Orioles 7 Yankees 5 - Magic Number: 160

Konichiwa Koji Uehara! Welcome aboard, as the O's guaranteed themselves an opening series win over the dreaded New York Yankees.

The bullpen was shaky again, a reversal from last year, but the O's hit the crap out of the ball for a second straight game, causing Yanks starter Chien-Ming Wang to come up limp. Right off the bat, you could tell the Oriole hitters were still in the groove from opening day, getting three extra base-hits in the 1st inning, then chasing a flaccid Wang after 3 2/3 innings when Nick Markakis hit a bomb to put the home team up 7-1. Up 7-2 after 5, for some reason O's manager Dave Trembley pulled Koji and put in Matt Albers, who proceeded to make things interesting. Dennis Sarfate did the same, giving up a 2-run homer to Derek Jeter. Trembley's explanation after the game was that he's trying to limit Koji's pitch count early on. Not a bad strategy, but through two games, its clear the bullpen is a little slow out of the gate.

Still, it was a nice follow-up to the stellar opening day, and the O's have now put some panic into New York early on. They've bombed two former 20-game winners in a row. The crowd was smaller than opening day, but the O's fans were once again into things from beginning to end. Let's try to keep this support up all year.

And now, comes the part where I rip Mark Teixeria again. First, let me uphold the new Baltimore tradition...

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

If Big Cash thought the worst was over, he was dead wrong. Again, the crowd wasn't as big as on opening day, but they still let Big Cash have it everytime he stepped up to the plate. As if we needed more fuel to boo this goof, he provided some. If Big Cash was thinking he was going to quiet the boobirds by playing the "I always rooted for the Orioles. Except for when Don Mattingly came to town" card, he's sadly mistaken. Got news for ya Big Cash, the boos aren't going to stop. You got 8 more years of this. It's the price you pay for signing a contract with the Yankees for roughly the GDP of Namibia and talking out of both sides of your mouth. All he had to do was say, "I'm going wherever the best deal is," and no one would have cared. We would have been disappointed, sure, but we would have understood. But instead, he wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted the big money contract but he wants everybody to like him. Doesn't work that way, especially not in Baltmo, where slights are seldom forgiven. Like I said yesterday, Big Cash could have been the King of Baltimore but he chose to be just another hired gun in New York. I just look forward to the day four years from now when Big Cash is introduced at Oriole Park...and is still showered with boos while he makes a face that says "Why are they still booing me?" The thought is priceless.

So, its 2-0 for the O's on the young season. Big sports day for the Good Guys tomorrow: Caps can clinch the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference and the O's can sweep the Yankees. Until then, in honor of our new Japanese pitcher, if you like an Orioles win, give me a Domo Arigato!