After a year of having to pitch in almost half of the Orioles' games, relievers Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker are getting added rest because of the arms of youngsters, particularly Matt Albers and Jim Johnson.
Albers and Johnson both made their 15th appearance of the season on Friday and, as they have done in almost all of their appearances, they were in complete command of the opposing batters. Neither allowed a run. Manager Dave Trembley has no qualms about using the young relievers in tight situations. He doesn't consider anything except their results, noting that "if they can get the job done, I'll put them in. That's what counts, not whether they're rookies or what they did last year."
Trembley said of Johnson, who sports an 1.14 ERA, "I was kind of tentative about bringing him in, when he first got here, in the middle of an inning because he's never done that before. But I haven't seen the guy show any fear or lack of poise.
"His delivery is a whole lot better, and I think he has better life on his fastball ... for a guy who's never pitched out of the bullpen before, what he's been is resilient with the ability to pitch back-to-back days. And he's been resilient with coming in (in) situations in the middle of the inning."
ORIOLES 5, NATIONALS 3: Starter Garrett Olson had the Orioles trailing 2-0 after three batters as Ryan Zimmerman singled home the two runs. But the Orioles got their sixth win in seven games as they scored twice with the aid of a wild throw in the second, got a home run from Luke Scott in the fourth and Melvin Mora and Kevin Millar singled home the final runs in the fifth. Olson held on long enough to get the win, and relievers Matt Albers, Jim Johnson and closer George Sherrill finished off the visitors. Sherrill got his 16th save.
