A huge crowd [url=http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kirk-cousins-jersey]Kirk Cousins Jersey Big[/url] , a well-pitched game and the appearance of a local legend provided the Baltimore Orioles with a rare feel-good moment during a very unenjoyable season.

Rookie Yefry Ramirez and four relievers combined on a four-hitter, Jonathan Schoop drove in a run with a sixth-inning sacrifice fly and the Orioles beat the Texas Rangers 1-0 Saturday night in a matchup of last-place teams.

In part because of a promotional giveaway (Maryland script flag jerseys), a crowd of 38,328 came to support the club with the worst record in the big leagues. Also in attendance: Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson , the 81-year-old former Oriole was introduced as the team’s new special adviser.

And so, on a perfect night for baseball, Baltimore fans were treated to a victory and a bit of nostalgia.

”It’s been a tough season so far for our fans,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter conceded. ”Getting a chance to see Brooks, that’s a highlight of any day or any season, really.”

So was the win. Making his fourth start and bidding for his first major league victory, Ramirez pitched five innings of two-hit ball before being pulled in a scoreless game.

Brad Brach (1-2), Donnie Hart and Mychal Givens followed before Zach Britton worked the ninth for his third save.

It was pretty special, especially for a team that came in with collective 4.92 ERA.

”Yeah, absolutely,” Britton said. ”When I got out to the bullpen today, I was like [url=http://www.steelersfootballauthentics.com/antonio-brown-jersey-authentic]Womens Antonio Brown Jersey[/url] , `Oh, I know it’s a giveaway but we got a nice crowd on hand and they’re into it.”’

Brach, Britton, shortstop Manny Machado and center fielder Adam Jones are among those likely to be dealt by the last-place Orioles before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

After languishing on the disabled list for 11 weeks, Rangers lefty Martin Perez (2-4) allowed one run and five hits over seven innings in his first start since April 29. It was the best of his six starts this season, but he didn’t get a win to show for it.

”It was a good outing for me,” Perez said. ”To come back after two months and a half and throw again like this, make me happy.”

Neither team got a runner to third base until the sixth inning, when the Orioles scored on a walk, an infield hit and a sacrifice fly by Schoop .

The Rangers used a single and an error to get two on with no outs in the eighth. But pinch-runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa was picked off second base, and the uprising fizzled from there.

”We stranded eight runners and made a base-running mistake that hurt us late,” manager Jeff Bannister said.

Texas designated hitter Shin-Soo Choo went 1 for 2 with two walks, extending to 50 his team-record streak of games reaching base via a hit, walk or hit by pitch. He is the seventh player since 2001 to have a run of 50 games and the first since Kevin Millar in 2007.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, teammate Delino DeShields went 0 for 2 and is hitless in his last 25 at-bats since July 4.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: To make room for Perez, LHP Alex Claudio (left ankle sprain) was placed on the 10-day DL and OF Austin Jackson was released. … Manager Jeff Banister said C Carlos Perez [url=http://www.panthersfootballauthentic.com/greg-olsen-jersey-authentic]Youth Greg Olsen Jersey[/url] , who’s been sidelined since mid-June with a right ankle sprain, will finish his rehab assignment on Tuesday. The team will then decide whether to bring him off the DL.

Orioles: RHP Jimmy Yacabonis is too sick to make his scheduled start Sunday, manager Buck Showalter said. Yacabonis was slated to start for injured Andrew Cashner (neck spasms). RHP Chris Tillman, who is slated to conclude his rehab assignment Sunday with Triple-A Norfolk, is an option.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Mike Minor (6-5, 4.56 ERA) takes Texas into the All-Star break, pitching the series finale Sunday. The 30-year-old will seek to add a notch to his team-leading victory total.

Orioles: The All-Star break can’t come soon enough for the Orioles (27-69), who last year lost their 69th game on Sept. 7.

——



George Parros is a busy man early in the Stanley Cup playoffs thanks to a rash of questionable hits around the NHL.

The vice president of player safety’s department suspended Toronto Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri three games for boarding Boston forward Tommy Wingels in what the league called a hit made in the name of retribution and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty one game for an illegal check to the head on Vegas forward William Carrier.

With two suspensions, two misconduct ejections for boarding that resulted in injuries, plus Capitals winger Tom Wilson’s hit to the head that knocked Columbus center Alexander Wennberg out of the game, it has been a rough start to the playoffs – and there have only been eight games played. In 1,271 regular-season games, there were a total of 37 game misconducts and 22 suspensions.

The NHL has made a concerted effort to rid its game of fighting and questionable hits, wanting to keep skilled players on the ice and boost scoring. In the postseason, goals are usually harder to come by and the adrenaline of the moment brings hard hits that cross the line; a year ago, Penguins star Sidney Crosby missed a game with a concussion after a cross-check to the head from the Capitals’ Matt Niskanen.

Kadri was tossed from Toronto’s Game 1 loss at Boston for boarding Wingels [url=http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-anthony-barr-jersey]Anthony Barr Jersey Big[/url] , and Blue Jackets winger Josh Anderson was thrown out of their overtime victory at Washington for a hit from behind that injured Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny.

A game misconduct will likely suffice for Anderson, but Kadri wasn’t as fortunate and will miss Games 2, 3 and 4.

”I certainly wasn’t trying to hit him when he was down like that,” Kadri said after Thursday night’s game. ”Obviously, if he’s still standing up, I think there’s nothing wrong with that, but he ended up falling and reaching for the puck, and I’m not sure what happened after that.”

What happened was another Bruins goal on the ensuing power play that made it 5-1 in the first game between the bitter rivals. Down the East Coast, Wilson’s hit on Wennberg allowed the Blue Jackets to tie the score in a game they won in overtime. Wilson blamed himself for costing Washington Game 1 by taking a bad penalty at a critical moment.

”I’ve got to be better and maybe pass up on that hit,” Wilson said. ”We’ve got the lead there so maybe a big hit’s not needed. It’s the playoffs. Trying to finish your checks, and unfortunately I took a penalty.”

Wilson was suspended two preseason games for interference and then for the first four regular-season games for boarding but had cleaned up his game since. Part of that stemmed from meeting with Parros in Calgary in the fall and educating himself on what’s acceptable and what the NHL looks for.

”We had a meeting, me, him and Parros, and went over videos and just what they were looking at when he was being considered for suspensions and fines and other examples throughout the league,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said.

Parros spent almost a decade as an NHL enforcer and finished his career with 159 fights and 1,127 penalty minutes. When he took over the league’s player safety department last September [url=http://www.steelersfootballauthentics.com/ryan-shazier-jersey-authentic]Womens Ryan Shazier Jersey[/url] , he said he intended to crack down on ”non-hockey plays” that have nothing to do with affecting the course of the game.

Some of the hits may alter series because of the resulting injuries.

Carrier, Kempny, Wennberg and Wingels are all day-to-day with ”upper-body” injuries – the customarily vague description in the NHL – with their statuses legitimately uncertain moving forward. Columbus general manager Jermo Kekalainen called Wennberg ”doubtful” for Game 2 Sunday at Washington and considered it a ”dangerous hit” by Wilson that the league deemed wasn’t worthy of further punishment.

Doughty, a Norris Trophy contender and Los Angeles’ top defender, was suspended for Friday night’s Game 2 against Vegas for what the league called an avoidable hit to Carrier’s head. Kadri’s hit came after Wingels crushed Toronto forward Mitch Marner, but the timing and force of the hit made it worse.

”The bottom line is, you always have to be disciplined at all times and emotions are a part of the game, but it’s got to be controlled,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said.

Kekalainen disagreed with officials giving Anderson a five-minute major and a game misconduct for his hit on Kempny, which was definitely a minor penalty but seemed less egregious than Wilson’s later. That didn’t stop Capitals coach Barry Trotz from voicing his displeasure with Anderson’s play.

”I thought there’s clearly numbers there,” Trotz said. ”Trying to get that out of the game.”

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