Orioles Shoo Away Cliff Lee In Debut

By: Tyler Ward

Yesterday, as most of you know, the Rangers acquired former Cy Young pitcher, Cliff Lee, and reliever Mark Lowe in exchange for first baseman Justin Smoak, second baseman Matt Lawson, along with right handers Josh Lueke and Blake Beaven. Even though they acquired Lee yesterday, they penciled him in as the starter for tonight's game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Lee was almost a Yankee, but talks broke down at the last minute and he was then traded to the lonestar state.

Despite going through bankruptcy proceedings, the Rangers still acquired Lee in hopes of making their first playoff appearance since 1999. The Rangers (50-37) are 2.5 games ahead of the Angels in the division going into the All-Star break.

His Rangers debut didn't turn out as well, as he gave up a leadoff double to Corey Patterson on his very first pitch. The next batter, Miguel Tejada, hit a single on the first pitch too, driving Patterson in to make it a 1-0 Orioles lead. Two pitches into his Rangers career, Lee was already down in the first inning. After that, Lee got his command back and only needed 23 pitches to get his next nine outs. But, Baltimore's Nick Markakis hit his sixth home run in the fourth inning to give the Orioles a 2-0 advantage. He gave up a solo shot to Cesar Izturis the following inning and a two-run home run to Adam Jones in the sixth inning. That's all Chris Tillman and the Orioles needed to secure a 6-1 win over the division-leading Rangers.

Texas slugger Josh Hamilton went 0-4 Saturday, successfully ending his 29 game hit streak, one short of the Rangers record (Al Oliver in 1994; 30).

In his four previous starts, Lee pitched in 35 out of a possible 36 innings with three complete games. He had a 1.29 ERA in those four starts, but gave up six earned runs in his Texas debut. However, he did still pitch a complete game, but in a losing effort.

Lee's start overshadowed Baltimore's Charles Tillman, as Tillman took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Texas' Ian Kinlser broke up the no-hit bid in the seventh inning on a one-out single. Tillman was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk before the game and replaced Kevin Millwood (2-8) in the rotation and only gave up two hits in a little over seven innings of work. This was Tillman's 17th career start, with five of those coming this season. He was 0-3 with a 8.40 ERA in four starts before being sent back to the minors on June 22.

Tillman's start couldn't have come at a better time since Baltimore claims the worst record in baseball right now (28-59). However, they have won their last three series before they enter the All-Star break. The Orioles also do not have a 4-game winning pitcher at the break for the first time in franchise history.

The Oriole pitched 7.1 innings, while striking out three and giving up one earned run on two hits to get his first win of the season. The lone run he gave up was on a wild pitch that plated outfielder David Murphy. The Rangers only managed to get four hits, while only scoring that one run.

With the win, the Orioles are now 31 games below .500 and are 27.5 games behind the New York Yankees for the AL East division lead.