Week two for the new look Birds began as it does in 2001, with a trip to Fenway. The Birds are visiting yet another House of Horrors...they have dropped 12 of their last 13 visits to the old ballpark. This weekend is not a HUGE success, but the O's do manage to take one of the two, whipping the Red Sox 12-4 on Saturday before a Sunday rainout. Of course, any win over a divisional opponent on the road is looked on with great excitement by Orioles fans, especially a solid thumping.
So, after ten games, the O's are at 5-5, and tied for first place. Yes, that's right. FIRST PLACE.
The O's pause to catch their breath on the rainy Sunday...they note that the team has only four errors in the ten games, equal to the number Eddie has already accumulated for the Dodgers at FIRST BASE. They haven't allowed an unearned run, and have led in nine of their ten contests to date.
The O's return home (the equivalent of this weekend's homestand) to face Kansas City again. Billy Rip returns to the team, fresh off the DL. The O's lose the first contest, 7-4 in 13 innings, but they snap right back the next night, winning 6-5. In the third game, Bret Saberhagen faces off against Jeff Ballard. Ballard's transformation in the off-season is on full display. After a season of study with Mike Boddicker, and an off-season spent under the tutelage of Dave McNally, Ballard shows a couple of new breaking pitches, a screwball, and a MOVING fastball to the suddenly hapless Royals, who fall before Ballard's complete game 2-0 shutout.
So the O's stand at 7-6 after the first full two weeks of play, and the O's have taken a series from the Royals for the first time in nearly two years.
This is not the same old Birds...