Sweet Relief

And breathe. To the diehard Orioles fan, today's 8-3 victory over those pesky A's was like game 7 of the World Series. At least that's how it felt for me near the end, my fingers tightly crossed watching Jim Johnson try to hold that shaky five run lead. As it turned out, the ninth inning was suspiciously easy, especially so considering the type of innings O's fans were put through during the team's heart-wrenching 9-game skid. So, enjoy this moment. Soak it in. Revel in its greatness. Because tomorrow is just game 14 of the 162 game season and we have a sizable hole to dig ourselves out of. And don't forget about all those wonderful injuries. My hope is that today's strangely high dosage of offensive output is the beginning of a positive turn for our leadoffer-less lineup (alliterations are fun!). Pairing an improved offense with the above-average starting pitching (not including Bergy) we've gotten has to equal some victories. Of course, the Orioles would still find a way to lose, or at least make it unnecessarily interesting. But I've become a bit of a pessimist. Naturally.

So again I say savor this moment ye weary and tired O's fans. It only gets rougher from here.

Sorry to be a buzzkill, by the way.