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Senators Split Double Header with Orioles |
Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
July 12, 2008. Baltimore, MD. -- Over the past week, the Vienna Senators have been living dangerously on the baseball diamond. Their offense has been silent early in games, and then when they are faced with impending defeat, they roar to life and storm back to steal a victory. So far, the Senators pitchers have been good enough for the team to get away with this Jekyll and Hyde offense. However, Saturday afternoon the Senators bats waited too long to awaken and the Senators dropped the second game of a double header to the Maryland Orioles East.
The Senators dropped the second game 4-3. The two teams were scoreless heading into the fifth inning. However, the Senators pitching couldn't keep the Orioles offense down the entire afternoon. Starter Clint Maune went four innings, and managed to escape unscathed. He allowed four hits and four walks, but was able to bear down when it counted. He stranded six Orioles runners in his outing.
In the fifth inning, Senators manager Chris Burr then turned to staff ace Richard Cary. Cary, who leads the Clark-Griffith League in wins, has been pitching out of the bullpen in his last few starts due to the numerous off-days the Senators have had recently. Cary didn't have his best stuff, and allowed four runs in his lone inning of work.
Orioles lead-off hitter Kieran Flannery started the inning with a hot shot down the third base line that skipped over the glove of Martin Parra. With the Orioles sensing that this could be their only opportunity of the day to score, Flannery was quickly sacrificed to second and subsequently pinch-run for. Back-to-back double from Kevin Lingerman and Ryan Rivers plated two runs. The deciding blow then came on a tow-run home run by hulking first baseman Kylin Sims to dead center field.
The Senators offense was clearly jolted awake, and realized that they were in danger of losing the game. The Senators quickly answered with a three-run home run from David Harris, after the first two batters of the inning reached. It appeared that the Senators were ready to come from behind again and steal another game.
However, the Orioles made a quick pitching change and managed to escape the inning without allowing any further runs. Orioles reliever Keith Fritz pitched through the teeth of the Senators lineup, allowing hits to Nick Kuroczko and Matt Goulas, but no runs.
After a scoreless bottom of the sixth from Senators pitcher Chad Johnson, Fritz came back out to work. The Senators hit the ball hard in the inning, but only Kevin Hall was able to record a hit. He singled sharply through the left side, but was then stranded when Harris grounded out to end the game.
“I can't really pinpoint anything for the slow starts,” said shortstop Seth Henry. “We're just trying to make adjustments throughout the game. We just didn't really swing it in the second game, and weren't successful in the situations that we should have been.”
In Game 1, the Senators offense again slumbered until the later innings. Senators Michael Graham matched zeroes with Orioles starter Kevin Lingerman through the first three innings. The Senators snatched the lead on just their second hit of the day, a Martin Parra home run to center field. They were able to reach Lingerman for one more run in the fifth inning, and he exited after that inning.
As soon as the Senators breached the Orioles bullpen, the flood gates opened. The Senators scored five runs in the final two innings to take a commanding 7-0 victory. David Harris had a two run home run in the seventh to put an exclamation point on the victory.
Graham followed up a strong outing last time out with six shutout innings. The only hit he allowed was an infield hit. He retired the last ten batters he faced.
“I came into this game thinking that I was going to do the exact same thing [as last time] and just throw strikes,” said Graham. “Getting ahead in the count is always the biggest thing for me, because if I don't throw that first pitch strike I really fall behind. If I just keep working hard, throwing strikes, and working on my slider, I should be throwing zeroes up there with the defense that we have.”
After a number of off days last week, the Senators now move into a crucial part of their schedule this week. In addition to playing five league games next week, the team also will travel to Luray to play a double header against two of the top teams in the country. The team, currently ranked #1 in the country, will play the 5 th ranked Luray Wranglers as well as the 11 th ranked Waynesboro Generals.
Andrew Struckmeyer
Vienna Senators