On Monday night, the Orioles began a seven day home stand, taking on the Kansas City Royals. The birds were looking to redeem themselves after Sunday’s ninth inning loss to the Nationals, but a similar fate awaited them this evening.

Light Crowd, Hitting Early On

The game began roughly a half an hour after the scheduled start time due to a rain delay. The roughly three dozen fans who stuck out the wait were treated to a pitchers duel early on. The Royals struck first in the top of the third inning when Joey Gathright worked a two out walk, stole second base, and advanced to third when Ramon Hernandez’s throw flew halfway to the warehouse. He scored on an Alex Gordon double and it was 1 to 0 Kansis city after two and a half.

Hernandez redeemed himself in the bottom half of the inning, rocketing a ball into the stands and tying the game at 1-1.

The Orioles had a big fifth inning. It began with Adam Jones hitting a ball deep into the gap in right field, then legging a double into a triple. Jones turned up the jets and belly flopped into Royals 3B Alex Gordon. Alex Cintron followed with a ground rule double to nearly the same spot in the outfield. Nick Markakis, Aubrey Huff, and Kevin Millar also contributed with hits, making it 5-1 after five innings.

Strange Days

Things began to fall apart after starter Brian Burres was pulled with no outs in the sixth. Kansas City promptly got two runs back from middle reliever Ryan Bukvich, who went directly to the locker room and packed his bags for the bus ride back to Norfolk. In the top of the seventh inning, Dennis Sarfate creatively surrendered a run when he stepped on the rubber and dropped the ball. The resulting balk scored Jose Gullen, who was at third. According to MLB rules, pitchers are allowed to spit, scratch, pace, and do just about anything between pitches, but they can never, EVER accidentally drop the ball. Let that be a lesson.

Thorne Overboard

In the top of the eighth inning, Adam Jones tracked down a Joey Gathright fly ball that was well over his head. The play was impressive, but announcer Gary Thorne decided to overplay the moment, confidently predicting that Gathright would have scored an in the park home run had Jones not moved so quickly. Gathright is fast, but I’m not sure an in the park home run is ever a sure bet. Perhaps Thorne’s expectations were skewed after the rare dropped ball balk of the previous inning. After weird plays like that, you almost need to have someone hit an in the park homerun or throw a no hitter just to feel satisfied.

In the bottom of the eighth, Luke Scott hit a double off the scoreboard, sending Kevin Millar to third. The Royals then walked Melvin Mora in order to get to Ramon Hernandez, which is somewhat surprising since Hernandez hit a home run a few innings earlier. The Royals were hoping Hernandez would wear his lead shoes for the at bat, which he did. The Royals got the double play, and the Orioles lead was down to one. 5-4 Orioles heading into the top of the ninth.

George of the Bungle

George Sherrill came on for the save. As he did on Sunday, Sherrill retired the first two batters and got the final batter, pinch hitter Miguel Olivo, down to his last strike. Unfortunately, Sherrill’s last pitch sat over home plate long enough for fans to grab a hotdog, go to the bathroom, and come back in time to see Olivo send a ball over the left field wall, forcing the game into extra innings. In the top of the 11^th, Royal’s right fielder Jose Guillen drove in an RBI. The Orioles couldn’t answer, losing the game 5-6 in 11 innings.

Going into Tuesday night’s George Sherrill t-shirt night, the left-handed closer has now blown two consecutive games, serving home runs to the potential final batter Sunday afternoon and Monday night. If memory serves me correctly, Chris Ray went on the DL shortly after Chris Ray t-shirt night. Hitters, on the other hand, have at times faired well on their t-shirt nights. Kevin Millar, for example, went 3 for 4 with a home run on Kevin Millar t-shirt night, and Adam Jones had a big hit on Adam Jones t-shirt night. Perhaps the Orioles marketing team should discontinue t-shirt nights for closers. Granted, Brandon Fahey t-shirt night might not get a lot of buzz, but it is starting to look the t-shirt promotion is kryptonite for the birds’ ninth inning pitchers.

Score: 5-6, Royals

Record: 41-40, 8.5GB

Next Game: vs Kansas City. Liz (2-0, 5.70 ERA) vs Hochevar (5-5, 4.60 ERA)

Topics: George Sherrill , Miguel Olivo , Adam Jones