O's Top Angels Tonight

In Baltimore's 6-3 victory over the Angels tonight we may have witnessed a few interesting developments that may bode well for this ball club as the summer advances.

Oriole starter Brian Burres hurled his most innings of the year. The Mazzone effect may finally be starting to rub-off on Oriole pitchers. The Oriole staff currently has a league average ERA+ that marks a vast improvement over 2006's 84 ERA+. The emergence of Burres and especially Jeremy Guthrie bears Mazzone's magic touch.

Paul Shuey closed out tonight's game with 1+ innings of perfect ball. Chris Ray's implosion on Friday night may finally have been the straw that breaks his hold on the closer spot. Why not give it to Shuey for a few weeks to see if he can do the job? The man's a veteran of the late-90's Indians and saw plenty of high pressure postseason play in his tenure there.

Finally, the Orioles showed some gumption in fighting back this evening after suffering a bad loss the previous night. The fact that it was against baseball's winningest team makes the victory all the sweeter.