The Jays are enjoying a 7-3 month, and they face an Orioles team that appears to be prone to lapsing into its annual late-season swoon. On the hitting side, the O's haven't been very healthy or productive of late -- with Larry Bigbie a notable exception. However, in Eric DuBose and Pat Hentgen, the Jays lock horns with a couple of hot hurlers. Ex-Oriole Josh Towers will hopefully channel his extra motivation constructively tonight.
The Orioles are in an interesting spot, thanks to some shrewd dealings by their two-headed "Beatagan" front-office monster. Baltimore has much more young pitching in the system than they had when the season started, and they enjoy tremendous payroll flexibility for an offseason shopping spree that won't even implicate the luxury tax, thanks to the team's wise clearing of the books this year.
Peter Angelos says he wants to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox in 2004. Hopefully, the home team will take this weekend's opportunity to remind him that there's another AL East hurdle in his path.
On to the Advance Scout!
* Although they appeared to be challenging the Jays for third place in mid-August, the O's have been brought down to earth against tough opposition ... After a nine-game losing streak against the Yankees, A's and Mariners, Baltimore regrouped to take 5 of 6 against the A's, Mariners and Red Sox, including rallying from an 8-4 deficit to stun the Bosox 13-10 on Monday. But they then dropped their next two against Boston ...
* Tonight's opponent, Eric DuBose, outdueled Jamie Moyer in a 3-1 decision on Saturday night ... DuBose held the M's to just one run on six hits over eight innings, with no walks and 6 K's ... This followed a hard-luck no-decision at Safeco, in which Seattle mustered only two runs on two hits over eight IP ... DuBose on his recent success: "I don't think it's anything to do with Seattle...It's just that the last two outings I've been able to spot my fastball early in the count and get my breaking ball over. That just sets up my changeup" ... The savvy DuBose took mental notes on Moyer's changeup arm action and location from the dugout ... DuBose on Moyer: "It was a battle of changeups...He's still the master. I'm trying to get my degree" ... Opponents are batting just .188 off the 27-year-old lefty ... DuBose admitted to feeling "gassed" after his 115-pitch performance ...
* Old friend Tony Batista had his seven-game hitting streak snapped on Wednesday ... He's batting just .239, with a lowly .278 on-base percentage on the season ... His eighth-inning homer on Saturday provided DuBose with a crucial insurance run ...
* Jorge Julio has been 32 of 39 in save opportunities, but he's been shakier than those numbers would indicate ... He's still just 24 years old ...
* Melvin Mora, who kicked off the season with three rousing months, had an awful and injury-plagued July, going 244/306/372 ... He then went on the DL for all of August. Since his recall, he's been drawing plenty of walks, but all 8 of his hits have been singles ... On the season, he's still 319/419/499 -- better than anyone could've hoped ... Ever-versatile, Mora started at second on Wednesday, and played first as Mike Hargrove shuffled his defence on Friday night for the first time since his youth in Venezuela ...
* B.J. Surhoff's .307 average and .366 on-base percentage are tributes to the 39-year-old's work ethic ...
* Diminuitive second baseman Brian Roberts is day-to-day with a sprained ankle ... He had an 11-game hitting streak (.396) snapped on Monday ... Roberts went a ridiculous 9-for-14 (.643) against Seattle last weekend ...
* Our gritty friend, Pat Hentgen, has been superb in his last two starts ... Against the contending A's and Mariners, Hentgen's put up the following combined line: 16 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 9 K ... He edged the M's 2-1, but could have sued his teammates for non-support against Oakland; he departed after eight complete in a 0-0 game ... Baltimore has a $4 million option on Pat's services for next season, but will likely decline it ... Nevertheless, Beattie expressed admiration of Hentgen's ability to turn his career back around. According to the half-GM, Hentgen was "terrible" last season, when he began his road back from ligament surgery ...
* Luis Matos is 0 for his last 8, but the O's are thrilled with the 24-year-old's 304/357/455 numbers ...
* Jay Gibbons is in a horrible 5-for-54 slump (.093) ... The 26-year-old has assumed the first base job with Jeff Conine traded and David Segui injured ...
* Segui had season-ending surgery to repair a tendon in his left wrist ... He'll be ready for spring training ...
* Deivi Cruz continues to defy the odds with more home runs (14) than walks (10) ... He's 7-for-15 (.467) with 17 RBI in bases-loaded situations ...
* Jerry Hairston Jr. is 2 for 11 (.182) since coming off the DL ... Hairston has admitted that he's only at about 80% since returning from a three-month absence due to a broken bone in his right foot ... He'll play only sporadically for the rest of the season ... Even with his wonky foot, though, Hairston managed to hustle home on a groundball hit to Boston's Todd Walker on Monday, using a great hook slide to beat the tag ... Hairston: "It was pure adrenaline" ... Hairston's been bothered with turf toe lately, compounding his foot-related woes ...
* Lightly-regarded Brook Fordyce has hit .301 since the All-Star break ... Geronimo Gil was a September callup, giving the O's a three-headed monster at catcher. He went 2-for-3 in his first game back ...
* In a costly misjudgment, Ottawa third baseman Jose Leon took a Gil throw off his face, fracturing his orbital bone ...
* Kerry Ligtenberg, who has been solid out of the pen all season, has been roughed up in each of his last three starts ... He gave up a 440-foot blast to Nomar Garciaparra in coughing up an inherited lead on Monday ...
* Despite mediocre numbers on the year, it might be bad news for the Jays to have to face Rodrigo Lopez on Sunday ... Four starts ago, Lopez tossed a complete-game six-hitter, walking one and striking out ten at Yankee Stadium. Then he got rocked at Network Associates Coliseum ... In his next start, he was dominant against those very same A's, pitching a complete-game shutout. But he followed that by getting shelled by Boston, surrendering eight runs on thirteen hits ... It might be Good Rodrigo's turn to pitch on Sunday ... In 16 of 23 starts this season, Lopez has allowed at least as many hits as innings pitched ...
* Left fielder Larry Bigbie is having a sizzling September at 412/459/559 ...
* Jack Cust has been astonishingly Jeremy Giambi-like since his August 6 callup ... 7-for-42 (.167), but with just one single; he has three doubles, three home runs, 7 walks and 17 strikeouts ... In an eerie coincidence, he even had an embarrassing pratfall on the basepaths that cost his team the game against -- who else? The Yankees ... Cust and Matos will both be out of options next season ...
* Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan have stockpiled an impressive assortment of promising arms ... In addition to signing Adam Loewen, the O's acquired Kurt Ainsworth, Damian Moss and Ryan Hannaman for Sidney Ponson -- and then Denny Bautista and Don Levinski for Jeff Conine ... The Orioles are not happy, though, with Moss becoming 25 pounds overweight ... Moss said he's already hired two personal trainers for the coming offseason ...
* Plus, lefty Matt Riley, a Tommy John recoveree, has been dominant of late in Ottawa, and was a September callup ... Riley actually made his big-league debut in 1999 at the age of 20. He was shelled, and then blew out his arm ...
* Righty Rick Bauer has been shut down due to shoulder stiffness ...
* The O's have made no move at all to resign Mike Hargrove ... Beattie and Flanagan have not been impressed with the late-season Oriole collapses in '02 and '03 ...
* Baltimore is, however, in excellent payroll shape ... After this season, Albert Belle and Scott Erickson are off the books, Conine and Ponson have been traded, and the club plans on declining the Fordyce option and letting Batista sign elsewhere ... Peter Angelos recently hinted that the O's payroll could increase from $60 to $75 million -- bad news for the Jays ... David Segui, Buddy Groom, Marty Cordova and Omar Daal are the only players with guaranteed contracts for next season ... Beattie: "It doesn't mean we're going to haphazardly start throwing money around...But there may be players available through free agency or trade where we need to step up and get them, and it's nice having the financial wherewithal to do that" ... Beattie's greatest GM-owner triumph was persuading Angelos that Loewen was worth the $4 million bonus ...
* The O's will focus their recruiting efforts in Vladimir Guerrero, but are also said to be interested in trading for last-year-of-contract guys Javier Vazquez or Mike Lowell -- and they haven't ruled out bringing Ponson back ...
* The Orioles aren't just interested in Vladimir Guerrero for his incredible ability ... According to the Baltimore Sun, O's brass keeps hearing good things about Vlady's locker-room presence and leadership ...
* Cal Ripken Jr. was shockingly inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame on Saturday ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
DH Roberts
8 Matos
9 Mora
5 Batista
3 Surhoff
2 Fordyce
7 Bigbie
6 Cruz
4 Morban
vs. RH
4 Roberts/DH Hairston Jr./8 Raines Jr.
8/9 Matos
7 Bigbie
3 Gibbons
5 Batista
DH Surhoff/Cust
9/4 Mora
6 Cruz/Morban
2 Fordyce/Gil/Machado
Pitching Probables
Friday: LH DuBose vs. Towers
Saturday: RH Hentgen vs. Escobar
Sunday: RH Lopez vs. Lidle
Bullpen Usage
Long: Douglass R, Riley L
Short: Parrish L, Carrasco R, Groom L
Setup: Ligtenberg R, Ryan L
Closer: Julio R
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