseman Wilson Betemit missed the throw, allowing Trout to score, and Hunter to move up to third.
Lindstrom then intentionally walked Albert Pujols, and Morales delivered another RBI hit, making it 8-1. An Albert Callaspo single to right plated Pujols, and it was a 9-1 laugher for the Angles.
The Angels scored two more in the fifth against Kevin Gregg, as Brian Roberts committed his first error of the season, allowing both runs to score. Two more would score for the Angels in the seventh, as reliever Darren O’Day gave up two doubles and a single.
The Orioles offense never could do much against halos starter Jared Weaver (W, 8-1) and two relievers. Adam Jones’ first inning double plated Chris Davis (whose single broke an 0-29 slump), to tie the game at 1, but that was all the birds would muster.
The Orioles will try to rebound from the two-game sweep as they welcome the Cleveland Indians to Camden Yards for the first time this year. The four-game set gets under way with Wei-Yin Chen (7-3, 3.38) facing Cleveland’s Zach McAllister (1-1, 3.96) Thursday night at 7:05.
The GOOD:
- JJ Hardy finally broke a 3-42 slump with a bloop hit in the fifth. That came after Trout robbed him of a homer to center field on an amazing leaping catch in the first. Hardy also scorched a liner that Erick Aybar jumped up to snatch, to start the third. Hardy also lined out hard to short Tuesday night, so perhaps he’s starting to shake the slump.
The BAD:
- Nick Johnson was pulled from the game with a sore right wrist. He’s had numerous surgeries on the wrist, and he has an MRI scheduled on it Thursday.
- Lindstrom’s return to the Orioles went less than swimmingly: 1ER, 2H, 1BB, 0K, in .2 innings (and both runners he inherited came in to score).
- The Orioles were 0-6 with runners in scoring position, and left 7 runners on base.
- Three more Orioles errors.
