W – Chris Tillman (1-3)     L – Cliff Lee (8-4)

What a difference a couple of weeks make. Chris Tillman looked like a different pitcher out there last night, more like the top prospect that hes been coming up the minor league system. He had much better command of his fastball, his velocity was back to normal, he was throwing his curveball for strikes, mixing up his pitches, and showed off his new cut fastball on a few occasions. He carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning but that hope was ended when Ian Kinsler grounded a seeing eye single into left field. Tillman bounced right back and retired the next two batters. He came out for the 8th and you could tell he was tiring. He gave up an unearned run when Adam Jones played a line drive single into center into a triple as it bounced off his leg and rolled towards the wall and then a wild pitch allowed the runner to score. Tillman came back and retired the next batter before being replaced, leaving his line at 7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 3 K. He didn’t strike out many guys but thats alright when you command the zone as well as he did. Hes typically been a flyball pitcher throughout his career but he got 11 outs on the ground last night, compared to only 7 through the air. If he can keep that up he’ll be fine. At 22 years old theres still room to improve and reach his full potential. Will Ohman came in and got both left handed hitters he faced out to end the 8th inning. David Hernandez pitched a scoreless 9th but not before giving up two singles. He also struck out a pair of batters.

The offense spoiled Cliff Lee’s Rangers debut after the big trade on Friday and it started right away in the 1st inning. Corey Patterson led off with a double after his late inning heroics Friday night and scored on Miguel Tejada’s single into right field. Then we busted out the long ball in the middle innings. Nick Markakis led off the 4th inning with a solo homerun, Cesar Izturis of all people knocked one out in the 5th – a solo shot, and Adam Jones crushed a two run bomb to dead center field after Ty Wiggington singled in the 6th. We added an insurance run in the 9th. Jones led off with a single and moved to third on a Jake Fox single. Craig Tatum hit into a double play but it allowed Jones to come in and score. The Orioles finally busted through against Lee as hes been very effective against us in the recent past. The fact that the Orioles were able to come into Texas and beat the Rangers in the first three games of the series is pretty impressive. Texas has been playing good ball and was sitting on top of the AL West by five and a half games coming into the series.

Player of the game: Chris Tillman – 7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 3 K, W (1-3) (5.64 ERA)

The Orioles will try to finish off the sweep this afternoon. The hope rests on Jake Arrieta’s (2-2, 4.96) shoulders to follow up Chris Tillman’s great outing. CJ Wilson (7-4, 3.24) pitches for Texas.

W – Jason Berken (2-1)     L – Dustin Nippert (3-4)     SV – Alfredo Simon (12)

Well that was exciting. The Orioles are making a habit of dramatic endings to games. We don’t win often, but when we do its usually exciting. After falling behind early 4-0 the offense cut the Texas lead in half in the middle innings. Nick Markakis led off the top of the 4th with his 27th double of the season and scored on Ty Wiggington’s RBI single. In the 5th Matt Wieters led off with a single and advanced to third on Scott Moore’s double but not before pulling up lame with a hamstring injury. Thats not what this team or Wieters needs right now as he was starting to get in a groove at the plate. Hopefully its not too serious. Craig Tatum replaced him and scored on Corey Patterson’s RBI single. After giving two runs back in the bottom of the 8th we entered the 9th inning down 6-2. Adam Jones and Tatum singled and then Moore walked to load the bases. After Josh Bell struck out as a pinch hitter it was up to Patterson. On a 2-2 pitch he crushed a grand slam into the upper deck to tie the game in dramatic fashion. After a pitching change Miguel Tejada singled, Markakis doubled again, and Wiggington walked to reload the bases but Jones grounded out to end the threat. In the 10th Jake Fox led off with a solo homerun to complete the comeback and give us our first winning streak since sweeping the Nationals. Felix Pie strained his quad muscle on a swing when he grounded out in the 6th inning. Not sure how serious it is but its becoming quite worrisome how often Pie hurts himself. Hes full of talent but he has to be able to stay on the field to be of any use to the club.

Brian Matusz must hate pitching in Texas. His worst start of the year came here earlier in the season and he struggled again last night. After scoreless 1st and 2nd innings Matusz lost his way a bit. After getting the leadoff batter to groundout, back to back singles preceded a Vladimir Guerrero three run homer. He struck out Josh Hamilton but then loaded the bases, giving up a single, a double, and a walk. Another walk with the bases loaded pushed the Rangers lead to 4-0. He got out of the inning but didn’t come back out for the 4th inning. He finished with 3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. Maybe they were worried about him throwing too many pitches in the 3rd but I would’ve let him go back out there and see if he could turn it around. Instead Matt Albers came into the ballgame and he did a very good job. He pitched three scoreless innings and turned it over to Koji Uehara for the 7th. Koji pitched a scoreless inning and started the 8th but came out after an error by Miguel Tejada put the lead off batter on first. Will Ohman came in and gave up a double to the first batter he faced and then a sacrifice fly to make it a three run disadvantage. Frank Mata came in next and another error and then an intentional walk loaded the bases. Another sacrifice fly made it 6-2 before Mata ended the inning. You can’t give teams five outs. Jason Berken pitched a scoreless 9th and Alfredo Simon shut the door in the 10th to give us the win.

Player of the game: Corey Patterson – 4-5, R, 5 RBI, BB, double (10), HR (5) (.292 AVG)

Tonight Cliff Lee (8-3, 2.34) makes his Rangers debut tonight. He’ll face Chris Tillman (0-3, 8.40), called up from AAA Norfolk today.