3/17 - Red Sox (SS) at Orioles (SS) (1:05 p.m.)

[PaulFolk]

Jason Esposito makes a diving stop on a grounder for the final out of the inning. Strop gets out of trouble.

Bottom of the 9th coming up. Last chance for the Orioles. They trail, 3-2.

[PaulFolk]

Brendon Webb pops out on the first pitch of the 9th.

[weams]

Travis Adair flies out to left.

Johnny Ruettinger, nephew of "Rudy" Ruettiger of movie fame, is now batting for the Birds.

Rudy and Doug ran into so similar problems this past year.

http://www.observer.com/2011/12/rudy-ruettiger-busted-12162011/

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/05/business/la-fi-sec-decinces-20110805

[PaulFolk]

Hester flies out to left. Two down.

[PaulFolk]

Mahoney rips a double to the gap. That puts the tying run at second with two outs.

[PaulFolk]

Hey, the Orioles aren't going down without a fight. Tolleson rips an RBI single, tying the game at 3. Ninth-inning rally.

[weams]

Chen speaks

"I didn't know how many innings I would pitch, but I knew my pitch-count limit was 65," he said through his interpreter.

I had Chen with 75 pitches today.

"They're a great team and I'm very, very happy to pitch against them," he said. "Definitely, I felt good today and I feel like I pitched good. I learned something new. You cannot make a mistake here. Once you make one, they'll hit it very far away."

Chen said he didn't begin to tire in the fifth and is "ready for the next game."

Did his pickoff move surprise the Red Sox?

"I was surprised myself," he replied.

"It's my first time to pickoff someone. In Japan, they didn't pick off a lot. Here, that's a new experience for me. These are things I'm still learning right now."

[Frobby]

Mahoney rips a double to the gap. That puts the tying run at second with two outs.

Hey, the Orioles aren't going down without a fight. Tolleson rips an RBI single, tying the game at 3. Ninth-inning rally.

Hmmm. This seems familiar.....

[PaulFolk]

Delmonico grounds back to the pitcher Mathis for the final out.

Just what everyone wanted-- extra innings in spring training. On to the 10th, game tied at 3.

[Don Quixote]

Any updates on the other game via 'BAL?

[PaulFolk]

Any updates on the other game via 'BAL?

Nope, not for a while.

[PaulFolk]

Zach Phillips pitching the 10th for the Birds. Retires the first batter on a grounder.

[Frobby]

Really looking forward to vatech1994's report on Chen. He had plenty to see.

[PaulFolk]

Any updates on the other game via 'BAL?

Just updated. Just said it was still 7-1.

[Don Quixote]

Nope, not for a while.

As essentially irrelevant as that game is in comparison, I'm not surprised.

Just saw the above. Still not surprised. :laughlol: