Orioles Lose in the Ninth

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May 23, 7:53 AM

by Pete Sabatini, Baltimore O's Examiner

 

 

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)

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