masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgDuring a season in which the Orioles have shown the ability to bounce back well within a game or during a tough stretch, I would expect no less than for them to play well and have a good chance to win today at Yankee Stadium.

While message boards and talk shows are good at rehashing and over-analyzing every aspect of a tough loss like yesterday’s, the Orioles have shown the ability all year to move on after a game – both a good one and bad one.

Buck Showalter talks about how his club is good…During a season in which the Orioles have shown the ability to bounce back well within a game or during a tough stretch, I would expect no less than for them to play well and have a good chance to win today at Yankee Stadium.

While message boards and talk shows are good at rehashing and over-analyzing every aspect of a tough loss like yesterday’s, the Orioles have shown the ability all year to move on after a game – both a good one and bad one.

Buck Showalter talks about how his club is good at staying in the moment. The moment today is about this afternoon’s game and not the one that got away yesterday. Can’t do anything about that now.

If Chris Tillman pitches like Miguel Gonzalez and Wei-Yin Chen before him this weekend – they combined to give up three earned runs over 13 2/3 innings – the O’s will have a good chance to win today.

As for Pedro Strop, I didn’t see a pitcher that is tiring Saturday. I saw a pitcher that simply overthrew a few pitches in issuing two key walks. He still regrouped enough to possibly send the game tied 3-3 to the eighth inning, but J.J. Hardy’s error instead put New York in the lead.

Strop has been scored on in three of his last seven outings, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use him today in a key spot late in the game. That is his job and he has excelled at that this year.

You don’t avoid using him now because of a misstep or two. You show the same confidence you had in him one, two and three weeks ago. Strop will get plenty of key outs for this team moving forward, maybe as soon as today.

Today presents a contest with a two-game swing for the Orioles. Win it and they’ll be two games out of first with 30 to play. Lose it and they fall four games back and would have a disappointing series loss following Friday’s impressive victory.