Comments on: Orioles pick Joe Saunders as Wild Card playoff game starter

By: temporarilyexiled

temporarilyexiled — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:42:03 +0000

Texas ace going against Texas batting practice pitcher.

Please help me summon the irony gods and have Baltimore finish off the Buffalo Wings.

By: chuckj1234

chuckj1234 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 23:24:22 +0000

With sanders on the mound the O”s might as well mail this one in.He is a medicore pitcher at best.

By: husky2score

husky2score — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:46:43 +0000

Hopefully Buck has a special plan here. Saunders has had some good starts and some not so good starts with the O’s. He might be thinking that if Saunders pitches well, he has a chance. If not and say, he gives up 3 runs in 4 innings, then we use Johnson out of the pen to stop the bleeding and hope the offense takes away the damage. Buck has been great at setting up a game plan and has made some really nice decisions such as calling up Machado. I’m sure Showalter will bring that kind of mentality into this game and later on.

By: doubleogator

doubleogator — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:25:20 +0000

Hats off to Baltimore GM Dan Duquette, the same GM that Boston ran out of town a few years ago…

By: hardballtalkusername

hardballtalkusername — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:19:18 +0000

A 9.38 ERA with a 1.8 WHIP at Arlington. I want the O’s to win but that doesn’t bode well

By: dowhatifeellike

dowhatifeellike — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:09:13 +0000

What?

No.

Why?

I think Buck is trying to piss away his shot at Manager of the Year this week.

By: billymc75

billymc75 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:48:32 +0000

One word against Saunders… Nap-o-li

By: boomerdt

boomerdt — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:56:58 +0000

Article kinda summed it up well…. Saunders sucks against Texas and Texas clobbers lefties. Start the rookie, it’s worked for many other teams in the post season. Teams haven’t faced him yet and the O’s handle their business 1 game at a time.

If Johnson lets up more than 3 runs before the 6th… pull em.

By: rockthered1286

rockthered1286 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:30:17 +0000

You know what Buck’s gonna do…

“Ladies and gentleman, pitching for the Baltimore Orioles tonight will be…Crush Davis.”

By: atworkident

atworkident — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:10:31 +0000

Seriously… how cool would it be to have Steve Johnson beat Yu Darvish. I mean it would have been better in Baltimore but hey… I’ll take it.

By: alang3131982

alang3131982 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:40:05 +0000

Buck should really just use each for a few innings. I dont know how line-ups and SPs are announced, but if Washington has to post his line-up first and David Murphy is in it, start Saunders. If not, start Johnson and really just play the match-ups when possible. Josh Hamilton should probably not face a righty all game though.

Maybe start with Matusz, then figure it out from there? It’s cockamamie and would never happen, but it’s not a bad idea…

By: bmorelikeme

bmorelikeme — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:30:31 +0000

I don’t disagree…just looking back in hindsight

By: dunnd4d4

dunnd4d4 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:30:13 +0000

Short leash for both starters. I would open with slow pitch stevie johnson. If he’s locating he will be good if not we will know real fast.

By: Andy Snakovsky

Andy Snakovsky — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:29:49 +0000

if only Jason Hammel was ready for this game, but reports are he wouldnt be ready til Saturday, if the season lasts that long

By: boh930

boh930 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:29:46 +0000

Dylan Bundy

By: sophiethegreatdane

sophiethegreatdane — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:28:13 +0000

Saunders. Short leash.

Since this is a “series” it carries it’s own roster, and I doubt Buck will have many starting pitchers on the roster. He could throw a different pitcher out there every couple of innings to keep the Rangers off balance?

Heck I don’t know. I can’t even think straight right now. The Rangers were the *last* team I wanted the O’s to face. They’ve been murdering the Orioles pitching since 1996 it seems.

By: sophiethegreatdane

sophiethegreatdane — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:24:36 +0000

Lame

By: cnbarnes

cnbarnes — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:23:22 +0000

Watch the South Park episode on “Sarcastiball”. Then you might understand…

By: cnbarnes

cnbarnes — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:22:23 +0000

The Rangers are notorious for doing poorly against no-name, rookie pitchers that they’ve never seen. If Johnson starts, the Rangers might get no-hit.

(yes, I’m a Rangers fan who is very bitter right now)

By: madhatternalice

madhatternalice — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:21:50 +0000

Can a 1 game playoff really be called a “series?”

By: b7p19

b7p19 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:21:20 +0000

In fairness it could be anywhere from 8.5 innings to 30+

By: psuravens19

psuravens19 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:09:31 +0000

I’m hoping for Steve Johnson to take the mound…

By: psuravens19

psuravens19 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:08:41 +0000

They should have used their 3 best starters… they were fighting for the division.

By: nolanwiffle

nolanwiffle — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:53:32 +0000

….a nine inning series.

By: artthoumad

artthoumad — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:41:14 +0000

Pretty sure it was a sarcastic comment about the rangers tanking

By: beefytrout

beefytrout — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:38:22 +0000

I don’t think it’s the only explanation. The Rangers have had no swagger for several weeks now. Whether they’re tired or simply thought the postseason was a given for them, they now find themselves in a very unwanted position.

Yeah, they play the WC play-in at home. And if they manage to win that, they’ll start the DS at home… against nyy.

On the flip side, I doubt there are many Rangers fans who ever thought they’d see the day a 93-win season was a disappointment.

By: funkygoorilla

funkygoorilla — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:35:52 +0000

First, and last……..

By: bmorelikeme

bmorelikeme — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:33:38 +0000

I hate that the O’s burned their best 3 starters against the Rays. Now I’m depending on Saunders or Johnson to get my first taste of playoff baseball in Camden Yards.

By: darthicarus

darthicarus — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:32:30 +0000

So the Rangers wanted to lose so they would have to play an extra game, then lose homefield to play the Yankees for the “first” round of the playoffs? Seems legit. You think they really didn’t want to play Detroit in the first round? (they would’ve played Detroit first if they won, correct?)

By: watermelon1

watermelon1 — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:25:09 +0000

The Rangers BETTER win this series. Clearly they wanted to play the Orioles, and that’s the only explanation for them completely tanking the last 3 games of the season and losing their division.