By Roch Kubatko on Saturday, April 30 2011
Category: Orioles

A few observations (updated)

Not to keep comparing Matt Wieters to Jake Fox behind the plate, but Adam Jones' throw to the plate in the sixth easily beat Alexei Ramirez. However, Fox couldn't hold onto the ball, and Alex Rios was credited with a sacrifice fly that cut the Orioles' lead to 2-1. Pretty gutsy of manager Buck Showalter to bring in left-hander Michael Gonzalez with the bases loaded and no outs. Gonzalez should have been back in the dugout without a run scoring. Gonzalez struck out two and induced a fly ball to medium center field. You have to give him props, no matter how much you're down on him. While checking some stats earlier today, I noticed that Robert Andino was batting .333 with no home runs or RBIs. Now he has one home run and one RBI. Andino took Philip Humber deep in the third inning to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead. It should be interesting to see how the Orioles make room for shortstop J.J. Hardy when he comes off the disabled list. Andino isn't going anywhere unless the club is overwhelmed with a trade offer. Chris Tillman was lifted after loading the bases in the sixth. He's charged with one run in five-plus innings, with six hits, two walks and no strikeouts. He threw 88 pitches, 48 for strikes. Tillman is still working on being a strike-thrower, but he had six hitless innings at Tropicana Field in the second game of the season, and he hadn't allowed a run tonight as he walked off the mound in the sixth. Update: I didn't mention the diving stop that Andino made to start a crucial double play. I will mention how he just scored from second base on a passed ball in the eighth. Brian Roberts reached first base after striking out - where have I seen this happen before? - and Andino kept motoring as A.J. Pierzynski bounced a throw to first. Could Andino be a nugget?
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