O's Comeback to Spoil Nelly's Return to Baltimore

    Good evening O's fans. What a night it was at the Yard as the O's trailed early but battled back to take game one in the series against the Mariners and spoil Nelson Cruz's return to Baltimore with a 9-4 victory.

    Early on it looked like it was going to be a long night as the Mariners Seth Smith led off the game with a homerun against O's starter Miguel Gonzales.  The O's did tie in their half of the first on a Steve Pearce RBI single driving in Manny Machado who led off the innning with a walk.  Then in the third with two runners on, oh Nelly stepped up and hit a Gonzales hanging curve a mile for a three run bomb.  Looked gloomy and hurt worse with Cruz hitting the bomb giving the Mariners a 4-1 lead.  The O's had other things in mind tonight.

    The O's put up a three spot in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game at four. The first four hitters reached for the O's.  Travis Snyder walked then three straight singles by DeAza, Hardy and Joseph to make it 4-2.  Manny Machado then hit into the dreaded 1-2-3 double play. It looked like the O's may waste a big opportunity but Jimmy "Hit" Parades comes up with the big two out two RBI single to tie the game at 4. Parades just keeps on hitting.  The O's never looked back.  In the sixth they got back to back doubles from DeAza and Joseph to take a 5-4 lead. DeAza had a three hit night and reached base all 4 at bats.  Mr. Hitman Parades stepped up again and drilled a opposite field two run homerun giving the O's a 7-4 lead.

   What can you say about Miguel Gonzales?  He made two mistakes paying for them both and then buckles down and pitched 7 solid innings for the O's. That is gritty. The O's rewarded him with an offensive explosion getting him the win. You can't say enough about an effort like that.   The O's added another run in the eighth inning on a pass ball to take the 9-4 lead.  Darren O'Day closed it out to put the O's back in the win column.  The Nats just walked it off against the Yankees to make it even better.

    Now, let's see if the O's can get a little streak going. They have not been able to run together a string of wins yet. It sure would be nice to see them real off five or six in a row. They send Wei Yen Chen to the mound tomorrow to see if they can make it three. The Mariners counter with Roenis Elias who is 0-1 with a 3.24 era.  Let's hope they can take the series tomorrow and put another one in the win column. Let's go O's!!!