Nick Markakis was the offensive catalyst for the Birds. With two outs in the first, Markakis drew a walk, advanced to 3rd on Aubrey Huff's single, and trotted home on a wild pitch. Just two innings later, Markakis blasted his seventh home run of the season, a 3-run shot (the teams' first 3-run homer of the season). The O's took a 4-0 lead and never looked back.
Cabrera was in control the entire game. He retired the side in order seven times, and only had one "bad" inning. In the fifth, Cabrera walked a batter (his only walk of the game) and allowed two hits (he gave up three hits in all). Kansas City took advantage of their only opportunity of the game, and scored their lone run.
With the win, Cabrera improved to 3-1 on the season. He struck out seven batters, saving the best for last. Cabrera struck out the final two batters in the ninth to end the game and give the O's a much-needed win. And check out this stat...Cabrera had 18 ground outs compared with two fly outs. Eight of those ground balls were fielded flawlessly by Freddie Bynum, who also had two hits in the game. Looks like the O's have found their answer at short...The O's moved into fourth place, and with three games left against the Royals, they have a real shot to gain some ground before heading home to face Boston. The O's have now won 10 straight against Kansas City.
(photos courtesy of MLB.com)
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