Game Recap #29 Baltimore Orioles @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

It takes a lot for a pitcher in the Major Leagues to stand out from the rest of his peers. Many pitchers hover around an average level, but for some, true greatness is what they're made of. Tonight, a well-established pitcher plying his trade with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Jered Weaver, goes against a rising star for Baltimore, Jason Hammel. With these two on the mound, a low-scoring game seemed likely, and through the first three innings, that was especially true. Very few found their way on base in the early parts of the game, and in the fourth inning, Hammel finally let the score open. The Angels used a Mark Trumbo single to get a man on, followed by an error from Xavier Avery to put Trumbo on second base. Trumbo found third on an Alberto Callaspo fly out. That allowed Howie Kendrick to get the RBI single when Trumbo scored. Two batters later, Bobby Wilson put runners on the corners for the Angels, but Hammel avoided further damage by getting rookie phenom mike Trout to pop up. Weaver, meanwhile, was working on another of his many gems from the mound. Hammel ran into more trouble in the seventh inning by walking Wilson, but Wilson was taken out at second base on a Trout fielder's choice. This proved to work well for Los Angeles, as a Torii Hunter double gave the speedy youngster time to score. An intentional walk to star slugger Albert Pujols set the stage for another run, as Kendrys Morales hit a single that was good enough to bring in Hunter. This ended Hammel's day on a line of 6 2/3 innings, six hits and four walks yielding three earned runs with four strikeouts. Pedro Strop finished the inning with no trouble. After eight innings, Weaver was done, giving up three hits and one walk but none of the runners scored, and he struck out five. Dana Eveland pitched the eighth for Baltimore and worked a spotless inning. Scott Downs did the same in the ninth, shutting down the Orioles offense to preserve a 3-0 win for Weaver and a save for himself. Hammel had no run support, thus giving him the loss in the second-to-last game of the trip.