What the *&#%, Baltimore Orioles?

The erstwhile worst team in the major leagues, the Baltimore Orioles, have suddenly won five in a row and eight out of nine, the last two against the Indians. Despite this hot streak, the O's still have the American League's worst record, and still had the worst record in the majors until last night, when they passed Pittsburgh by half a game.

The obvious thing to point to is the managerial change—Buck Showalter is 8-1 with a team that was a putrid 32-73 when he arrived—but no manager can make that big a difference, at least not permanently. He's probably provided some sort of spark, but a manager can't turn the worst team in baseball into the best. It's simply not possible. The Birds simply have a bunch of players who are playing much, much better at the same time than they were all season. They can't keep this up.

Last night's result was a perfect example. Brad Bergesen took the mound for Baltimore with a 3-9 record and a horrendous 6.26 ERA, having not won a game since May. (It's now August, in case you've lost your calendar.) You may think he probably got sent down or hit the disabled list in the meantime, but I just looked at his game log — while he appears to have missed a start here and there, he'd made 14 starts since his last victory, entering Wednesday night's game.

So what does he do? He pitches a complete game two-hitter, and beats the Tribe 3-1. Last night was the highlight of Brad Bergesen's career to date. The Indians came into the series against the Orioles having gone 13-11 against the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Tigers and Twins, contenders all. So it's not like this is a team that was ripe for the picking.

How do you explain it? Seriously, I'd like an answer, because I'm just baffled.

Tribe takes second straight series

Jake Westbrook came within a single out of pitching a complete-game shutout yesterday against the Orioles, just one start after getting his first major league win since 1988. OK, it was 2008, but the point is, it was a long time. Westbrook gave up nine hits yesterday, but a lot of them were ground balls that happened to find holes. He struck out eight, against a single walk. If he pitches like that on a regular basis, he'll do just fine. He still got the complete game in the Indians' 5-1 victory, on 116 pitches.

Westbrook was aided by home runs from Matt LaPorta and Russell Branyan, the latter of which was Branyan's fourth home run of the year, all coming in the past week. There's no question that the guy can touch 'em all if he makes contact. ... Incidentally, you may remember that "touch 'em all time" was Jack Corrigan's signature home run call when he broadcast Tribe games on WUAB-43. A friend of mine used to think he was saying "touch of old time," which confused him because there were more home runs being hit than ever before. I found that amusing.

In other notes:

• The Celtics beat the Magic in Orlando to steal home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals yesterday. Maybe the Cavaliers weren't so bad in that series; maybe it's just that the Celtics are playing over their heads right now.

• WTAM has started a daily "LeBron watch" or whatever they're calling it at 7:45 every morning. The guy can't do anything until July 1, so what there is to talk about every single day between now and then, I can't fathom. But I'm sure they'll come up with something.

• In a non-sports-related note, heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio died of stomach cancer yesterday. At various times the lead singer of Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, his own band Dio, and Heaven & Hell, Ronnie had a unique, powerful voice, and while his lyrics could be a bit hokey, he had his own style, and this is a great loss to the music world. Rest in peace, Ronnie. Anyone who wants to hear Ronnie sing on a great song they've probably never heard should check out this youtube link.

An eight-run explosion!

As I try to forget about the Cavaliers ...

Heading into the ninth inning last night, the punchless Indians seemed about ready to putter their way to a 2-0 loss, with both Orioles runs coming off solo home runs by Ty Wigginton off Tribe starter Mitch Talbot. It looked like Talbot, who had given up two runs on five hits in eight innings of work, would be the hard-luck loser.

Enter Baltimore's 28-year-old rookie closer, Alfredo Simon. Entering last night's game, Simon was 5-for-5 in save opportunities and had not given up a run in his 8 1/3 major league innings since getting called up in late April. Simon got the first hitter, Trevor Crowe, on a pop foul to the third-base side. (More on Crowe later.) That was the only out Simon would record in this one. Asdrubal Cabrera singled to right, Mark Grudzielanek drew a walk, and Shin-Soo Choo followed with an RBI single that put the tying run at second. Then Simon made a mistake up in the zone to Austin Kearns, who was previously 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Kearns deposited it in the left field stands, giving the Indians a 4-2 lead.

Tribe manager Manny Acta got closer Kerry Wood warming up to protect the lead in the bottom of the ninth, as Orioles skipper Dave Trembley pulled Simon in favor of Cla Meredith. Meredith was only slightly better than Simon, walking Travis Hafner, giving up a single to Jhonny Peralta, then striking out Russell Branyan for the second out of the inning. Mike Redmond followed with a two-run double, then Crowe swatted a home run to right that gave the Tribe an eight-run inning and a six-run advantage. Cabrera flied out to end the inning.

Crowe, who had JUST been called up from Columbus the same day, would follow his offensive heroics with a sterling defensive play in the bottom of the ninth. Acta had chosen to go with Tony Sipp instead of Wood, saving Wood in case of a closer game today or later in the week, and Nick Markakis opened the inning with a double off Sipp. The next hitter, Miguel Tejada, sent a liner toward shallow center, where Crowe was playing deep. Crowe got a great jump on the ball, took off on a full sprint toward the infield, and made the play with a diving catch that saved a run.

And that, my friends, is why the Orioles are one of baseball's worst teams.