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Afternoon, everyone. Here are photos from the Orioles' victory last night. Well, if some the photos look a little grainy and funny, I goofed on the camera settings last night and left the ISO a tad too high.

Tried to edit some of the photos the best I could, but enjoy!

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Last night had to be one of the more impressive games I’ve seen from the Orioles in quite a while.

They defeated the Detroit Tigers last night to take two out of three contests during the game series, 9-5.

I went to the game last night in person and it was cold, chilly and there didn’t seem to be much of a crowd out there; however, it was a fun time by all and saw a great win by Baltimore.

The Orioles had to come back from three deficits in order to up their record to 5-1 and take sole possession of first place in the AL East.

The Orioles used a five-run seventh inning in which they batted around the lineup to come back and down the Tigers.  They would jump all over the Tigers bullpen and decide the game from there.

Vladmir Guerrero – who had a homer in the second inning – drove the tying run in the seventh inning with a single (after Roberts and Markakis reached base). Moments later, Mark Reynolds had a two-run double that helped put away the game for good.

I just find Vladmir Guerrero amazing, but it irks me that he swings on the first pitch … so often. I know his ability to hit pitches that he has no business swinging at made him a legend, but still…

Cesar Izturis – who was in the game due to J.J. Hardy being scratched out of the lineup – drove in a run during the 5-run seventh.

Adam Jones finally got out of his slow start as he hit a monstrous two-run homer to left in the sixth, drove in three runs and had a critical bunt in the game.

Good thing he was in the lineup. Considering he was not going to play until Buck Showalter penciled him in, the Orioles should be happy with the decision.

The offense bailed out starting pitcher Chris Tillman, who only lasted 4 2/3 innings after his impressive showing in Tampa. He looked good at times during the game – especially in the second and third innings – however, he was not efficient at all with his pitches.

It was painful to watch him in the first inning, and I think he needed some thirty-or so pitches to get out of the frame. Tillman gave up two runs in the first inning and in the fifth.

He left the game with the Tigers up 4-2 in the fifth inning.

Jim Johnson earned the win, throwing 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Brad Thomas took the loss for the Tigers, giving up the winning run; meanwhile, Brad Penny, who started for Detroit on the mound, went 5 1/3 innings and left the game after Jones’ homer in the sixth.

They have won their second series of the year and that was not accomplished until May of last season.

What a difference a year makes. Yes, there are only 156 games to go.

As we are learning, there are no easy outs on the Orioles. The Tigers learned that last night.

Finally, there was a crazy play in last night’s game.

In the fourth inning, with a runner on base, Tiger DH Victor Martinez hit a long drive to the gap in the right field; however, Adam Jones ran down the ball – I would say he raced a good forty feet – and seemingly caught it in his glove.

At least from what could from where I sat last night -- which was a good 375 feet away from the action.

However, based on various TV replays, the ball hit the top of his glove and was airborne as he hit the wall.

Then, the ball bounced off the wall and Nick Markakis retrieved it without hitting the ground.

Of course, the fans at the park didn’t have the benefit of replay, so it was a total guess at the time as to what happened. We all saw Jim Leyland come out to argue his case and from there you know something was sketchy.

The umpire called Victor Martinez out when he should have gotten at least a double.

Good for the Orioles.

They have a tough series this weekend as the Texas Rangers -- the American League Champions -- started three games series this weekend.

On Friday, Colby Lewis of the Rangers takes on Oriole rookie Zach Britton in his first start at Camden Yards.

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Last week, I did an interview live with the Pulse Network out of Boston about the Orioles 4-0 start.

The interview lasts about 15 minutes and hope you enjoy.

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Thanks to the hot start by the Baltimore Orioles, they have recieved a considerable amount of attention on the national stage. Of course, they will keep continuing to get it -- if they win.

However, if they start losing or begin to resemble a squad that is reminsicent of the past 13 years, then obviously one outside the Mid-Atlantic region will care.

That being said, most of the pundits out there are not only noticing the the Orioles' improved pitching, defense and clutch hitting, but they are giving much of the credit to one man.

Buck Showalter.

It’s safe to say right now that Buck Showalter is the public and yes, marketing face for the Orioles. He been seen in commericals for MASN, his mug is all over Baltimore, whether it's outside the warehouse or on a billboard; moreover, he probably got the loudest cheers of anyone during Opening Day.

He calls out his rivals in the media and the Oriole fans love it.

We all know his track record with the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers. He made them into winners, although he never managed in a World Series with any of them. However, both New York and Arizona won a championship not too long after he left them.

Now, he's trying to do the same thing for the Orioles.

Showalter had a considerable aura over the Orioles over final two months of the 2010 season. Think of it, the Orioles were a horrible team – close to being historically so, until Showalter showed up.

Now, even though Showalter had pretty much the same talent that both deposed managers Dave Trembley and Juan Samuel had; however, I think he shook up the players -- to an extent.

Really, while Showalter’s record with the Orioles was impressive, the team's play could be attributed to some of the players performing well above their norms, a healthy roster - the return of Brian Roberts, Koji Uehara (very critical), Gonzalez - in addition, to the starting pitching performing much better halted a train wreck. Also, the batters seemed to have a plan at the plate and hit much better in the clutch, plus in key situations in game.

In addition, a lot of base running gaffes we saw under Trembley and Samuel seemed to decrease greatly under Showalter.

They looked prepared to play games after August and the record shows that.

Let's hope the Orioles keep it up. 

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The Orioles, who started off the season 4-0 heading into tonight, lost to the Detroit Tigers, 7-3.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards was not packed to the gills – in comparison to Monday – based on what I saw on MASN. It was a nice night out and kind of surprising not to see a larger crowd, especially after all the positivity of this week.

The crisp play that was part of the recipe for the Orioles in their first four games was not there on Wednesday.

Baltimore had to contend with Justin Verlander, who is one of the best in the business on the mound. They were able to score three times off of him, thanks to a 2-run homer by Derrek Lee in the fourth inning and an RBI single by Vladmir Guerrero in the sixth.

However, the Orioles were hoping for a decent start by Brad Bergesen.

According to the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec, he’s not thrown in a game since March 25^th.

It showed.

Really, he’s only starting because Jeremy Guthrie amazingly fell ill and was hospitalized.

This was Bergy’s chance to take the ball and deliver. The results didn’t go too well.

Bergesen went 3 2/3 innings and threw over 80 pitches in that time frame. He was charged four runs – two earned – on four hits; however, he was not helped by his defense. The bullpen was not much better either, honestly as they gave up three runs after Bergesen left the game.

Brian Roberts, usually one of the sure-handed fielders on the team, dropped or missed a pop-up to right field and it opened the flood gates to start a two-run second inning.

It was not good.

Mike Avila destroyed the Orioles tonight as he drove in five runs, including two off a double in the second inning, and then hit a two-run homer in the fifth.

It got uglier after Avila’s homer in the fifth inning. Oriole reliever Jose Rupe gave up back-to-back homers to Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez in a four-run, fifth inning.

Finally, it is funny to see Red Sox Nation squirm as their team right now is 0-5 to start 2011The Tampa Bay Rays are 0-5 as well. Then again, much of their team was stripped down and traded due to their financial reality.

I don’t think Boston will suck for much longer; however, their postseason hopes – based on their start right now – may be already up in smoke if historical trends are correct…

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If the baseball gods want to bless the city of Baltimore and their fans, they sure did.

Over the years, I’ve been going to Opening Day for years at Camden Yards and could never remember one in recent memory as nice as this.

It was summer in April.

As James noted yesterday – and you all know – the Orioles defeated the Detroit Tigers, 4-1.

Getting in and especially out of Downtown Baltimore, plus finding traffic was a pain yesterday; however, all things considered with the weather, plus a overwhelming crowd in orange and black – and not in Red Sox and Yankee gear – was a great thing to see.

The fact the Orioles also swept the Rays this weekend and the vibe of good feelings in the air brought a sold-out crowd en masse to Camden Yards.

Listening to the radio while drive into Baltimore from I-95, I heard a ton of clichés, hyperbole, metaphors and other stuff about the Orioles, plus Buck Showalter – especially after a three-game win streak with only 159 games to go, but I too was a happy man. I was honestly just glad to see baseball again live in and person.

For many of us, Opening Day is like a holiday or an important annual celebration, similar to an anniversary. Opening Day doesn’t quite have the same feel as the Super Bowl, or the NBA Finals, but it’s not an ordinary game in a long season.

It’s a day where hope is renewed and fans wish that their team starts off the season on a winning note.

That happened for the Orioles.

Futhermore, seeing former and two-time World Series manager throw out the first pitch along and seeing Buck Showalter catch it was a great moment. Once you add in the pagentry and optimism, Monday was something to remember.

Brian Roberts’ three-run homer made the difference in yesterday’s game in a four-run fifth inning for Baltimore. Matt Wieters also added an RBI-double in frame to put the Orioles up 5-1. He also scored the first run of the game as pitcher Rick Porcello – who took the loss – threw a wild pitch.

Yet another Oriole starting pitcher did their job well as Jake Arrieta threw six innings and only gave up a run.

Arrieta had a tough act to follow considering how well the pitching had done over the weekend against the Rays; however, he stepped up the mound on the home opener and did his thing.

The person who very much impressed me on the afternoon was Jason Berken. Now, he struggled a bit during Spring Training and is coming off injury; however, Berken brought it as he struck out three and threw two scoreless.

The two teams meet again Wednesday and Thursday.



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The Orioles won again today taking their home opener in front of a full-throated sell-out crowd at Camden Yards. Young starter Jake Arrieta looked fantastic against the Tigers today pitching six innings and scattering six hits only giving up one run. Brian Roberts remained hot hitting his second three-run homerun of the young season powering the Orioles to a seemingly easy 5-1 victory.

The game started with full emotion as Hall Of Fame manager Earl Weaver threw out the first pitch to current Orioles manager Buck Showalter. Until you have been to a game where Earl makes an appearance you simply do not understand what he means to this town. Jim Hunter strained to announce him over the din of the sell out crowd, a vast majoroty of which was in their seats for the opening festivities the hour before the start time. As Hunter began to talk the crowd noice maxxed out, I was a bit taken back by the emotion of the scene, I admit it I got a bit choked up.

I was sitting in section 381 with a full contigent of friends. We cheered ourselves hoarse. My friend Matt has developed cheers for each player to be recited at least once each game. What are those cheers, you may ask? Well that is for another post. It will take some time, just let it be known that you will hear these chants coming from section 334 all year. I danced, we sang, I'm beat sitting here at home.

The Orioles did not disappoint. The weather today was absolutely gorgeous but nothing is more beautiful than this team's start. Four wins against zero losses for the young season. The last time the Orioles started this strong was 1997 the year they won 98 games. I am not going to sit here and say that is in store for THIS Orioles team but if they keep playing like this they will start to convince me.

The Orioles have an off day tomorrow before resuming play on Wednesday. They will be doing it without Jeremy Guthrie who checked into a Baltimore hospital with a minor case of pneumonia. There is nothing to worry about as Guthrie will be out one week tops. Brad Bergesen will make the Wednesday start in his place.

The Orioles are 4-0, bask in that for awhile fans. They go for the series win on Wednesday I know I need a day to recover.

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This year, the blog is going to try and use Twitter to post thoughts, ramblings, pics from the festivities, game and whatever else from the home opener.

If you can't make it to the game because youre at work, busy or whatever, stop on by every once in a while to see what's going on. if you've got something to say or add, do so!

The game starts at 3:05 p.m. from Camden Yards.

The place is sold out today, so it should be a madhouse out there and a lot of fun!

Have a great time today if you're heading out the game this afternoon.