Happy..but this may have been the MOST toothless team we will face this year!

[Roy Firestone]

No Morneau, No Young, No Mauer...No problem? Well..lets just say it shouldnt have been THAT close. Honestly, I cant think of a weaker lineup we will face this year than this Twins team tonight. But Im not complaining. We absolutely MUST beat the Oriole killer Scott Baker tommorrow and get even (.500) before the Yankee series. We see C.C. AND Burnett..they dont see Britton OR Guthrie.They get to face Tillman, Bergy and Arrietta. Its gonna be a tough series...

[Steve I]

at some point you just value the win and the O's are at that point. A 2 game winning streak feels so much better than the 8 game losing streak that preceded it. This team is a ton of potential wrapped in an old aluminum foil wrapper. Heat it up, no idea what might pop. I am happy with 2 wins in a row no matter the opponent. I suspect that the opponent matters little. This team's worst enemy is itself. The talent is there to play with ANYONE.

EDIT: We are the Jiffy Pop O's

[OFFNY]

at some point you just value the win and the O's are at that point. A 2 game winning streak feels so much better than the 8 game losing streak that preceded it. This team is a ton of potential wrapped in an old aluminum foil wrapper. Heat it up, no idea what might pop. I am happy with 2 wins in a row no matter the opponent. I suspect that the opponent matters little. This team's worst enemy is itself. The talent is there to play with ANYONE.

I agree. Over 162 games, the best-hitting team in the league will occasionally have a clunker and get shut out or score only 1 run, and the worst-hitting team will occasionally put up 9 or 10 runs in a game. We were desperate for a second consecutive win tonight, and we got it. I wouldn´t read anything more than that into it.

[Frobby]

I agree. Over 162 games, the best-hitting team in the league will occasionally have a clunker and get shut out or score only 1 run, and the worst-hitting team will occasionally put up 9 or 10 runs in a game. We were desperate for a second consecutive win tonight, and we got it. I wouldn´t read anything more than that into it.

Not much more to say. Yes, the Twins are very weak right now, and we need to take advantage of it. It counts the same in the win column whether Mauer, Morneau and Young are playing or not. As to the Yankees, they are always tough, but we need to go into that series setting our sights high.

[UpstateNYfan]

Even "toothless" teams win 1/3 of thier games....(look at the O's the last decade). You still have to play the game right or the opposition may gum you into submission.

[wildcard]

No Morneau, No Young, No Mauer...No problem? Well..lets just say it shouldnt have been THAT close. Honestly, I cant think of a weaker lineup we will face this year than this Twins team tonight. But Im not complaining. We absolutely MUST beat the Oriole killer Scott Baker tommorrow and get even (.500) before the Yankee series. We see C.C. AND Burnett..they dont see Britton OR Guthrie.They get to face Tillman, Bergy and Arrietta. Its gonna be a tough series...

If you are going to mention the weakened Twin lineup I think we have to consider that Britton was pitching with flu symptoms. If he is well and on his game the Twins may not score the three runs they got off him.

[Abadie]

No Morneau, No Young, No Mauer...No problem? Well..lets just say it shouldnt have been THAT close. Honestly, I cant think of a weaker lineup we will face this year than this Twins team tonight. But Im not complaining. We absolutely MUST beat the Oriole killer Scott Baker tommorrow and get even (.500) before the Yankee series. We see C.C. AND Burnett..they dont see Britton OR Guthrie.They get to face Tillman, Bergy and Arrietta. Its gonna be a tough series...

We're only seeing Sabathia. We then match up with Garcia and Nova. I aint scared....

[OFFNY]

If you are going to mention the weakened Twin lineup I think we have to consider that Britton was pitching with flu symptoms. If he is well and on his game, the Twins may not score the three runs they got off him.

Or ........ if the home plate ump doesn't squeeze Zach with a horrible call on one his the two walks in his 6th (and final) inning, Zach may have only given up 1 run in 6 innings instead of 3. :angryfire:

Zach won his MLB debut despite being squeezed horribly by the home plate umpire the entire game, and not using his sinker. He pitched 6 solid innings last night despite being weakened by flu-like symptoms. This guy has so much potential, it´s mind-boggling.

[Wilshade]

Last year, the "toothless" teams beat us every which way from Sunday. And don't downplay beating inferior teams. That is what a winning team is supposed to do. If ya don't, then beating the Yankees and Red Sox won't mean a damn thing. Back to back wins after an 8-game losing streak isn't anything to sneeze at.

[LookitsPuck]

Beat the teams you're supposed to beat, be competitive against the teams you're not.

Either way, 16 runs in 2 days is great and all, but I would really like to see Reynolds start helping this team more. He's mired in a bad funk.

This bullpen really is frightening me. Outside of Berken, Johnson, and Koji, who is reliable?

Not Gregg.

Not Gonzalez.

Not Rupe.

Hopefully Rapada ends up being big for us. Accardo I have some faith, but not much.

This pitching staff really needs Bergesen to step up. If we can have a 1-2-3 punch of Guthrie, Arrieta, and Bergy then it really helps things for Britton. I'm not counting out Tillman, yet, but it makes him more stomachable as a #5.

[psagawa]

Well, we will play Seattle, so the Twins may not be the worst offensive team we'll see, even without the M&M boys. TB without Longoria is not particularly fear inspiring either.

[hoosiers]

It may be a toothless team, but we played Tex when Hamilton was healthy and Tampa when Longoria was healthy.

Our #2 pitcher was injured in the last week of ST and has been out all year and our ace missed a start due to sickness.

As long as this stuff balances out, I've no problem playing the Twins without M&M.

[OFFNY]

Beat the teams you're supposed to beat, be competitive against the teams you're not.

Either way, 16 runs in 2 days is great and all, but I would really like to see Reynolds start helping this team more. He's mired in a bad funk.

This bullpen really is frightening me. Outside of Berken, Johnson, and Koji, who is reliable ?

Not Gregg.

Not Gonzalez.

Not Rupe.

Hopefully Rapada ends up being big for us. Accardo I have some faith, but not much.

This pitching staff really needs Bergesen to step up. If we can have a 1-2-3 punch of Guthrie, Arrieta, and Bergy then it really helps things for Britton. I'm not counting out Tillman, yet, but it makes him more stomachable as a #5.

I understand you being frightened by Gregg and Gonzo and their "potential" to blow multiple games, but having 3 reliable relievers isn't that bad. I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to improve to have 4 or 5 reliable relievers if we can, but 3 really isn't disastrous.

[SammyBirdland]

I understand you being frightened by Gregg and Gonzo and their "potential" to blow multiple games, but having 3 reliable relievers isn't that bad. I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to improve to have 4 or 5 reliable relievers if we can, but 3 really isn't disastrous.

Keep in mind that we're always one 95° hot summer day away from having Koji on the DL with heat stroke. So really we have two reliable relievers.

[OFFNY]

Keep in mind that we're always one 95° hot summer day away from having Koji on the DL with heat stroke. So really we have two reliable relievers.

That´s a good point. Although, I´m not completely ready to ditch Gonzo and Gregg just yet.

[HokieOs]

Let's not forget that when Matusz comes back (whenever that is), that one of the current rotation guys (Bergy probably) will likely be pushed to long relief. Quite frankly, I think long relief is a role where Bergesen may end up being one of the best in the business.

[grimed1]

The O's offense does not manufacture runs. The team has the second least steals in the majors,lowest walk total and thrid lowest .OBP. it is a slow team. The o's hardly ever hit and run or be aggresive. I think this will hurt the team in the long run. You can't always wait for the big inning. The double plays and K's will also haunt the Orioles. I see streches with not alot of runs. Gregg was lucky the first two guys he was facing were Triple A guys. The top of the lineup would have hit him. He should have walked the first guy but he swung at a bad pitch. Gregg will get his test this weekend and next.