While the Orioles keep showing signs of life late in the season, the Ravens show their neighbors from Washington who is the better team. Buck still has the Orioles making progress and playing competitive ball. On the week, the O’s went 3-4 on the week, but split an impressive series with the AL West-leading Texas Rangers.
Who’s Hot
The O’s head out to take on the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Angels, which will be a tough series.
Congrats to Josh Bell who hit his first ML home run off Cliff Lee en route to the O’s 8-6 victory against Texas. For the week Bell hit .316 with those two home runs and five RBI. Luke Scott also connected for two homers on the week while hitting .333. Brian Matusz pitched a gem against the Rangers last week, pitching eight innings, striking out six and allowing only five hits. Special props go out to Nick Markakis for getting thrown out of his first major league game!
Who’s Not
Adam Jones and Cesar Izturis both went 3 for 21 on the week (.143 average if you’re keeping count) and combined to drive in a whopping one run. Matt Wieters also struggled on the week, hitting .200 going 4 for 20, but did seem to throw out runners left and right against Texas on Friday night. Jeremy Guthrie was roughed up for the first time in over five starts. Guthrie allowed five earned runs in eight innings pitched, which was the first time he had allowed more than three earned runs since July 8.
The Ravens are now 2-0 in their preseason after defeating the Washington Redskins 23-3 on Saturday. Backup quarterback Marc Bulger looked comfortable, completing 13 of 16 passes for 130 yards.
Starting QB Joe Flacco completed 9 of 16 passes for 72 yards, however the big story was a fake punt by the Ravens and safety Haruki Nakamura on a fourth-and-six play. Nakamura took the direct snap and ran 51 yards to the Redskins one-yard line before Willis McGahee punched it in for the score. The Ravens secondary also did well, picking off ‘Skins QB’s Donovan McNabb and Rex Grossman once each.
So far, one of the main stories this training camp for the Ravens is the injury bug. Ed Reed is still working on rehabbing his hip, and could be ready by opening day. Or not. Top cornerback Domonique Foxworth is out for the year and Baltimore’s top draft pick Sergio Kindle is out with a fractured skull. If Baltimore can stay out of injury trouble the rest of the way, there is a good shot the Ravens will be playing well into the winter.
