O's Weather Two Losses To Jays

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July 24, 11:49 PM

by Jay Trucker, Baltimore Orioles Examiner

 

 

The Orioles and the Blue Jays both put their best pitchers on the mound for the last two games of their four game series. In both cases, Toronto’s starters outlasted the O’s.

I was in attendance for Wednesday’s game, which makes writing snarky play-by-play comments rather difficult, as does the fact that the conclusion of the game and the series finale were held midday Thursday. 

What Could Have Been

Wednesday night’s game had the makings of a great pitching duel between Jeremy Guthrie and BJ AJ Burnett. 

Adam Lind singled in the top of the second to start the inning, and then advanced to second when Ramon Hernandez over threw another strike to second.  Lind then scored on two consecutive groundouts. 

Aubrey Huff hit a triple to the centerfield wall and scored on a Melvin Mora grounder, tying the game in the fourth. 

The Jays scored another run in the top of the sixth, making it 1-2 Toronto.  Then the skies opened up and Oriole Park was subject to a torrential downpour.  I was in the upper deck (hey, tickets were only $5.50) and there was absolutely no way to stay dry. 

Here are a few thoughts and questions I have after attending last night’s game. 

Is Brian Roberts going emo now that he is in his 30s?  That has to be the worst intro song I’ve ever heard.  Granted, I found his Notorious BIG song wildly dated, but I’d take it in a heartbeat over whatever he’s playing now.  I’ll give a dollar to anyone who knows the name of the song.

What was with the old-time O’s rendition of “Old Time Rock N Roll”?  Rick Dempsey and several other former players “covered” the Bob Seger classic, much like Kevin Millar and the gang shot a video for “Orioles Magic” several weeks ago.  Actually, though I make light of Dempsey’s sense of humor, I sort of enjoyed the “Old Time Rock N Roll” clip.  I’ll never admit it in public, but seeing those old guys being chummy and having a good time was nice.  Alex Rodriguez would  never lip sync to Bob Seger.

Also, I love five dollar tickets, but I hate teenagers.  That presented quite a dilemma last night.  Seeing a kid get kicked out for drinking was definitely a highlight, though.  They should send the kid to a Baltimore detention center.  I wonder how long he’d be shouting and trying to call attention to himself there?

Here’s a tip for everyone at OPACY when you get caught in a rain delay.  Go to the club level.  There are indoor bars and couches.  It sure beats the scene I saw up top last night, which looked like this minus all of the orange. 

Finally, does relish always win the hotdog race?

A Day Late

When the lights finally came back on today, the Blue Jays took advantage of a wild throw from 1B Kevin Millar, who was trying to throw home for a force out.  Two unearned runs scored.  The Jays added another run in the top of the eighth and the birds couldn’t responding, dropping the game 1-5. 

Early Halladay

Daniel Cabrera had a big task ahead of him when the O’s came on for their second and first full contest of the day today.  He was charged with taking on Toronto’s Roy Halladay, the throwback pitcher who has more complete games than the entire national league (note: I made that stat up, but it could be true).

Cabrera did not bring his A game today, giving up six runs before being lifted for the other Cabrera, Fernando, in the sixth.  F Cab allowed a seventh run to score, though it was inherited from D Cab and therefore charged to him. 

Weak Comebacker

Luke Scott scored Aubrey Huff in the bottom of the sixth, but that wasn’t enough to get the O’s back into it.  They left seven runners stranded on the bases today on their way to a lethargic 1-7 defeat .

Trade Ya

George Sherrill came on and pitched a scoreless ninth.  Sherrill had five days off and needed to get some work in; he certainly hasn’t been needed to close many games out recently.  He also had a chance to show his stuff to the scouts looking to vulture him from the birds before the trade deadline.

In other news, Erik Bedard is now available for trade from Seattle.  The Mariners are looking for a bag of balls and two cups of Starbucks latte in exchange for the Canadian five inning specialist.

Score: 1-5 Toronto

            1-7 Toronto

Record: 48-53, 11GB

Next Game:  Burres (7-6, 5.02 ERA) vs. Saunders (12-5, 3.05 ERA)

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