Jason Hammel Today

[bdlj0887]

I was right at 3b and Betemit looked pretty smooth out there, nice to have someone that can give Mark a break to "collect" his thoughts

[Ven6]

Loving Jerry Adair. Noticed something in Hammel's delivery, tweaked his mechanics and turned his two-seamer into a sinker. 2 weeks ago.

That's a pitching coach.

[Tank]

Loving Jerry Adair. Noticed something in Hammel's delivery, tweaked his mechanics and turned his two-seamer into a sinker. 2 weeks ago.

That's a pitching coach.

Is he related to Rick?

I wonder if it's Adair or Peterson that's more involved in the mechanics.

[Ven6]

Is he related to Rick?

I wonder if it's Adair or Peterson that's more involved in the mechanics.

Ha. I meant Rick (Jerry played for the O's in the 60s. 2nd base).

And yes, it's Adair, not Petersen:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-hammel-giving-twins-that-sinking-feeling-20120408,0,5695514.story

[Todd-O]

My highlight of the series was not seeing Gregg on the mound.

Three wins were pretty decent as well.

I agree with this. How is he still

On the roster??????

[jiminnj]

I was there, first game in two years. Section 228, club level, looking over homeplate and right down the left field line. Great seats.

Right off the bat, it looked to me like the ump had a generous strike zone, particularly on the high strike and the outside corner. I felt it would be a low scoring game because of this. Hammel was incredible. He was obviously gassed in the 8th. I was spared the anxiety of Greg warming up, it was too far to see who it was. That would have been agony seeing him coming in. I was shocked that Buck didn't come out and now I'm glad he didn't.

I loved the double steal. I certainly wasn't expecting that. The Twins should have gone after Johnson as the tail end rather than going for Jones.

Everyone on the team looked good. We hit a lot of balls hard after the starter left. A lot of at'em balls. With a little luck we would have blown it open.

Johnson looked awfully good in the ninth.

First place, undefeated, wire to wire here we go!!!

[byrdz]

If Hammel keeps pitching like that, I'll be like, "Guthrie who?"

[kyleott]

Can anyone speak as to how/why his 2-seamer/sinker had a greater velocity than his 4-seamer? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've gone through my baseball life under the belief that the 4-seam fastball consistently the faster pitch. I think I read that Buck attributed it to an uptick in adrenaline, and that it would perhaps fade as the season progressed, however, I was very surprised to see his 2-seamer move the way it did while coming in faster than his straight 4-seamer.

[OFFNY]

If Hammel keeps pitching like that, I'll be like, "Guthrie who?"

If we keep playing like this, we'll all be like, "What consecutive losing season streak?"

[NCRaven]

If Hammel keeps pitching like that, I'll be like, "Guthrie who?"

I know losses are not a particularly good measure of a pitcher. But, when you lead the league in losses over a three year period, that begins to say something. If Hammel tried to lose that much, it would be hard. At the time of the trade, I was glad to get 4 years of Hammel/Lindstrom over one year of Guthrie. And, if Hammel sucks his next time out, I'll still feel that way.

[NCRaven]

The Twins are so bad.

Love it when someone has to spread dog crap frosting on a perfectly good cake. You could wait for us to lose one game before you dump on a season opening sweep with three consecutive well pitched games. Yes, the Twins are bad. But, we did what you're supposed to do against bad teams.

[crissfan172]

The Twins are so bad.

Oh...this is so true. I can't wait to see how we do against a major league lineup. Impossible to not be happy that our guys dominated a bad team, though.

[crissfan172]

I thought that was Gregg warming up. I was behind home plate today so couldnt see. Thankfully Hammel was able to make it through that inning. Not enough beer at Camden to go though Gregg pitching with runners on. Wasnt going to tomorrows game but after checking out that new bar deck Im gonna pick up some standing room tickets.

You can only buy SRO tickets if there's a sellout. Just buy a LF Upper Reserve seat for $10 and then go to the perch.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Can anyone speak as to how/why his 2-seamer/sinker had a greater velocity than his 4-seamer? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've gone through my baseball life under the belief that the 4-seam fastball consistently the faster pitch. I think I read that Buck attributed it to an uptick in adrenaline, and that it would perhaps fade as the season progressed, however, I was very surprised to see his 2-seamer move the way it did while coming in faster than his straight 4-seamer.

Good observation. I didn't really notice/think about the 4 seamer that much myself. I was just impressed with the movement (and the command of the movement) on his fastball today. I think the theme for all three of the first three starters was a good moving (2 seam) fastball, though Hunter's velocity certainly wasn't there. Since Matusz is a 4 seam guy and Chen looks to be also (I could be wrong here), it'll be interesting to watch.

[Going Underground]

I was also at the game. Hamel was sharp from the first inning. Looked like all fastballs in the first. I thought he would be out in the eight. I saw Showalter in the dugout looking over matchups on cards and pacing. I wonder if Gregg was not warming up,Hammel would have been out. Did anyone else see after the eighth,the ump came over to Hammel when he was walking off the mound and said congrats or something to him? Also funny,how his teammates sat further from him on the bench each inning.. One of the players walked by with his head up and ignored him.