Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Another Exciting Rookie

With Steve Trachsel on the disabled list, the Baltimore Orioles called up Garrett Olson from Triple-A Norfolk, and he made his Major League debut on Wednesday.

Olson had been one of the most dominating pitcher in the minors this season despite a lackluster 7-6 record. His 3.46 ERA and killer K/BB ratio of 94/31 more than make up for it. On Wednesday though, he had a tough time against a determined White Sox team that had gone 7-2 in their last nine.

The rookie only made it 4.1 innings and allowed only 2 runs but he struggled with his control allowing 5 hits and 5 walks. With the O’s offense hitting though, it was enough as Baltimore won 9-6 thanks to solid performances by Nick Markakis, Kevin Millar, Aubrey Huff and Jay Payton, the O’s 3 through 6 hitters. They went a combined 7 for 17 with 7 RBI on 7 hits and got the victory for Dave Tremblay and the terribly inconsistent Orioles.

The White Sox bullpen didn’t help the Sox cause any as David Aardsma allowed 3 runs in 1.2 IP to compound the 6 runs starter Jose Contreras allowed.

All in all, the O’s have to be happy with Olson’s debut and looking at their young and incredibly talented rotation, the team should be interesting to watch for the rest of the year as Olson and co. continue to grow and mature.

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