Looks like Tillman...

[Rising O's]

Doesn't look tired though he did look to struggle a bit, could be a bit of fatigue.

[dan72]

Looking good today, mixing pitches well, good velocity. Finally Tillman gives us a look at what he can do. He must be tired of bus rides and cheap hotels.

[ofahn]

He must be tired of bus rides and cheap hotels.

Wouldn't you?

[Jordan Tuwiner]

I wonder if Buck will allow him to start the Eighth?

Nice choice to let him. Not surprising that Betemit just forced him to throw extra pitches.

[Rising O's]

Thanks Wilson, nice and easy 1-2-3 extended.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

I wonder if Buck will allow him to start the Eighth?

Nice choice to let him. Not surprising that Betemit just forced him to throw extra pitches.

Great response from Tillman with that 3 pitch strikeout. Nasty curveball.

[ofahn]

I wonder if Buck will allow him to start the Eighth?

Nice choice to let him. Not surprising that Betemit is about to make him throw extra pitches.

Well, NOW we get to see what he's made of. Tired and pitching to batters he shouldn't have to. Character time.

[ofahn]

Three pitch K. Color me impressed.

[Rising O's]

But CT comes through with the K of Ichiro. Really great game for CT. 1 hit, 2BB 6K

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Man, Tillman's just blowing his fastball by these guys. Maintaining his velocity really well, too.

[Rising O's]

Great to see him still hitting 95 but really what is the point of this? Is he going to throw 135 pitches Buck?

[Rising O's]

Great outing, good win, shame he ends up giving up an ER. 125 pitches.

[OriolesRedskins28]

Man am I getting tired of this "defense". It's embarrassing. Nobody can play third and Andino has been sloppy at second this year, something needs to be done. Tillman was forced to throw way too many pitches because of the defense. I had no problem with leaving him out for the 9th, he was doing fine other than the Andino error that put more pressure on him and made him throw extra pitches.

Overall outstanding start by Tillman. Excellent balanced and repeatable delivery with fantastic fastball command and velocity (he hit 97 twice in the 9th!).

I thought he had a little bit of trouble locating his curveball for the majority of the start and out of all the changeups he threw I only saw a few that I really liked.

It seemed as though Wieters was having him work on his offspeed pitches in the 7th and 8th and I think that was a great idea. It didn't seem like he had them working all that well earlier in the start and the fact that he was still dominant is a great sign.

Some reasons to not get overly optimistic:
-It was one start.
-It was against the Mariners in Seattle.
-He had a couple extra days of rest which may have been one of the reasons his velocity was THAT good.
-His offspeed stuff was good but he had trouble locating them.

I am not happy at all he had to throw so many pitches, but I don't blame Buck at all. Completely on Andino, that play should have been made and it's getting really old. It goes back to Matt P's post on the defense, having this joke of a defense behind them puts a lot of pressure on the pitchers and forces them to make extra outs.

[birdwatcher55]

My thoughts:
-- Aaron Cook shutout Seattle on 81 pitches recently.
-- Seattle is a an awful team.
-- Tillman pitched great but we need to keep things in context with my above points.
-- I would have pulled him after 8. No need to pile 120 plus pitches on him.
-- Buck had a lousy series managing his bullpen.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

My thoughts:
-- Aaron Cook shutout Seattle on 81 pitches recently.
-- Seattle is a an awful team.
-- Tillman pitched great but we need to keep things in context with my above points.
-- I would have pulled him after 8. No need to pile 120 plus pitches on him.
-- Buck had a lousy series managing his bullpen.

While what you say is true, just watching the game you can see the improvements. He was spotting his fastball and changeup to both sides of the plate really well and his curveball had good depth. He held his velocity -- 96, 97 mph -- deep into the start and even got a good share of ground balls. He also surely will leave the ball park feeling relieved and confident.

He passed the first test. Now let's see what he can do against a better team.