Thursday, September 16, 2010

O's sweep Blue Jays

Brad Bergesen pitched a complete game in last night's 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. It was the Orioles' sixth series sweep this season.

Before this series, the Orioles were 0-12 against the Blue Jays. But that was before Buck Showalter arrived on the scene as the Orioles manager and said "let there be light".

And since this is a completely different team with Buck as the skipper, the outcome of this series was completely different as well. The O's swept the Blue Jays for their fourth series win in a row. A first for the Orioles since 2004.

The Orioles are now 26-15 with Showalter as the manager. It has even prompted Rob Neyer of ESPN to throw his hat into the "Buck Showalter for Manager of the Year" ring. And why not? Buck is doing something unprecedented. He took over a team on pace for a 48-118 record and has them playing like a team on pace for a 104-58 record.

And Buck's voodoo shows no signs of wearing off any time soon.

The pitchers have responded the most since Buck arrived, and the team's ERA since August 3rd, the day Buck arrived, is a stunning 3.76.

Brad Bergesen, who notched a complete game win last night in a game that barely lasted 2 hours, has been the O's best pitcher in the last 2 months, with a record of 6-2 and an ERA of 2.37.

The schedule remains tough until the end of the season, with the Yankees coming to town for 3 before the O's hit the road for 3 games each against Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay.

Can Buck keep this team running on all cylinders against the AL East?

Let's hope so. It may finally give the Orioles some confidence against AL East opponents headed into 2011.

I can't believe I am saying this, but I don't want this season to end.

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