Fresh off vacation, the Advance Scout is back -- featuring the *sigh* Orioles. The Jays have gotten rather familiar with the O's, with a four-game set last week in Toronto preceded by a rain-shortened two-gamer at Oriole Park the week before. Once again, the singles-hitting Marylanders have the potential to jolt the Jays' playoff bandwagon unless the Jays pitchers stay in the strike zone.
None of the Orioles' starters will necessarily be an easy mark, but all are beatable. With the Red Sox and Yankees set to tangle this weekend, the Jays can gain plenty of ground with a big series.
On to the Advance Scout!
* Baltimore took a (Bird-) bath against the Senior Circuit, going just 5-13 in interleague play ...
* The Orioles' 17-inning defeat to the Phillies last Friday night was their longest game since an amazing 1-0 victory over the Brewers in 17 in September of 1974 ... "At least we went down fighting," said Mike Hargrove ... On getting swept by the Phillies: "The thing of it is, we played good baseball...The Phillies are a good ballclub. We don't have anything to be ashamed of" ... After his first loss to the Yankees: "You see progress in that we're hanging with the big boys...But we've got to progress to the point where we win these kinds of games" ...
* Jim Beattie and Peter Angelos have refused to make a decision whether to extend Hargrove's contract, which is in the fourth year of four ... Hargrove: "It's become more of a conscious thought, and it's not one of the easiest things I've ever had to deal with" ... Beattie: "[W]e're not ready at this point to move forward, making a decision one way or another...But the results are still 10 games under .500, and in the end, it's about winning ballgames" ...
* Incredible when you consider postseason play and Cal's "Streak Game," but the all-time Camden Yards attendance record now belongs to "Turn Back The Clock Night," July 28, 2003 ... Celebrating the 1983 World Series, teams wore throwback uniforms and a large contingent of Phillies fans cheered their team to victory ...
* Luis Matos has once again gotten hot ... He's hit in 10 of his last 11 games ... So has Jeff Conine ...
* Brian Roberts is even hotter ... He's 14-for-34 (.412) in his current seven-game hit streak ... Over that time, he's 5-for-5 on the basepaths with a triple ... The much-maligned arm of Tom Wilson faces another challenge ... Roberts' emergence has posed an interesting dilemma for the Orioles, who had planned on charging hard after Miguel Tejada in the offseason and dealing Roberts, leaving Jerry Hairston Jr. to play second ... But Hairston won't be back to prove his worth until September at the earliest ...
* After being horrible in May, Buddy Groom has held opponents scoreless in 9 of his last 10 outings ...
* Tonight's opponent, Jason Johnson, has been as consistent as the Orioles could have ever hoped ... He's yielded three or fewer earned runs in his last four starts ...
* Jay Gibbons is 8 for his last 16 (.500) ... His 420-foot bomb on Saturday night was the 30th home run in Camden Yards history to land on Eutaw Street ...
* B.J. Surhoff is on a 10-game hitting streak that would be an active 13-gamer had he not made an unsuccessful pinch-hitting appearance at Turner Field ...
* All-Star-to-be Melvin Mora is just 2 for his last 18 (.111), as he plays through pain ... He was hit by a Greg Maddux pitch on his right hand and continues to be plagued by soreness ... According to Mora, the more batting practice he takes, the weaker his hand gets ... He's been on anti-inflammatories over the last week ... But he did manage to hit his twelfth home run on Tuesday night ...
* Old pal Pat Hentgen faces the Jays tomorrow afternoon, and should be fired up ... He's on a career-worst five-game losing streak ... Interestingly, though, he earned a save with 3 2/3 hitless innings at Atlanta on June 22 ... He was roughed up for seven runs on nine hits and five walks in just five innings on Saturday ... "His motor was running a tick too fast tonight," said Hargrove of the excitable Cy Young laureate ... Pat himself was less charitable: "My location was terrible. It was a battle to hit my spots, and you can't do that at this level...I just pitched really poorly" ...
* Another ex-Jay, David Segui, is battling a sore knee and mired in a 6-for-43 slump (.140) ... He hasn't started since Friday ...
* Sir Sidney Ponson takes the mound Saturday, and he has sandwiched two shaky performances around his solid start at the Dome last week ... Ponson was surprised by a Karim Garcia home run after he admitted to attempting to "sneak a changeup" past the newly-acquired Yankee ...
* Beattie on Ponson: "If he wants $10 million a year for three years, it's probably not going to happen ...We're also trying to be realistic here...Sidney hasn't been a perennial 15-game winner. I don't care if it's a bad team or not. It's like we said in the offseason. We'll do something if the dollars make sense, and we're not paying Sidney like a No. 1 ace starter in the big leagues." ... The White Sox have been the most oft-rumoured trade suitor for the Aruban knight ... Ponson's retort: "Well, why do they keep calling me the ace of the staff? Then don't do it" ...
* B.J. Ryan has been a competent LOOGY, but has a ghastly 2.34 WHIP against righties ... He surrendered two inherited runs, to Ponson's detriment, on Monday night when he served up a three-run shot to Ruben Sierra ... Said Ryan: "Sidney's been great for us all year. I tried to pick him up and I didn't do my job" ...
* Good news: Brook Fordyce has five more hits through July 1 than he had in *all* of last year! ... Bad news: That's still only 35 hits ...
* Sunday's opponent, Rodrigo Lopez, battled through 6 2/3 against the Yankees to scatter 12 hits, allowing just one run ... "He pitched big when he needed to," said Hargrove; Lopez retired Jason Giambi in all four plate appearances ... He was much sharper at home than he was in getting rocked at SkyDome last Thursday ...
* Wounded in the 'pen: First, Willis Roberts has a partial tear of his right ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and will miss three weeks. He's been replaced by Hector Carrasco ...
* The Orioles reacquired Luis Lopez (the little middle-infielding one) from Colorado yesterday for a player to be named ...
* Next, Omar Daal went down with tendinitis in his rotator cuff ... Rick Bauer will be his replacement ...
* Testiest coaching staff in the majors? ... Pitching coach Mark Wiley was tossed for screaming about balls and strikes from the dugout on Sunday ... And hitting coach Terry Crowley was tossed for the same reason on Tuesday ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
4 Roberts
8 Matos
7 Mora
3 Conine
9 Gibbons
5 Batista
DH Surhoff
6 Cruz
2 Fordyce
vs. RH
4 Roberts
8 Matos
7/6 Mora
3 Conine
9 Gibbons
5 Batista
DH Surhoff/Segui/Mendez
6 Cruz/7 Surhoff
2 Gil/Fordyce
Pitching Probables
Thursday: RH Johnson vs. Davis
Friday: RH Hentgen vs. Escobar
Saturday: RH Ponson vs. Lidle
Sunday: RH Lopez vs. Hendrickson
Bullpen Usage
Long: Driskill R, Bauer R
Short: Ryan L, Carrasco R
Setup: Groom L, Ligtenberg R
Closer: Julio R
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