Is the Orioles Magic Back?
The “Orioles Magic” hasn’t really shown its face this season, but last night, we finally saw some it. The best closer of the second half of the season was on the mound for the Red Sox, Koji Uehara. He had retired 37 straight batters and had thrown over 30 consecutive scoreless innings. But, with the score tied at 2, Danny Valencia lead off the 9th inning with a triple and Matt Wieters hit a sac fly to take a 3-2 lead. Jim Johnson shut the door in the bottom of the 9th for the 3-2 win.
Last season, the Orioles won 93 games. They cannot match that win total this season. The Orioles now have 80 wins on the season with 12 games to go. They remain 2 games out of the wild card. Texas and Tampa Bay are tied for both wild cards, while Cleveland is a 1/2 game behind. The have two more games against the Red Sox, four in Tampa Bay, and then home for three against Toronto and three against Boston. That is a tough end of the season schedule. If they want to make the playoffs, I think they need to win nine of the final 12 games. But they HAVE to win at least three of the four in Tampa.
Chris Davis – Orioles Home run King
Last night, Chris Davis became the first Oriole in history to hit more than 50 home runs in a season. His 51st dinger in the 6th inning put him on top of Brady Anderson, who hit 50 in 1996. A lot of people (even Orioles fans) put Anderson’s name in the discussion of PED’s, but not many O’s fans say that about Davis. He truly seems to go about things the right way to improve his game. With 12 games left, could he get to 55?
Valencia for permanent DH
I never would have imagined I’d be saying this… but could Danny Valencia be the Orioles offensive MVP for the second half of the season? He is now batting .320 with a .632 slugging percentage. He also had eight homers and 13 doubles.In September, he’s batting .405 with a .730 slugging percentage. And most importantly, he has come up with clutch hit, after clutch hit. The team traded for Michael Morse to be the permanent DH, but that hasn’t worked out, and Valencia has made the most of his opportunity.
Injuries
The Orioles have had a rotating door in the clubhouse for pitchers this year. And as it gets down to crunch time, it’s not getting better. Miguel Gonzalez tweaked his groin and will miss at least his next start. Bud Norris missed his last start with elbow tightness, but could start Saturday against Tampa. Darren O’Day has numbness and tingling in his fingers and has received two injections to try to help. He has been the O’s top reliever this year, but could stay sidelined a little longer. With all the injuries, the Orioles may have to turn to Tsuyoshi Wada to make his first start in a pennant race, or they could fall back to Zach Britton to start Saturday if Norris can’t go. That is not what any fan wants to hear.
Jim Johnson
It’ll be interesting to see what the Birds do with Johnson after this season. He is only the fifth pitcher in baseball history to record at least two consecutive season of 45 or more saves. But he also leads the league in blown saves this year. Will the team want to pay him the money he is due? They would if he can stop the late-inning scares, but I would say they will see what else is available.
