Baltimore

In the first half of Brian Burres’ outing he was hit and he was hit hard.  He got himself into sticky bases loaded situations, and couldn’t get himself out.  Burres surrendered all 6 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks, but the offense bailed him out and got him the win. 

As Rick Kranitz said, “He’s not throwing real good right now.”  All Burres indiscretions came in the first 3 innings but were then followed by 3 additional innings of sparkling result. 

Jeremy Guthrie must wonder what he has to do to get a win when Burres can give up 6 runs and still record a W – and if he doesn’t I’ll do it for him.  The only difference, though, Guthrie can do it from the base-paths.  The righty hurler was tagged in the 8^th for rare base-running duties in place of Kevin Millar.

Fortunately, Guthrie wasn’t needed to pinch-hit as well – the offense had the hitting all taken care of scoring at least 1 run in all but 2 homeside innings.  The top 3 hitters in the order put together a 6 for 12 night accounting for more than half of the 10 team hits. 

One of those 10 hits came on a Luke Scott solo shot in the 7^th, his 11^th of the season tying him for the team lead with Millar.  Luuuke now has 4 homers in his last 4 games.

Radhames Liz will try to do a better job than Burres of limiting runs on Saturday night and add to his 1-0 record while taking on the 4-4 Zach Duke. 

Score: 9-6 Orioles, (Box Score)

Next Game: Pittsburgh 7:05pm Sat., Liz (1-0) vs. Duke (4-4)

Record: 33-33, 7GB

(AP Photo)

Next Game: Blue Jays Sat 1:07PM Guthrie (2-6) v. Burnett (5-5)

Current Record: 30-30, 6GB

After two blowouts, one in each direction, who would have predicted a 1-1 nail-biter going to the final frame.

Jim Johnson, Mr. Rock-Solid-So-Far finished the eighth for Burres without incident, but after Mariano Rivera dominated the top of the ninth, Johnson stopped hitting his spots.

The young right hander gave up a walk and a single and got Jason Giambi on a strange caught foul tip off the handle of the bat that resulted in a Joe Girardi fit and ejection.

It was a pretty good coach tirade with a few hat tosses and kicks.  He even walked away and then came back for some more.

I wonder if Girardi is still letting out all the aggression from bad calls when he was catching and couldn’t say anything.  Making up for lost time.  In any case, it made for some good entertainment in an otherwise disappointing inning.

The deciding run came off the bat of the slumping Cano.  Hideki Matsui had a giant lead off second and came around to score easily on the single.

Fahey seemed to be giving the lead to Matsui for some reason.  The slugger isn’t all that quick so you would assume he couldn’t score on a hit to left if he was held on the base, but Jay Payton doesn’t exactly have a canon.

The Orioles’ only run came in the third on a Bynum RBI triple to score Adam Jones.  The O’s then wasted a bases loaded situation in the same inning and wouldn’t get as good a chance for the rest of the game.  Otherwise the offense showed no life, with Markakis striking out 3 times in an 0 for 4 effort.

Melvin Mora was out of the lineup with his cut finger with Huff playing a solid third base in his stead and Luke Scott DH-ing.

The loss is Johnson’s second on the year, though the guy still hasn’t given us anything to complain about. 

With the loss, the O’s drop the series at Yankee stadium before heading to Tampa Bay (second in the division, 2.5 games up on the Orioles) for a weekend trip and then coming back for a Yankees - Red Sox back-to-back home stand.

Guthrie (2-4) will take on Garza (1-2) in a 6pm start Friday, but remember, television coverage won’t start until 7 due to a network legal agreement.

 (Thursday Box Score) 

 (Photo: AP)

"One-run losses have a way of snowballing. They stay with you. They stay underneath your skin." 

Trembley’s words rang true on Tuesday as the O’s lost their fourth straight game 4-2 against the A’s.  It wasn’t quite the one-run loss, but it sure is feeling like the Birds are caught in a snowball.

I admittedly rely too much on stats, but it’s hard to ignore the freefall Oriole batting averages are currently in.  Baltimore now ranks twelfth in the AL with a team .246 BA, ahead of only Cleveland and Chicago.

Burres poured in 5 1/3 innings giving up only 3 earned runs, plus 1 unearned thanks to errors by Torres and Mora in the third.  Albers came out of the pen to relieve Burres and gave a stellar 1 hit performance to finish up the game. 

With two off days next week, Trembley can take some liberties with pitchers he may have had to hold back otherwise.  That doesn’t mean he can skip Trachsel, unfortunately, but he can use Albers more in relief, which has been the coach’s preference when possible. 

After Wednesday's matinee in Oakland, the Orioles will be happy to leave California, where they’ve lost 4 of 5, and head to Kansas City for 4 against the Royals.

(Tuesday Box Score)