First ceremonial first pitch was a little inside. Poor guy was out there in this heat with a long sleeve dress shirt and khakis, but he still offered a quality toss. Second ceremonial pitch (I'm confused too) was bounced to the plate. And that guy was in short sleeves. Rick Kranitz caught the first pitch, Jake Arrieta got the second one.
We've heard a lot about the Orioles' "calvary" of young arms, including Arrieta, coming to save the team. Jeff Zribiec tracked their progress this morning in The Sun. Turns out the Marlins have a calvary of their own. And they, too, were led by Kranitz, who had the same role for Florida in 2006 and 2007.
In 2006, Florida was the first team to have four rookies win at least 10 games. Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez - tonight's starter - are still in the Marlins' rotation. The fourth pitcher, Dontrelle Willis, has since been traded. Sanchez enters tonight's game 6-4 with a 3.22 ERA.
It's not Palmer, Cuellar, Dobson, and McNally winning 20 games a piece in the same season, but a foursome of rookies all notching 10 wins is impressive nonetheless. The feeling would be considerably different in Baltimore this season if the O's had four rookies chasing the Marlins' record-setting wins mark.
I suppose the horses in Baltimore's calvary travel a bit more slowly than Florida's.
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