It was a tough evening for the birds all around, as they lost Brian Burres to stomach issues before the game, lost Matt Albers to another ailment in the first inning, and dropped the game to the Cubs.

Last minute starter Matt Albers took the mound after scheduled pitcher Brian Burres contracted a mysterious ailment. After striking out Eric Patterson, Albers allowed a run and loaded the bases without recording any more outs. He was pulled in the first, the second Orioles pitcher of the day to fall prey to an unidentified physical issue. I once got sick in Chicago trying to down more than two slices of deep dish pizza. Perhaps that was what befell Burres and Albers.

Rough Start

Lance Cormier came on in relief of Albers and allowed three more runs, but kept his stomach in check and finally ended an ugly first inning with the Orioles down 4-0.

Jay Payton answered in the second, blasting a ball into the bleachers at Wrigley, after Hernandez drew a walk. The Cubs responded with two more runs in the next half inning, keeping the Cubs ahead by four.

Sound Strategy

In the third, the Orioles interviewed Dave Trembley appeared for MASN’s Wired Wednesday interview. When asked what his strategy was down by four, the skipper responded, and I’m only paraphrasing slightly here, “we’ve got to shut them down and score some runs.” That’s why they pay him the big bucks. By the way, is there any other sport that moves slowly enough to allow for manager interviews mid-game?

Homerama

Payton must have been listening to the segment, as he tried to execute Trembley’s game plan, knocking his second two-run homerun of the game over the right field ivy in the fourth.

Jim Edmonds, continuing to defy age and recent expectations, hit another homerun in the fourth off of the Orioles’ third pitcher, newbie Ryan Bukvich.

No Come Back Tonight

Bukvich calmed down and gave the Orioles three strong innings after giving up the homer, and the game was still 7-4 Cubs when Dennis Sarfate became the birds’ fourth pitcher of the day in the seventh. The Orioles’ late inning relievers did their part to hold the game within reach, keeping the Cubs scoreless in the seventh and combining with Jamie Walker for a scoreless eighth. Walker struck out Daryle Ward with the bases loaded, but Kerry Wood overpowered the bottom of the lineup in the ninth.

TMI

In the bottom of the eighth, former pitcher/current color commentator Jim Palmer brought up a recent conversation between him and Jay Payton. Palmer, who seems to think highly of Payton, asked the platooning outfielder how he was doing, to which Payton responded something approximating, “I’d be better if a trade…,” before stopping himself short.

Play by play man Jim Hunter’s take on this moment of candor? “You like the fact that he wants to play every day.” Err, sure, JH, but you don’t like the fact that he wants to be on another team. I don’t know, maybe that’s just my take. In any event, Payton got all four of the team’s runs today, so it’s probably not the day to kick him around, but a guy over 35 who can’t take a walk probably shouldn’t be complaining about playing time when he’s making 5 million a year to play a kid’s game. The team is still over .500. Is it really time to start sulking?

In any event, with or without Jay Payton, the Orioles have a chance to win the series in tomorrow’s getaway day, but they’ll need a strong performance from young wild man Radhamas Liz.

Score: Cubs 7, Jay Payton 4

Next Game: Liz (1-0, 6.27 ERA) vs Marquis (6-3, 4.43 ERA)

Record: 39-7, 7.5GB

Topics: Jay Payton , Pizza , Matt Albers , Brian Burres