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Orioles Win Back-To-Back Games Behind Starting Pitching

Roch Kubatko from MASN Sports joined Rob Long on The Vinny and Rob Show Friday afternoon on 105-7 THE FAN. Roch came on to give his insight on the recent Orioles news.

Roch Kubatko

The Orioles won their last two games to split their series against against the Texas Rangers behind solid starting pitching. Wednesday night Wei-Yin Chen made his first debut in two months and allowed one run on three hits while throwing seven strong innings. Chen also struck out four in his debut from the disabled list. Tommy Hunter came on in eighth and ninth innings to close out the game. Last night it was Miguel Gonzalez's turn to do the same as Chen. Gonzalez did his best impression allowing one run over six and two thirds innings. Miguel spread four hits over those innings and also struck four. The starting pitching was much improved over the last two nights in comparison to the first two games of the series. Jim Johnson also earned his 31st save of the year to become the AL leader in saves.

The Orioles seem to be trending in the right direction heading in to the last series before the All-Star break. Chris Davis may have broken his slump last night as he sent his league leading 34th home run out of OPACY last night. Not only have some Orioles been cold and slumping but there has been an illness spreading throughout the clubhouse. The break should allow players like Matt Wieters get the well needed rest he deserves and allow Chris Davis as well as another unnamed player get healthy from illness.

The Orioles may also use the All-Star break to get some players some extra work in while everyone else is idle. One of those players could be Wei-Yin Chen. Chen has spent the last two months on the DL so the Orioles may want to keep him fresh and throw him at Triple A Norfolk during the All-Star break. It would not be out of the ordinary for the Orioles as they did the same exact pitching plan with Chris Tillman last season.

Down in the minors and making a lot of noise is "Hammering Hank" Henry Urrutia. Urrutia is currently hitting .363 between Bouble A and Triple A from the left side of the plate. Roch thought that maybe if Chris Dickson were to hit the DL Urrutia would be the call up however Dickson looks to be healthy enough. He looks be headed to a DH position and Roch said the club was being coy about him but no longer, "Jokingly Duquette said that Urrutia is playing in the futures game and Buck said that he had a future game for him to play in, meaning up in the majors some point this season." It is clear that the Orioles front office is very excited about their prospect.

(Programming Note: Intern Zach wrote and posted this article as part of his internship program with CBS Baltimore. Zach is a Communications & History major at Loyola University Maryland.)

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