Monday, July 27, 2015

Oriole Park at Camden Yards, 2011 Topps Orioles Team Set #BAL17

Tonight, the Orioles finally returned home for the first time since the All-Star Break, following a 4-5 road trip that featured a pair of series wins bookending a demoralizing sweep at the hands of the dag-blasted Yankees. The Baltimore fans were treated to a pitchers' duel, with Kevin Gausman blanking the Braves on six hits over a career-best 7.2 innings and Alex Wood matching him frame-by-frame. Zach Britton, pitching the ninth in a non-save situation, gave up a rare solo home run to somebody named Adonis Garcia, setting the stage for Atlanta's new closer (and Charm City's old one) Jim Johnson...who promptly blew the save. Adam Jones legged out an infield hit, Matt Wieters lined a hanging 0-2 curveball for a more conventional single, and J. J. Hardy tied the game with a sac fly to left. Wieters, who's looked rusty more often than not since returning from Tommy John surgery, then blasted a Luis Avilan offering into the right-center field bleachers for a walkoff home run with no outs in the bottom of the 11th. The O's have clawed back to .500 at 49-49, and they spoiled Nick Markakis' homecoming. The longtime Oriole right fielder collected a pair of hits in five at-bats, but did fly out to left field with the potential go-ahead run on second base in the 10th. Oh, and Ryan Lavarnway started at catcher for the Braves, and picked up right where he left off in his forgettable stint in Birdland earlier this season: 0-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base allowed to David Lough. It's a veritable family reunion at Camden Yards this week.

3 comments:

  1. Gonna be there this weekend....can't wait!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like a pre-2008 photo of Oriole Park with a clear viewof the Bromo Seltzer Tower. Also the old dot-matrix scoreboard in center field.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bob - I can't believe I missed you! I was in North Carolina visiting the in-laws.

    Pete - Good eyes! As usual, I am shocked (shocked!) that Topps cut corners.

    ReplyDelete