Angst, it’s pretty popular these days and you probably noticed all the conflicted emotions floating around Camden Chat. People are unsure of how to deal with our new found winning ways. Look around you and you see some awkward swagger, some hesitant optimism, and plenty of denial and pessimism. But whatever you feel inside, there is one fact about the Orioles, one fact which all the angst, denial, and pessimism in the world can’t change; The Baltimore Orioles are in first place in the AL East. As a result, Orioles fans need to stop rooting against the Red Sox, at least for now.

No more rooting against the Red Sox. No more rooting for the Rays. In the past, the Rays were kindred spirits, fellow bottom dwellers. At some point they made it out of the bad part of town and got a nice penthouse suite in an area of prime real estate. We were proud of them because they suffered through what we had been through, and they made it out of the bottom and rose up to challenge the snobbish Yankees and Red Sox. We looked at what they had done and thought; some day we can do that. And last year we fought with them to knock the vaunted Red Sox out of the playoffs. But the thing about having a bad team is that you gain pleasure from the failures of one team but not the success of your own team.

But this isn’t last year, and while we may just be renting, the Orioles have moved into that penthouse suite, the Rays are trying to kick us out, and the Red Sox are bottoming out at some stash house across town. It’s time to get rid of the loser mentality and start looking out for our own interests. Rooting against the 5th place team when they are playing the second place team is just silly. Of course, whenever an AL East team is playing a non- AL East team, you should root for the non-AL East team. I’m not saying that we should be actively rooting for the Red Sox when they play the Yankees or the Rays, but I am saying that the Rays are no longer our friends and we should root against them at all times.

Last year, we were content to sit back and watch as the Red Sox exploded while our team languished in the basement of the AL East. But this year we are almost 25% through the year and the Red Sox are a last place team and we are a first place team. And when the second place team plays the last place team, we root against the second place team. And while a Red Sox collapse is a beautiful thing, an Orioles first place finish would be beautiful beyond compare. Let's embrace the nice things we have, the new suite with the marble counters and gold plated bathtub. So as hard as it is to say... GO TEAM IN 5th PLACE OF THE AL EAST (whoever that maybe be at any given time).

Anyone who knows me knows I have been a big fan of Robert Andino for a while now. But despite his general awesomeness, what real value does he hold as a baseball player? The answer to that question changes depending on his role with the team, last year he was basically an everyday player but in the future he will probably be more of a bench player. There has also been occasional talk about using him as a trade chip. Is he valuable in that situation or is he more valuable in the O's lineup?

Continue reading this post »

Since we have a lot of Homeland watchers here. DISCUSS!

The Mariners have pitching, the Orioles do not. The Orioles have hitting, the Mariners do not. Let's make a deal.

Let's start out with what each team will put on the table:

Seattle

James Paxton

Blake Beavan

Taijun Walker

Shawn Kelley

Baltimore

J.J. Hardy

Nolan Reimold

Jake Arrieta

L.J. Hoes

Luke Scott

Jonathon Schoop

Continue reading this post »

So that we don't have to worry about spoilers.

I thought that the finale had it's moments but really didn't take any risks or make any big moves. In the end I think it ended too predictably. That isn't to say that season 4 wasn't great and that the next season won't be great. But I felt that after about 12 really strong episodes these last 2 were a let down. Tara staying in Charming, Clay is still alive, the government is basically off the Sons completely, it seems like everything wrapped up too nicely. There was the little thing at the end about some potential beef with the Niners in Oakland which might carry over and be a big focus of next season. Also, why was there almost no violence? I'm not saying that SOA is only good if there is violence, because the drama is great, but this is a crime show which has had some seriously awesome action scenes this season. No big buildups or shootouts though, just Jax taking the gavel which was sort of obvious, I mean come on, no one actually thought he was gonna leave. The Tara- Jemma stare off at the end was sort of cool, but I get the sense that Jemma got what she wanted and that whole familial drama is a moot point now. I sense next season will have a lot of the Niners trying to get revenge and Opie stirring shit up.

No picture of Rex Grossman today, sorry.

Let's talk about you and your pick 'em problems!

A Dino autograph I have back from when he was #12

Someone just told ROBERT that Papelbon has a good fastball.

Rolling up his sleeves for a kill. 

Just picturing that MBP award.

via i212.photobucket.com

Cold blooded Red Socks Killer.

Robert Andino confronts Luke about the banana chips lying around the locker room.

These motherfuckers will fuck you up. 

ROBERT MOTHERFUCKING ANDINO!

Earlier today the Toronto Blue Jays traded for 24 year old outfielder Colby Rasmus, a promising young major league ready player who adds to a more and more imposing lineup. Meanwhile, Vladimir Guerrero is still hitting cleanup for the Orioles. Vlad went hitless today, leaving three runners on base and grounding into a double play, bringing his OPS below the .700 mark. If he were to finish with that mark it would be the lowest OPS of his career since 1996, when he had 27 at-bats and I was four years old. This does a good job of summing up where the Orioles find themselves at this point in the season.

It's that magical point in the season where hopes of a young rotation have vanished and OPACY crowds small upon entry, dwindle throughout the game as fans leave in the face of insurmountable deficits to seek life and love away from the suffocating air of Derrek Lee strikeouts and Kevin Gregg blown saves. It's almost August which means that by the third inning the players often have less hope than the fans, the umpires blow the calls and no one really cares, and often times if it's a win or a loss it doesn't matter because Alfredo Simon, Chris Jakubauskas, Troy Patton, and Kevin Gregg pitched, so Orioles fans lose either way.

The story coming into this game was that lefties actually hit better than righties against Ricky Romero. This led to Felix Pie and Blake Davis getting starts. Words cannot explain how bad this decision is, but numbers can. Felix Pie this season was 1-15 versus lefties, Riemold however has a .875 OPS versus lefties this year, which is about 600 points higher than Felix. Meanwhile Robert Andino who is 30-90 versus lefties this year got the bench for Blake Davis who is hitting .231. So, how did this work out for Buck and the boys?

Continue reading this post »

In the following post I am going to lay out how I think the Orioles should build their roster this trade deadline and upcoming off-season. No questions will be asked, only answered.

The Orioles lineup has failed to live up to the expectations laid out at the start of the year. Almost every single player has fallen short of numbers given to us by the front office. But the Orioles can still build a good lineup around a core of players. Wieters at catcher, Hardy at shortstop, Jones in center, and Markakis in right. If you can extend Hardy that gives you four solid players to build around. That leaves you with five questionable positions: 1B, 2B, 3B, DH, and LF.

Continue reading this post »

Armed with a camera, my best seats ever, and the preparedness to lose I took to Safeco Field today to watch a match up between the O's and the M's. Here are a few of the snapshots, along with some great analysis. Let's begin:

Jim Palmer clearly giving the pitching coach some coaching on pitching. Notice Zach and Brian in the background.

Mark Reynolds crosses his fingers while Alfredo Simon warms up. 

These two buddies were together the whole game. 

Not a great picture, but AJ was on the front step the whole game. 

There was a lot of this. 

And this. 

What species is that again? 

A couple of buddies talking shop.

  Mandatory Dino pic.

JJ and friends making fun of Mark Reynolds and his batting average. 

I will upload more to photobucket and link it, but I still have about 100 more photos to upload.

So I had this whole deal written up about Orioles public relations and ticket sales and promotion and building a fan base, and so on and so forth. This was going to be a second part in a series where I just write about the Orioles. I felt like I have spent a lot of time around Camden Chat over the last five or so years, but I don't always make my opinions known and I figured now that I had a little bit of time I would put myself out there. I even wrote an episode of a TV show starring Buck Showalter to debut in a new monthly comedy post I want to create. And then tonight happened.

 I can honestly say it was the second worst Orioles game I have ever watched. I put my heart into this game. I didn't move from my bedroom chair for most of the extra innings and before every pitch from an Oriole I rubbed my white Ipod headphones in a certain way with my index finer brushing over the back of it because it was good luck, I was so superstitious I refused to move to either of the overflow threads; instead sometimes compiling seven consecutive comments in the original thread. I refused to give up because I wanted the Orioles to win so badly I would do anything I could from thousands of miles away to help them. I wanted to walk off and beat the Yankees, come from behind and stun them, I wanted to send messages on Facebook to anyone I remotely know who is a Yankee fan and tell them to suck it. I wanted it and I poured every inch of my soul into wanting it, because god damnit this doesn't happen to us nearly as often as it should and I want to savor the sweet taste of Yankee blood after a successful hunt. I want it because I love this team and I will always love this team and sometimes I am naive enough to think that if I just want it enough, they will get it done for me. I am a fool in love.

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Now things get dicey. Because I hate this team. I hate it with a passion. The sort of passion that makes someone stand and yell the F word for 5 minutes after a tough loss, the sort of passion that causes depression. I despise this team because I tell my dad we might come back and win and then I have to explain just how terrible we are and why we lost. I don't need to explain why we are terrible, you already know and if not, Eat More Esskay told you. But they are so pathetically life draining it makes me want blood out of revenge. If it's not Yankee blood I get, then I shall partake in the blood of Michael Gonzalez.

Seriously, I feel for the guy, he is terrible. But you know what? I spent four hours on this game. I had a good time, you guys are great. We had some hilarious body part / swear word jokes (not sure what else to call them) with Andy_G, WW, PBR, and many others. You know when those jokes stopped though? The second Michael Gonzalez came in. The difference between "Steve (dot)" and Gonzalez is that Steve. loves the Orioles. I really feel bad for Gonzo, he pooped his pants, and he hit a guy in the head which would make anyone feel pretty terrible. But he clearly doesn't love this team enough to stay.

Our bulllpen pitched its heart out today. It was an amazing effort; each and every struggling guy came in and no matter what, they left with a zero on the board against one of the best hitting teams in baseball. Britton was awesome, Rapada was good, Berken did well, Gregg got the job done, Koji shut it down, JJ pitched great. Even Accardo did ok. The whole game up until the 15th there was only one extra base hit. Accardo gave up a few soft singles but he did a crazy good job of getting out the best hitters and getting out of innings. He gave up a couple of singles in the 15th and they asked Gonzo to step up and be a good teammate, they asked him to pick up his bullpen mate. He throws one pitch and it was the hardest hit of the night. Game over, good night.

I don't know how that man can hold his head in that clubhouse. If I'm Andy MacPhail, which I'm not, I bring him into my office and tell him this: "Either you go to AAA and fix whatever problem you have or you leave my organization now." My suggestion for you Michael? Go back to the National League and best of luck to you there; but I love this team too much to see you stomp on my heart.

As I reel in this post I would like to implore each of you who watched this game to share how you felt about it. I will compile your thoughts into a large document and mail them or hand deliver them to the doorstep of Andy MacPhail. In closing I would like to quote PBR me ASAP!: " you really refused to let this thread die" I see this as more than just staying in one thread for a game because it was lucky. This is the idea that Orioles fans refuse to give up no matter how badly we get thrown around. We refuse to let the dream of winning die. We can't quit because black and orange makes our heart pump, because we want it more than some carpetbag, opposite coast, bandwagon Yankee fan scumbag. I hate this team only because I love this team. Ain't dead. Can't quit. Won't bow. Don't know how.

The Orioles have promoted a losing culture for too long now. They lose on the field and they lose off the field. They put terrible teams out to play and they provide a terrible ballpark experiences for the fans. Today the Orioles blew a 6 run lead and the worst part was that every single fan on Camden Chat could see it coming the minute that Michael Gonzalez came into the game and gave up one hit. It was almost a joke, as in "Hey wouldn't it be funny if we blew another 6 run lead" No, it wasn't funny.

NESN showed a clip from 2007 of Julio Lugo jumping up and down as the Orioles bullpen blew a 6 run lead. Nothing has changed, nothing .A bunch of free agent relievers come in and blow the game, same old story.

We were told that Buck Showalter would come in with an iron fist and remove any one who wasn't a nugget or a pile jumper. Newsflash, Micheal Gonzalez will never jump in a pile and Kevin Gregg is not a nugget. Our lineup did a job today and scored 7 runs; I don't care if we could have scored more, we scored 7 today which should be good enough to win any game. Chris Tillman pitched well, but had to leave with an injury. Our bullpen couldn't hold onto a 6 run lead. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic. I don't care about the errors because frankly even if Reynolds makes that play in the 6th, it would have been tough to get Crawford. Either way, a good relief pitcher would be able to pick up his teamate and bail him out. That wasn't the case, because Gonzalez is a pathetic baseball player who could care less about winning because he is making his millions with no effort and with no fear of repercussion. It's time to show these guys who they really are.

It's time to remove Kevin Gregg from the closers role, because if he can't throw a strike under pressure then maybe he can throw one while in a mop up role. It's time to send Gonzalez down to AAA to see if he can get minor leaguers out because he can't get anyone out in the Majors. It's time to release Jeremy Accardo because he is useless and can be cut with the snap of a finger. If Buck and Andy can't come together and realize this has to be done, then I lose all respect for them.

We are tired of being a laughing stock of this league, We are tired of watching other teams celebrate while our overpaid, 2 year rentals walk off the mound with their heads hung. We are tired of having all of my love for this team thrown away by seeing a bunch of free agent relievers who could care less about the fans. This has to end now and if Buck Showalter and Andy MacPhail don't see the need for change then they don't deserve to be in baseball. This is an offical plea for a real change and a real desire to win. When Buck fails to do this he becomes no different than Dave Trembley and Sammy Perlozzo and every other interem manager just like Gregg and Gonzalez are no different than Jamie Walker and Chris Ray and Danys Baez and every other bum that has been trotted out there.

More to come on different topics later in the week. Stay tuned.

Via http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110408&content_id=17514236&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Well, it looks like silly old Manny was still on the happy needle. Hopefully this is the last of the big sluggers to go down as a user, signalling perhaps an end to all this nonsense. As an Oriole fan I take a great deal of delight in this event. Manny has always been one of my most hated players and to see him walk away in shame is lovely. However, this is not as good for Major League Baseball as they try to distance themselves from the steroid era. Had he taken the punishment it would have been a 100 game suspension of course he was already suspended once for 50 games. Tampa is on the verge of an 0-7 start and this is another blow to their season after losing Crawford and Pena. The point is, however, we never have to see his face again, which is lovely, stunning, and frankly beautiful. Feel free to share your favorite Manny hate stories. I think that my favorite moments were when he played the field and was just terrible at it, just Manny being Manny. HE GONE!

With 34 people filling out the poll, we are going to need 3 leagues. So here is how they will stack up.

League #1(Commish Westie)

1. Yahoo.com
2. No Money
3. Daily Locks
4. A few new stats / no wins
5. 12 teams
6. Head to Head

League #1 Details: The league is titled "Camden Chat League #1" it's on Yahoo. Password is "Westieisking!"  League ID # is: 72239

League #2 (Commish Stacey)

1. ESPN.com
2. No money
3. Daily Locks
4. A few new stats / no wins
5. 12 teams
6. Head to head

Update from Stacey: This league is full. The participants are me, daveh873, danielreese05, NewYorkOriole, dfa, Luke E, Andrew_G, twistedlogic, Emperor Lrrr, HolyOs, Nawlins Oriole, and HIO'sFan. If you're any of these people and are having trouble signing up, send me an email. 

League #3 (Commish tflach2)

1. Yahoo.com
2. No Money
3. Daily Locks
4. A few new stats/ no wins
5. 10 teams
6. Roto

tflach2 set this up as a 6X6 roto league with the name cc roto league, league ID 78465, and password .500orbust!

New orders of business:

A) We need to people who want to commish to step up.

B) Decide if you want to be in Yahoo or ESPN

2B) If you want to be in Yahoo, decide if you want to do H2H or Roto.

C) If you answered the poll but didn't make a post, you need to speak up now.

D) So in conclusion, either post or e-mail me which league you want to be in.

Continue reading this post »

So the other day I was looking at how my favorite National League team was doing. As I noticed how R.A. Dickey and Carlos Beltran had the same batting average, I also noticed a shortstop named Lu. Hernandez. I thought to myself, gee whiz, where have I heard that name before. That's when I remember, it must be Luis Hernandez, one of seven Orioles shortstops on the now famous 2008 Baltimore Orioles. This made me want to dig a little deeper. I remember Hernandez playing some good baseball at one point, so I decided to check out what happened to him. I thought I would explore what happened to the six guys. Here is what I found:

Luis Hernandez. Luis earned his spot on that 2008 team with some decent play at the plate and at shortstop in 30 2007 games. But in 2008 his AVG. dropped to .241. Hernandez would then play for the Royals (of course) in 2009, where he hit just over .200. Before spring training this year he was picked up by the Mets and placed in their minor league system. But after hitting a combined .290 in both AA and AAA, as well as being named a AA all-star, he was called up by the Mets after 104 minor league games. He is 1-5 with a single for New York. Best of luck to you Louie!

Juan Castro. In the middle of the 2008 season, the Orioles traded a useless infielder named Mike McCoy for Juan Castro. Castro, at the time was 0-10 with the Reds and 15-50 with the Rockies AAA team. After coming to the Orioles Castro would hit just .205 while committing 5 errors. Despite his terrible 2008 effort, Castro continues to hold employment in Major League Baseball. He would sign with the Dodgers in '09 and hit a solid .277 then he would be signed by the Phillies in '10 released by the Phillies and signed by the Dodgers again. In 2010 he is hitting .194 and he has played in 55 games. At 38 he is making 700,000 dollars a year. At least the Orioles never paid him a dime.

Alex Cintron. After meeting with some success in Arizona and little to none as a White Sock, Cintron was signed before the 2008 season and released almost immediately after. In 61 games Alex hit a surprising .281, in the spirit of Julio Lugo he had just 7 extra base hits. After 2008 he would cross over to our bitter rivals, the Nationals. When one hits .077 with the Nationals however, one cannot expect ones phone to ring regarding further employment. Cintron however managed to get a job in the Mariners organization where he hit .248 in AAA Tacoma. In 2010, he was signed by the Mets. In AAA Buffalo he is hitting .228.

Melvin Mora. Melmo played one game at shortstop. You know the rest.

Freddie Bynum. Good old Freddie. Bynum was acquired from the Cubs for a guy named Kevin Hart, who stinks. In 2007 Bynum hit .260 in 70 games for the O's "earning" himself a spot on the 2008 squad. But in 121 Ab's he hit just .179 and at the end of the year, the let him go. He has yet to play in the Majors since then, poor Freddie. In 2009 he hit a combined .253 with three levels of the Nationals minor league system. After the 2009 season he was signed by the White Sox, before the 2010 season, he was released. He was then signed by The Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese Baseball League. He is 2-18.

Brandon Fahey. Known as the smallest baseball player ever and the benefactor of a well connected father, Fahey was drafted 3 times, twice by Baltimore. In 2006 he finally made it pro, he hit .235 in about 250 at-bats. He would play again for the birds in '07 when he hit .196 in 54 at-bats. His final year as an Oriole was 2008, he hit .226 in just over 100 at bats. He would be released after that year and signed by the Blue Jays. As of now, he does not play baseball. But I hear the O's might need a shortstop next year Brandon.

Oscar Salazar. Played one game in '08 at shortstop. He was a key player on Birdland Day. We got Cla Meredith for him in a trade. He is a bench player on the Padres, although he is currently in A+ ball.

Eider Torres. Torres signed with the O's in '06, his only MLB games where in '08 with Baltimore. He went 2-9. He was picked up by the White Sox and currently plays in the Rockies system hitting .323 in AAA.

That concludes my report. All stats courtesy of http://www.baseball-reference.com

I was going to add some pictures, but there I'm not sure about all these new rules regarding usage.

You really have to love a good mentor. When that mentor gives you eight shutout innings, you stand up and cheer. When that mentor strikes out 5 while only walking 1, you stand up and cheer. When that mentor gets his third win of the season, you stand up and cheer. Let us stand up and cheer now for a great performance by the one, the only, Kevin Millwood.

Kevin was on point tonight. He threw 110 pitches through 8 innings and gave up 6 hits, while striking out 5. That isn't a Walter Johnson type performance, but it was pretty darn good. He was helped out by pretty good defense, Torii Hunter running the bases, and the double play ball. 

Meanwhile at the plate the O's put up 5 without Jones or Roberts, and the bottom three in the order were responsible for four of the runs. First, Josh Bell went deep to right-center from the right side of the plate, that brought in two runs. Then, in the weirdest play of the game, Ty Wigginton scored from second on a groundball to the pitcher. Well, let me explain that for you. Fox hit a slow chopper that Scott Kazmir had to hustle down, but the first baseman, Mike Napoli, also went for it, leaving first base open. Fox and Kazmir had a foot race to the bag. As they both neared The Wonderful White Square of Singles, Jake decided to slide (brilliant Jake). He slid safely and Kazmir tripped over him sending Scott flying a few feet. On his horse, Wiggy rounded third and headed for home. Kazmir was forced to make a 100 foot throw while seating on his rear, Wiggy scored. Not surprisingly Fox had to leave the game.

Cesar Izturis and Craig Tatum would also have RBI singles.

You win four, you lose one. That's just how it works in Buckland. Hey, I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin'.  Jeanmar Gomez, he looked pretty good today. He held a hot Orioles offense to just six hits through 6 innings. After that, the Indians put the ball in the hands of their two best bullpen pitchers.

The O's scored their one run after Josh Bell doubled and then with two outs, Ty Wigginton had a RBI single to drive Josh in. Other than that, the Orioles didn't draw a walk and had only singles, barring the Bell double. After another Pie injury scare in the 5th, the O's put two on with two outs, but Izturis couldn't get a big two out hit.

Kevin Millwood delivered another "quality start," he went 7 innings and gave up 3 runs, that's a pretty good outing. Jason Berken also gave up an unearned run courtesy of Josh Bell. 

This game was just one of those games where the other pitcher turns in a good outing and you tip your cap. Or, if you're on Buck's team, you get your business together and take it to the Devil (yeah I said it) Rays tomorrow

This is a short recap due to the fact that it is noon, no wait, it's midnight. No one is gonna read this anyway, but some folks were slacking so I'm throwing this up.

The league has been created. The draft day has been set. Now all other players may clear the path for my victory.

It's on Yahoo, you need an account there. Go to the fantasy football area, create a new team, click join a private league.

Here are the league details:

League ID: 337836

League Name: Camden Chat

Password: BuckShowalter

The maximum number of teams right now is 12, if need be I will raise that, if need be.

The live draft date is Wed Sep 8 6:15pm PDT. AKA Wed Sep 8 9:15pm EST.

Feel free to ask any questions or post your favorite dirty word in the comments section below.

The 81st annual All Star Game starts in a few moments. Im just throwing up a quick thread, since it's my job, "The Game Day Gang. They're touring the facility and picking up slack." Yeah, I'm part of that. Anyway, David Price takes on Ubaldo Jimenez. Enjoy all the MFY / PHN FOX lovin'. Ty Wigginton will probably get into this game at some point, I'm thinking he will ground out, feel free to disagree.

THIS ONE COUNTS.

Lineups:

National League:

1. SS Hanley Ramirez, Marlins
2. 2B Martin Prado, Braves
3. 1B Albert Pujols, Cardinals
4. DH Ryan Howard, Phillies
5. 3B David Wright, Mets
6. LF Ryan Braun, Brewers
7. CF Andre Ethier, Dodgers
8. RF Corey Hart, Brewers
9. C Yadier Molina, Cardinals

American League:

1. RF Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners
2. SS Derek Jeter, Yankees
3. 1B Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
4. CF Josh Hamilton, Rangers
5. DH Vladimir Guerrero, Rangers
6. 3B Evan Longoria, Rays
7. C Joe Mauer, Twins
8. 2B Robinson Cano, Yankees
9. LF Carl Crawford, Rays

The highlight of this ballgame was the work put in by Jake Arrieta, despite being inexplicably taken out of the game in the 7th inning, he pitched 6.1 innings, giving up 1 run (on a solo homer in the first), striking out two, all on 90 pitches. He came on strong behind the outing of Tillman last night, and provided what one might call a glimpse of the Orioles future. In the first inning, he pitched well but gave up a first inning solo bomb to Ian Kinsler. That was it, one run on one pitch. Arrieta would strike out three and walk two. He gave up 5 hits other than the solo shot and many of those hits were either seeing eye groundballs or cheap bloop hits. It was really nice to watch Arrieta backup the performance of Tillman with this near gem.

Entering the 7th inning, Arrieta had thrown 88 pitches. Elvis Andrus was the first hitter, pinch hitting for catcher Bengie Molina. Arrieta got him to ground out on two pitches. With a lefty coming up next, Juan Samuel decided to go with the lefty - lefty matchup, never mind Arrieta was doing just fine, never mind he had only throw 90 pitches, never mind the left hander was only hitting .200. We must have match ups. Ohman came in to face Chris Davis. He walked Davis. Josh Hamiltion came up as a pinch hitter next. Hamilton singled to right and that was it for Ohman. The match up clearly worked out great. Jason Berken came up next and got the next two right handers to fly out. So the bullpen avoided blowing the game, however I still feel that Jake should have stayed in the game, my case:

Arrieta didn't have a high pitch count and he needs the confidence that he can finish his own game. Good pitchers go 7 innings all the time. Let's assume Arrieta is a good pitcher, why bring him out of the game when he hasn't even gotten into trouble. I know this all worked out, but I was really irate at this move. Feel free to post your opinion on the move below.

Anyway, Jason Berken came in and pitched 1.2 innings without giving up a hit or a run, while walking one. Simon got his 13th save in the 9th, giving up a couple of hits while doing so. Arrieta got his 3rd win and lowered his ERA to 4.38, from 4.96.

The second inning was the big inning for the Orioles at the plate. Adam Jones started out with a double, which he thought was a home run. Had he not jogged out of the batters box, he would have had a triple, lucky for him it all worked out. Jake Fox followed, he struck out for the first time, he would do so again later. New starting catcher, Craig Tatum, worked a walk, putting runners at first and second with one out. Julio Lugo stepped to the plate and "ripped" a double into left field, plating Jones and putting runners at second and third. Next up was Cesar Izturis. The Rangers brought the infield in and I pleaded with Izturis to "Get Corey up there..." Cesar obliged, grounding out to Micheal Young, who was playing in at third base. That brought up Corey Patterson with runners ar second and third and two outs. Scorey, as we call him here, placed a ball into left field, bringing in Lugo and Tatum, he hustled his way into second with a two out double. That was it in the second, an impressive offensive inning, in which the Orioles drew two walks, one by Tejada, and really made C.J. Wilson work. That was three runs and all the O's would need. 

Later in the 9th inning, against Frank Fransisco, Miguel Tejada would hit the "Ford Drive of the Game" just over the fence in right for a fourth Oriole run. Overall the Orioles were 3-13 with runners in scoring position, yet all they needed was a big hit from Corey Patterson. Markakis and Ty Wigginton had tough days, they both went 1-5, with a combined 3 strikeouts. Everyone but Jake Fox reached base at least once. Tejada would finish the day with a shocking 3 walks along with his long ball.

On defense the Orioles really did a great job. Patterson made a nice sliding play in left and Tejada put on a throwing clinic once again, showing off his cannon on a regular basis. 

This was a great way to end the first half, a four game sweep, on the road, against a first place team. Hopefully what we saw from some of the young starters, the hitters, and the late inning bullpen guys rolls over into the second part of the season.

Looking forward to the second half, we can expect to see Wieters and Pie come back, as well as Mike Gonzalez.

Hope you all enjoy a safe, fun All-Star Break. Tune into the Home Run Derby on Monday, the All-Star Game on Tuesday, then enjoy two baseball-less days. The Orioles will continue their regular season on the 16th against the Blue Jays of Canada.

Props to Brad Bergesen, he pitched a great game today. In the first seven innings he gave up four hits, he walked none, and he struck out six. Two of the hits were solo home runs by J.D. Drew. The first Drew homer was very questionable, as a fan made contact with the ball, Samuel needed to ask for a replay, but I guess he wasn't paying attention.  Other than those two mistakes, Bergesen was absolutely stellar. Entering the 8th inning, he had thrown 89 pitches. To start the 8th he struck out Darnell McDonald looking, and retired Kevin Cash on a ground out. Next up Marco Scutaro gets a double off a 1-0 fastball. That brings up Eric Patterson, 0-3, hitting .202. Now wheather or not Will Ohman comes in, it is likely that Daniel Nava would pinch hit for Patterson. That aside, up until the Scutaro double, Bergesen had retired 10 hitters in a row. But wait, says Juan Samuel, Bergesen has hit the magical 100 pitch mark, this must mean I have to take him out. So instead of letting Bergesen finish his great outing, he cuts him short at 7 and 2/3 innings.

Will Ohman comes into face pinch hitter Daniel Nava, who pops a single down the line, out of the reach of Ty Wigginton, Julio Lugo, and Nick Markakis. I'm not saying it was a great hit, but there is no doubt that Brad Bergesen should have stayed in to finish the 8th inning. His final line would contain 7 and 2/3's innings pitched, 5 hits, 3 earned runs, zero walks, a career high 7 strikeouts, and his 5th loss. He managed to lower his ERA by .39, a significant portion.

The offense consitsted of a Nick Markakis solo home run and a two out RBI single by Corey Patterson to score Josh Bell. The Orioles managed seven hits, all singles with the exception of the Markakis long ball. Everyone managed to reach base once, via hit or walk, except Ty Wigginton who took the lone 0-4. The O's just couldn't manage another clutch hit after the Patterson single. Nick Markakis made a great diving catch in right in addition to his homer.

The decision to take out Bergy has me pretty irate and I think rightfully so. But at some point the O's needed to put more runs up on the board and ultimately bad offense hurt them once again.

The homeboy Jeremy Guthrie takes the hill on Saturday.

First off, happy Josh Bell Day. The rookie third baseman was 1-4 with a single and a strikeout. He made one good play to start a double play and he also made a throwing error.

Jake Arrieta made his 5th start of the year. He went 6 innings gave up three earned runs and one unearned run. He gave up seven hits and walked four, while striking out two. He got the loss and lowered his ERA to 5.81. It wasn't really a bad start. He looked good in the first and didn't throw too many pitches, but a bad second inning really sunk him. Frank Mata was terrible, allowing four and only getting one out. Matt Albers allowed one runner of Mata's to score, while pitching one and two thirds innings without giving up a run of his own. Koji pitched a scoreless inning.

Corey Patterson scored the lone run on a Nick Markakis sac fly, Patterson was 2-4 with a stolen base and a double. Jones, Wieters, Tejada, Bell, and Markakis each had one single each. We left 7 runners on and went 0-5 w/ RISP.Ty Wiggington also made a 5th inning error.

There was not much in the way of pitching today, but most importantly, there was zero offense, resulting in the 54th O's loss. Now that's entertainment!

Jake Arrieta took the hill looking for his 3rd straight win today as the Orioles were trying to win their first series since May 13th against Seattle. However, Jake Arrieta was dealt his first Major League loss and the Orioles failed to win their first series on the road.

The Orioles started the game off with a bang. We loaded the bases and then with two outs, Adam Jones hit a ground ball to 3rd. Mr. Zawadzki must be one hell of an Orioles fan, because he took about three steps with the ball in his glove before finally throwing to first, Adam hustled to reach on the error which allowed one run to score. Then Matt Wieters drove a bases clearing double, opposite field, to plate three more runs. That was it for the O's offense.

Jake Arrieta was bad, everything was up in the zone. There is a debate as to whether or not he lost some velocity on his fastball as well. Anyway, he only went 3 innings giving up 5 earned runs (1 unearned), he suffered his first loss as a Major League pitcher. Mark Hendrickson pitched 3 giving up one. Frank Mata pitched 1 giving up two, and Matt Albers pitched 1 giving up none.

We had just two hits through the last eight innings. Back to the norm for the O's. Not really much to say but for an uplifting moment you can always watch the Matt Wieters double highlight.

'Til next time. GO O'S!

EDIT: The hit by Adam Jones in the first was changed to a single, not an error. Therefore he has an RBI from the play and all runs were earned.

Ladies and Gentleman, I give you a WIN! They tried their hardest to lose it, but we did it folks. To celebrate I have written a bonus recap, after the jump, you should also read the recap below, written by Eat More Esskay. This post here however is a short recap of Minor League happenings, mostly regarding high profile players.

AAA (Norfolk) -- Norfolk took out a whooping on Toledo today, winning 10-3. Former "prospect" Troy Patton went 5 innings giving up 1 earned run (3 total), he is 5-7 with a 4.74 ERA. Armando Gabino pitched 3 shutout innings lowering his ERA to 2.45, AAA hitters are hitting just .220 against him, perhaps his time is near. Lastly Cla Meredith pitched a scoreless inning, "lowering" his ERA to 13.50.

Josh Bell hit his 8th long ball, he has a .266 AVG, Nolan Riemold hit a double and was 2-4, he is now hitting .217Jeff Salazar hit 2 homers and drove in 4.

 
This guy was 1-5.

AA (Bowie) -- Zach Britton pitched 6 scoreless, lowering his ERA to 2.62. Our old buddy Jim Hoey pitched 1 scoreless, his ERA is 2.45. 23 year old Ryan Adams had 2 RBI and Caleb Joseph went hitless.

A (Frederick) -- Xaiver Avery (.296, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 16 SB) was 3-5 with a double and a RBI. Billy Rowell (hasn't hit .300 in the minors since '06) was 1-5. Ryan Berry, 21 out of Rice, went 5 scoreless. He has a 2.17 ERA.

Info via MiLB.com.

Hit the jump for a bonus recap.

Continue reading this post »

That was great. That was a well played game. Last night, I said we didn't get pitching, hitting, or defense. Well that changed tonight. Our story begins with a young man named, Jake Arrieta.

Jake pitched a great game, allowing merely three hits, one of which was a solo home run. In addition to that he was around the plate, walking two and throwing 95 pitches in 7 innings, making many believe he could have gone 8. Arrieta has backed up his confidence with performance through his first two starts, he is now 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA. He was in the mid 90's with his fastball and wasn't making the command mistakes that Tillman made last night. This was truly a great outing for Jake and a true step forward for the team.

Will Ohman pitched a perfect 8th, earning what we call a "hold." The game was finished by our brand new 9th inning man David "Doors Hammered??" Hernandez. He reached some pretty high numbers on his fastball, it seems like he has good stuff to close out games, hopefully he keeps the job, and hopefully Simon doesn't get stuck in there.

The Orioles had 9 hits which is ok, 2 runs game from Ty Wigginton ground outs, he got rbi's for both of those. He also grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and nobody out, that brought in another run. The last run came from an Adam Jones solo homer (rejoice), he went 2-4, Markakis went 2-3 and drew a walk, Miggy went 3-4 and Corey Patterson had a couple of hits and scored two runs. On the other hand the Orioles were 1-13 with runners in scoring position and Luke Scott left 5 runners on base, although he was robbed by a couple of nice plays in the field. Matt Wieters had another 0-4.

This was one of those nice games, when we see a glimpse into our future, Arrieta, Hernandez, Jones. Hopefully you all tune in for Jeremy Guthrie tomorrow, he promises yet another solid outing.

30 games under .500, yeah that's nice and even. You see, today is what we call a Rendon. In less then 360 days, you will hear the words "With the first pick in the 2011 Amateur Draft, the Baltimore Orioles select, Anthony Rendon." As the words drip from the flappy mouth of Mr. Selig, Orioles fans will rejoice all around the world, breaking dishes and kisses bobbling replicas of Matt Wieters. Until then, we get stuck watching this....

Chris Tillman was god awful, throwing the high 80's / low 90's. He gave up 6 runs in just 2 innings. He didn't have his "rhythm" or whatever, in layman's terms, he sucked. Matt Wieters hit an early solo shot to tie the game at the time, that was pretty cool, you should all go watch the highlight of that, NOW.

Jason Berken came in for 2 innings (2 pretty good innings). He came out for a pitch hitter, since it was clearly more important to get Lou Montanez up with nobody on base and one out, then to save our bullpen arms. This led to a Matt Albers sighting, which wasn't too bad, this led to a Julio Lugo sighting, which was awful. Frank "Whats it Mata to you?" would take the place of Albers.

Ty Wiggington actually hit a solo homer as well, it hit of the tin roof in right field, but was called a double. Seeing as it was team nap time during the 6th inning, no one bothered to challenge the call. Just a day in the life.  He would later go on to have and RBI Double in the 8th ... followed by an Adam Jones strikeout.

Today our winning percantage dropped below the batting average of of Scott Moore, enough said.

To sum this game up, we didn't hit, we didn't pitch, we didn't field, so nothing out of the ordinary. Tomorrow, is JAKE ARRIETA Day! Let the good times roll.