Bob Haynie: Jones Is Scalding Hot For The Orioles
To say that Oriole Adam Jones is swinging the bat well may be a slight understatement. Since last Friday against the Blue Jays, Jones has been hitting the ball as though he knows what pitch is coming.
Over the last five games--all at Camden Yards--Baltimore's All-Star centerfielder is 11-for-17 (.647 BA) with four HR's, nine RBI's (Yeah, I still call them RBI's. But I digress.) and eight runs scored. Jones has knocked in nine of the Orioles' 28 runs scored since April 10.
On Tuesday night, Jones homered off New York lefty CC Sabathia in the first inning to give the Birds an early 1-0 over the Yankees. Jones added a sacrifice fly in the third to help his team to a 4-3 victory in front of 19,283 at Camden Yards.
As Jones provided some of the offense, Miguel Gonzalez delivered a sterling performance on the mound.
Gonzalez pitched seven innings of four-hit ball and struck out a career-high 10 to earn his first win of 2015. He gave manager Buck Showalter the team's third quality start over the last four contests.
Kevin Gausman allowed a couple of runs--one earned--as the bullpen has now given up a run in all eight games played this season. Fortunately, closer Zach Britton was very effective in picking up a four-out save.
RHP Bud Norris will attempt to help the Orioles win the series against the Yankees on Wednesday night. Norris was 4-0 with a 2.74 ERA against New York in 2014.
The way things are going, I would assume that Norris can count on Adam Jones supplying plenty of assistance to the cause.
