Tonight, at the Town of New Scotland Town Park, the Orioles showed they are sharp as ever by defeating the Bluejays by a score of 10-0. Even though the Orioles were playing without some of their key players, they still were on their game. Chris Abrams started for the O's and pitched 4 strong innings of 2-hit ball, allowing no runs. Chris changed speeds, location and pitches perfectly to keep the Jays off stride - utilizing his curve and knuckler at just the right times. Dave Topino relieved Chris in the 5th and pitched 3 innings, giving up only 2 hits and no runs. Dave also showed again what a smart pitcher he is - mixing in his big breaking curve with varying speeds and locations of his fast ball. The O's catcher, (Paul or Joe - please help me with his name) caught a great game and had a single and triple. Paul Scuteri and Dave Topino each had 2 singles. It is to be noted that Tony Nardacci played an absolutely outstanding game at third base - making tough plays look easy throughout the game. Also, Jim Konstantakis, always willing to help anyone who needs a hand, filled in with the O's and played a solid game in right field. Jim had a nice single in the last inning, knocking in one of the O's insurance runs. Nice job, Jimmy K!!!
Brian Maiello was the starting pitcher for the Jays and he went the distance. The final score does not reflect how well Brian pitched. At the end of 6 innings, the O's were leading 5-0 but all 3 runs scored in the 3rd were unearned. Maiello only gave up 5 hits thru 6 cmplete innings and struck out 5. Maiello was very effective in changing speed and location - keeping the O's off stride for much of the game. Some defensive lapses by the Jays proved to be damaging - especially in the 3rd and 7th innings. The Jays had 4 hits - one each by Schreiber, Meandro, Eplite and Sheen.
Good luck to the O's the rest of the way. See you soon, my friends.
