Final
Indians-Orioles Preview
Aug 29, 2009 - 5:29 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS WriterCleveland (57-70) at Baltimore (52-76), 7:05 p.m. EDT
The Baltimore Orioles have big expectations for Matt Wieters' future with the franchise, and in his last game, the rookie showed why.
Wieters will try to follow up one of his best offensive performances as he and the Orioles continue a four-game series with the Cleveland Indians on Saturday.
After hitting his fifth home run in the opener of this series, Wieters had three hits and a season-high four RBIs in Baltimore's 13-4 victory over Cleveland (57-71) on Friday. He was also hit by a pitch in the fifth, and came around to score to make it 6-2.
The 13 runs were the second-most by the Orioles this season, behind the 16 scored against the Angels on Aug. 14. Baltimore had 15 hits, with Felix Pie and Nick Markakis each adding homers and finishing with three hits.
The Orioles (53-76) had lost nine of their previous home games, including the opener of this series with the Indians.
Wieters, who was the fifth overall pick in the 2007 draft, did not have more than two RBIs in his first 63 games, and it was only the third time the rookie had three or more hits. He's hitting .272 with 26 RBIs since being called up in May.
"I was sort of able to get into a little rhythm, which I haven't had to the extent I had it tonight," Wieters said. "So I can build on that and move forward."
The Indians, meanwhile, suffered their second loss in seven games with Friday's defeat, going 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position.
Cleveland will try to bounce back as it hands the ball to Jeremy Sowers (5-9, 4.93 ERA).
After losing his previous two starts, Sowers gave up five runs in seven innings against the Royals on Monday, but still got the victory in a 10-6 win. He faced the minimum through four innings before giving up four runs in the fifth.
"He had the one bad inning," manager Eric Wedge said. "Other than that, I felt like he threw the ball well. He had a hiccup, no doubt. But he was able to come back after that and I think that says a lot. Before, he would have trouble getting back on track. But he got back on track."
The left-hander is 1-2 with a 6.92 ERA in five starts against the Orioles. Brian Roberts, who went 0 for 6 with three strikeouts Friday, is 5 for 11 with four walks against Sowers.
Chris Tillman (1-2, 4.58) will counter for Baltimore.
The 21-year-old rookie is trying to avoid losing his third straight start. He gave up two runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 2-1 loss to Minnesota on Monday - his sixth career start - but pleased manager Dave Trembley by not allowing a runner past second base until the sixth.
"He did a nice job," Trembley said. "If Tillman pitches like that, he's going to win a lot of games."
This is the right-hander's first start against the Indians.
- ** CONFIRMED **
AL
CLEVELAND 5
BALTIMORE 3 FINAL
Aug 29 11:55 PM - AL
AT BALTIMORE - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JAMEY CARROLL SCORED LUIS VALBUENA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J CARROLL ON FIRST, M LAPORTA ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 5
BALTIMORE 3 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: G SIZEMORE (.245, 0-FOR-4)
Guardians 5, Orioles 3 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 29 11:29 PM - AL
AT BALTIMORE - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY CHAD MOELLER (2) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 7TH OFF JOE SMITH.
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 4, BALTIMORE 3
DUE UP FOR BALTIMORE: B ROBERTS (.285, 0-FOR-3)
Guardians 4, Orioles 3 Bot 7, 0 OutsAug 29 11:11 PM - AL
AT BALTIMORE - SCORING UPDATE
THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY ANDY MARTE (3) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 6TH OFF CHRIS RAY SCORED MATT LAPORTA AND LUIS
VALBUENA.
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 4, BALTIMORE 2
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: K SHOPPACH (.205, 1-FOR-2)
Guardians 4, Orioles 2 Top 6, 0 OutsAug 29 10:37 PM - AL
AT BALTIMORE - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY CESAR IZTURIS SCORED TY WIGGINTON
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C IZTURIS ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 1
BALTIMORE 2 BOTTOM,5TH
DUE UP FOR BALTIMORE: A JONES (.282, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Guardians 1, Orioles 2 Bot 5, 0 OutsAug 29 8:47 PM - AL
AT BALTIMORE - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY JHONNY PERALTA (11) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 0
OUT IN THE 4TH OFF CHRIS TILLMAN.
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 1, BALTIMORE 1
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: L VALBUENA (.243, 0-FOR-1)
Guardians 1, Orioles 1 Top 4, 0 OutsAug 29 8:13 PM - AL
AT BALTIMORE - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY NICK MARKAKIS SCORED ADAM JONES
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, N MARKAKIS ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0
BALTIMORE 1 BOTTOM,1ST
DUE UP FOR BALTIMORE: N REIMOLD (.276, 12 HR, 39 RBI)
Guardians 0, Orioles 1 Bot 1, 0 OutsAug 29 7:29 PM
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