Adam Loewen evens his record at 4-4 with the win. Chris Ray gets his 29th save.
Loewen pitched an absolute gem, going 8 innings and only giving up 4 hits and 1 run. He struck out 7 and didn’t walk anybody, which is probably the most impressive thing. He retired the last 20 batters he faced and did it all in 108 pitches. It would’ve been nice to see him go for the complete game, but I can’t argue with what went down. And its not like he shut down the Kansas City Royals, the Twins have a pretty god lineup. So I’ve been very impressed with Loewen lately and the future looks promising with Loewen, Bedard, Cabrera, Penn, etc. LaTroy Hawkins came in and promptly diminished his trade value by walking 2, giving up a hit and 2 runs. Chris Ray came in and struck out the only hitter he faced to get the save.
And speaking of the future looking promising, how about Nick Markakis last night? In his first at bat, he hit a homerun. In his second at bat, he hit a homerun. In his third at abt, he hit a homerun. In his fourth at bat, he got out… But he did end the night with 3 solo homeruns. So that give Nick 6 homeruns in 6 games since being moved up in the lineup. And his 9th, 10th, and 11th on the season. The offense was full of homeruns as Brian Roberts hit his 7th and Corey Patterson hit his 13th. Jay Gibbons had 2 hits including a double and Miguel Tejada had 2 singles. Jeff Conine and Ramon Hernandez were the only hitless O’s.
Markakis watch: 3-4 (.306)
Tonight, its Rodrigo Lopez’ (9-12, 6.03) turn to shine on the mound. He’ll be going up against Matt Garza (0-2, 11.74). I think it might be a high scoring affair tonight. Go O’s.
