Jason Berken, a 25-year-old pitcher the Orioles drafted in 2006, persevered through five innings to win his major league debut. Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold, two-thirds of the Orioles' outfield of the future, each slammed two-run home runs.
And Orioles fans who stayed home and watched the game on television - and that was pretty much everyone - learned from president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail that they will have to wait only until Friday to witness the much-anticipated arrival of top-prospect catcher Matt Wieters.
The Orioles' future was on full display in a 7-2 victory over the slumping Toronto Blue Jays on a cold and rainy night that contributed to the smallest crowd in Camden Yards' history. Only an announced 10,130 took in the Orioles' fourth victory in the past five games and the Blue Jays' eighth straight loss. The Orioles (20-26) will go for the three-game sweep this afternoon, though their opposition is ace Roy Halladay.
"We just want ballplayers to come in here," said Jones, the second-year Oriole. "I'm not questioning anybody here, but if somebody's ready to come up, why not give him a shot and see what they're made of? I'm pretty excited hearing earlier in the day that Wieters is going to come up and catch on Friday."
Jones was responsible for a dramatic turn in Berken's fortunes. After the young right-hander got Scott Rolen to line out with the bases loaded and two outs to end the top of the fifth, Jones drove Ricky Romero's high fastball in the bottom of the frame deep into the left-field seats, his two-run homer giving the Orioles a 3-2 lead. Berken, who had thrown 89 pitches and wasn't going to go out for the sixth inning, suddenly went from the potential losing pitcher to the potential winning one.
The Orioles, who got on the board in the second inning on Aubrey Huff's solo homer, expanded the lead to three runs in the sixth on Reimold's two-run shot, his third of the season, and then to five runs on Brian Roberts' two-run double in the eighth. Matt Albers and Jim Johnson each pitched two scoreless innings of relief, and the Blue Jays have now scored just 13 runs in their eight-game losing streak.
"It was pretty special, obviously," said Berken, who pitched in front of about 30 family members and friends. "As soon as [Jones] hit that ball, I knew it was out. And it kind of changes your whole outlook on the outing. I was happy with the way things went. The only thing that was frustrating is my pitch count was a little high. I'd like to pitch deeper in the game, but for my first outing, I can't complain."
