Starting with a sweep Orioles 2 at Twins 7 April 4th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
You can’t ask for a better start to the season than a 3-game sweep at home. For the most part, the Orioles were a pretty unimpressive team in all aspects, so I’m not ready to predict a 100 win season just yet. It was encouraging to see a quality start from Boof Bonser on Tuesday night and now Ramon Ortiz on Wednesday night. The real test will come in the next two games with Carlos Silva and Sidney Ponson
It was pretty much smooth sailing for Ortiz until he allowed a triple and a double to start off the sixth inning. He got out of the inning with just two runs allowed and it was nice that he was able to go seven and give the bullpen a break. There were some hard hit ball off Ortiz in the game and at least one warning track shot. Most of his outs were the result of fly balls, but that’s no surprise–Ortiz has always been a flyball (and homerun) pitcher.
The Orioles were really hoping for Jaret Wright to have a turnaround year, but tonight was definitely not a good one for Wright. He was pulled in the third after allowing six runs. His biggest problem was the 5 walks he allowed. Combine the walks with the three errors the Orioles made and it was a pretty easy win for the Twins.
Game Notes
- The last time the Twins started out 3-0 was in 2001.
- Michael Cuddyer knocked in three hits before leaving the game with a cut on his chin. Tyner took over and had 1 hit in two at bats.
- Jason Bartlett made a throwing error for his second error on the year.
- Joe Nathan was absent from the game due to the birth of his second child, a girl. Fortunately, he wasn’t needed in the ninth.
- Luis Castillo and Joe Mauer each continued their good starts with 2 hit nights. Mauer also reached base on a walk.
- Torii Hunter says he’s healthy, but it’s been clear this series that he’s not the same center fielder he was a couple years ago. He’s still the best outfielder we’ve got though.
Coming up
The Twins will take Thursday off before heading to Chicago for an Easter weekend series. The White Sox are off to an 0-2 start. I’ll have a full series preview coming up Thursday night or Friday.
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