Orioles Magic

Friday, May 22 - Sunday, May 24

Baltimore Orioles (16-25) at Washington Nationals (12-28)

Pitching Matchups

Friday: BAL: Rich Hill (1-0, 3.18)
WSH: Jordan Zimmerman (2-1, 6.35)

Saturday: BAL: Koji Uehara (2-3, 4.34)
WSH: Ross Detwiler (0-0, 3.60)

Sunday: BAL: Brad Bergesen (1-2, 5.35)
WSH: Shairon Martis (5-0, 4.53)

It's the 2009 Battle of the Beltway! Look at those records, we sure do have some good teams in our area! I will admit that the Battle of the Beltway used to excite me. I have hated the Washington Nubionals ever since they came from Montreal. It wasn't really anything they did, it was their "fans". Most of their "fans" deserted the Orioles and quickly jumped on the Nationals bandwagon. Some did something even more disgusting, they became fans of both teams. I have been to many Battle of the Beltway games, and nothing irks me more than seeing a fan with a Nubionals hat and an Orioles shirt. Pick a side!

The Nubionals are the worst team in baseball and come into this game losers of 10 of their last 12 games. Their problems actually mirror the Orioles problems. They have a decent offense that can put up runs, but they have absolutely no pitching and a hideous bullpen. Free agent pick up, LF Adam Dunn has been everything the Nationals could have hoped for and more. He is hitting .280, with 12 HRs and 33 RBIs. 3B Ryan Zimmerman is off to a hot start, hitting .353, with 10 HRs and 32 RBIs. SS Cristian Guzman has one of the highest averages in baseball, .373.

With a semi decent pitching staff, and a somewhat competent bullpen the Nubionals could at least be 10 games under .500 instead of 16. Countless times this season the Nubionals have led games going into the 8th and 9th innings, only for their bullpen to blow it. Jordan Zimmerman takes the hill tonight, he was recently called up by the Nubionals and is a glimmer of hope for the future. Shockingly, they have a pitcher that is undefeated, Shairon Martis comes into his start Sunday, 5-0.

The Orioles come into the series losers of 4 in a row, and were just swept in embarrassing fashion by the hated New York Yankees. They are already out of contention and its another wasted season in O's town. The one thing they can give their fans is a season series win over the Nubionals, please don't screw that up Baltimore.