First, I want to express my genuine gratitude to Dave Trembley, Rick Kranitz, Andy MacPhail, and anyone else involved in the decision to designate Steve Trachsel.  The over-the-hill righty was in a downward spiral that everyone could see and I’m relieved that the Orioles brass could see it too. 

To fill Trachsel slot on the roster, the Orioles have called-up 29 year old right-handed first baseman Oscar Salazar. 

Said Trembley, “He impressed me in Spring Training.  He swung the bat and could play more than one position. He's a contact hitter -- went down to Triple-A and kept our interest." 

Salazar batted .311 with seven home runs, 23 doubles and 44 RBIs in 63 games with Norfolk this season.

On to Tuesday night’s game…

Despite Daniel Cabrera’s rocky start in which he gave up 6 runs on 5 innings, the Orioles offense battled back with 15 hits to beat the Red Sox 10-6 in Fenway.  It’s not easy to beat the Sox in Boston. They had previously only lost 1 game in 16 at home; but, the O’s bats came through in a big way.

Melvin Mora was the only hitter, starter or otherwise, not to record a hit on the night.

Aubrey Huff highlighted the barrage of offense going 4 for 5 including a 2-run single in the 7th to tie the game off of Hideki Okajima, who the Orioles have seemed to dominate this season.  Millar followed Huff to bring in the go-ahead run on a sac fly to center.

Three more runs in the ninth were welcomed icing on the cake.  While Red Sox fans were busy chanting “Beat LA”, they forgot that they still had the Orioles to worry about.

Score: 10-6 Orioles, (Box Score)

Next Game: @Red Sox Wed 7:05PM Olson (5-1) v. Colon (3-1)
Current Record: 32-31, 7 GB 

Matt Albers entered in the sixth inning and blew a 4-2 Orioles lead, wasting a quality start, the second in as many appearances, from Radhames Liz. 

The O’s lost the third and final game in the Toronto series missing out on a weekend sweep losing Sunday 5-4. 

Jay Payton showed some more fire Sunday in the fourth inning, but this time it wasn’t with the bat.  Payton was tossed by the home plate umpire after a slight disagreement regarding a borderline pitch.  The outfielder spiked his helmet and had to be held back by Trembley (exhibit A).

"I argued balls and strikes, and I got tossed -- plain and simple.  [Halladay is] a Cy Young-type pitcher. You don't want to give up anything with him."

Halladay wasn’t looking like his usual Cy Young self while giving up an uncharacteristic 4 runs.  Weak performances from high caliber pitchers need to be capitalized on, but the Orioles couldn’t get it done.

In pre-game interviews Trembley mentioned that he will be talking with Trachsel about the Saturday afternoon stare-down.  The coach also indicated that he’ll be discussing the veteran’s future with Kranitz.  With another productive start from Liz, Trax is looking more and more like dead weight. 

Score: 4-5 Blue Jays,(Box Score)
Next Game: @Red Sox Tues 7:05PM Cabrera (5-2) v. Beckett (6-4)
Current Record: 31-31, 7 GB

(AP Photo)

Jeremy Guthrie wound up on the losing end of another strong effort Wednesday night giving up 3 in a 4-2 loss to the Yankees.

I can’t stop feeling bad for the young pitcher who is now 2-6 but could just as easily and probably deserves to be 5-3. 

After a week’s worth of four run comebacks on Tuesday night, only Roberts and Mora could keep the ball rolling against a strong Andy Pettitte performance. 

The pair combined to go 6 for 9 and accounted for both runs and both RBI.  The rest of the lineup scrounged up 3 hits on 27 at bats.

Though Markakis only managed a 1 for 3 with a walk, he is showing signs of returning to form.  He looks more disciplined at the plate (only 1 K in his last 3 games) and seems looser in his approach.

The series win does pull the O’s back to .500 and brings them half a game ahead of the last place Yankees.

After an off day Thursday, the Red Sox red tide rolls through town for a weekend set.  Be sure to get your orange out around town.

The Sox will throw Beckett, Lester, and the rejuvenated Colon against Cabrera, Olson, and Burres. 

You’ll notice one senior Orioles pitcher missing from that list - it is confirmed that Trachsel will not make his next start. 

His future has not been commented on by Orioles brass just yet, but hopefully we will get some kind of answer for the void he leaves in the rotation (whether he pitches or not).

 Bedard Shows Up

Erik Bedard recorded his fourth win in a 1-0, 7 inning, 8 K gem against the Red Sox.  The AP didn’t pull any punches, “Finally, two months into a dreadful season, the Mariners' ace showed up.  Erik Bedard looked like the man for whom Seattle traded five players to Baltimore in February,” but as long as it’s against the Red Sox, I can applaud.

Apology

I'm sorry for the brief and unexpected hiatus.  What a couple days for it to happen too, a pair of great Orioles wins at home against the Yankees.  What do you prefer: win it in the bottom of the eleventh in a 9 homerun game, or run away with it 6-1 with a big seventh inning?

(Wednesday Box Score)

(AP Photo)

Fifteen days of rest did not rejuvenate the 37 year old veteran as hoped resulting in an 11-4 loss Saturday night at Tampa Bay. 

The struggling workhorse couldn’t get out of the second inning before surrendering 9 runs and giving up 2 home runs, both to Evan Longoria.

Give the Rays credit, they brought their A game, but apparently Trachsel brought his golf game and that’s exactly where Trax looks like he belongs – on the golf course. 

In better times this would be the last we see of Steve Trachsel in an Orioles uniform, but without a choice of viable options, he’ll likely be a throwaway fifth starter at least until the all-star break. 

Trachsel and Albers will combine to be something of a fifth starter by committee and hope that the O’s can score in bunches when it’s their turn.

Oriole bats were relatively subdued again, though Luke Scott has been quietly finding his power swing.  Scott hit his fifth homer of the season and his fourth in the month of May.

The O’s are back to .500 and only a half game ahead of the last place Yankees who are rallying in a 4 game winning streak of their own and take on Seattle Sunday.

(Saturday Box Score)

Cabrera the Stopper

Hopes of breaking this 4-game losing streak are pinned to Daniel Cabrera (5-1) who will start Sunday against James Shields (4-3) in the final game of the road trip.

Cabrera is on a 3-game winning streak, holds a 2.23 ERA on the road this season, and is 6-0 lifetime against the Rays – all signs pointing to a streak-stopping situation.

After Saturday’s lineup shakeup that featured Freddie Bynum (0 for 4) leading off, Millar (0 for 1, 3 walks) back at DH behind Huff (0 for 4), Markakis sitting, and Cintron (1 for 4) at second base, Sunday is back to normal.

The lineup for Sunday afternoon will have Brian Roberts back leading off and playing second, Markakis back in right, Huff cleaning up, and Ramon Hernandez, for better or worse, behind the plate.

The Birds will have the Yankees waiting for them when they return to the yard for a Memorial Day afternoon home stand kickoff and the Red Sox starting Friday. 

Sure would be nice to have a win going into those series.

 (Photo: A/P)

Jeremy Guthrie and the Baltimore Orioles lost another close one Friday night 2-0 to the Rays at Tampa Bay.  The righty goes to 2-5 despite a very respectable 3.62 ERA.

The poor guy gives up 1 run on 4 hits in 6 and 2/3 and he takes the loss – a good example of the typical Guthrie outing this year.  He can’t seem to get the run support to record the wins that his performances deserve.

Mora returned with his cut finger only to go 0 for 4 not contributing to the 4-hit Oriole effort.

The Orioles offense has scored only 1 run in the past 2 games, behind on an aggregate score of 4-1. At the end of the night, the top hitting Oriole in average is Freddy Bynum at .289 who seemingly just hasn’t had a chance to fall below the Mendoza line.

Other than Bynum, Scott and Roberts lead the O’s with .257 – an embarrassing batting average to be leading a lineup (minimum 50 at bats).

This loss is the third straight and the fourth in the last five, but the O’s still remain half a game ahead of Toronto for the middle slot in the division.

Saturday night the struggling and very well rested Steve Trachsel (2-4) takes on Tampa’s Edwin Jackson (2-3) at 6:10. 

Trachsel hasn’t pitched since May 9^th, so let me refresh you a bit.  The veteran’s ERA has skyrocketed to 6.75 and he hasn’t made it out of the third inning in 3 of his 7 starts in 2008. 

In his career, the sluggish Trachsel is 0-3 with a 5.93 ERA in 5 starts against the Rays and is 7.13 on the road this season.  Maybe 15 days off will rejuvenate him.

Brace yourselves, hope for the best, and pray that the offense can produce some runs.

(Friday Night Box Score)

(Photo: AP)

Trachsel was not lights out, but he was serviceable as previously advertised.  He could only make it into the sixth, but he handed the ball over to Matt Albers with the Orioles very much still in the game.

The starter gave up his only runs in the first inning on an Alex Gordon two-run homerun.  From there he scattered his hits, looking occasionally shaky, but never letting the wheels fall off.

Baltimore hitters are making up for lost time getting everyone on base at least once, except for the slumping Luke Scott.  The left fielder has recorded only three hits in his last 24 at-bats after a torrid start to the season.  Scott doesn’t travel well batting just .193 on the road compared to his .354 at the Yard.

Freddy Bynum continued a hot return and is now 4 for 8 with 3 runs scored in his first two games back; both victories.  Bynum makes an unlikely spark plug to heat the O’s back up, but let’s hope he can keep producing from the nine-hole.

(Friday Box Score)

Looking Ahead to Boston

I’m looking forward to the Orioles getting back to Baltimore and getting out first shot of the season at the division leading Red Sox on Tuesday and Wednesday.  A four game sweep of the Royals sure would be nice momentum taking on the Boston powerhouse.

It appears that we’ll see Josh Beckett on Tuesday and Jon Lester on Wednesday.  The Orioles rotation is a bit less predictable given the two off days this week. 

I’d think Trembley would like to work Guthrie against Beckett on Tuesday and Cabrera against Lester in the businessman special Wednesday, but we’ll have to ask the coach about that.

Get ready for some Nick Markakis t-shirts, Baltimore.

(Photo: AP)

The Orioles need to get back on a roll after a rough stretch, going from first in the division to last in just one week.  Thursday night, the offense showed some signs of life, which will have to continue, but some production from our veteran pitcher is a necessity.

Trachsel’s stats are downright embarrassing; 22 runs, 33 hits, and 19 walks in 26 innings for a 7.42 ERA.  Don’t get the wrong impression- this isn’t due to one or even two colossal meltdowns.  This actually required three complete meltdowns and three okay outings. 

He’s desperate for a solid performance after not getting out of the third inning in his last two starts.  A third consecutive collapse in a row might warrant an obligatory 15-day stint on the DL for “Elbow Soreness”, aka crappy play.  We have to start asking, does he have anything left in the tank?

Some people are calling for Trachsel’s outright release, which would be a reasonable action in this situation on most teams.  But for the Orioles, what’s your alternative? 

This starting staff began the season with three youngsters, one long reliever-turned-starter, and one potentially serviceable veteran.  Sure, we’ve gotten surprisingly solid results of late from three of the five, but we’ve had to bring another kid into the rotation in Olson.  

So where do we go if we lose the now hanging-on-by-a-thread veteran?

The likely in-house candidates would be Matt Albers, who Trembley has repeatedly expressed will remain a reliever, or two youngsters in Norfolk.

Radhames Liz and Hayden Penn have been brought up too early in their careers already and are hardly blowing people away so far this season for the Tides.  Liz carries a 0-3 record with a 5.35 ERA, but on the bright side has recorded 34 Ks in 33 innings. 

Penn is performing nominally better with a 5.23 ERA and 2-2 with 41 innings already under his belt, but neither of these kids are ready yet.  Admittedly, I do not watch them throw every week, but reports on the ground aren’t glowing, though both pitchers are carried on the 40-man roster.

What other options are there?  Unless this is the push McPhail needs to get the Roberts deal done or Trembley is willing to sacrifice Albers, Trachsel needs to get his act together and he needs to start doing it tonight.

Interestingly enough, Lance Cormier registered nine starts last year for the Braves though he wasn’t exactly a standout with a 4.89 ERA and 4-5 over the season. 

In any case, Dave and Andy, please don’t make us watch Greg Aquino again.