Close, But So Far: O's Lose to the Halos 4-3 on Sunday, the Rundown

In light of Brian Roberts being chosen an All-Star for the second time and Jeremy Guthrie on the mound, the O's could not muster a win against the Angels in the rubber match in the three game set.

Thanks to the rifle arm of Vlad Guerrero, the Angels were able to win the game yesterday as Melvin Mora was gunned down at home despite a valiant effort to score.

The Black and Orange lost 4-3.

The collision was rough, as Mora hurt his foot and catcher Mike Napoli had to be carried off the field.

The Orioles were helped out big time by Jay Payton's 2-run homer and heads up baserunning by Ramon Hernandez.

Jeremy Guthrie only gave up four hits, but gave up a 2-run homer to Casey Kotchman and an RBI double to Vlad Guerrero in the 4th inning, and a homer in the 8th to Mike Napoli.

Guthrie was strong, but Lackey was slightly better and the Angels made most of their opportunities.

The O's take on the White Sox in the Windy City tonight.

It'll be Erik Bedard squaring off against Mark Buerhle in what should be a great pitching matchup.

***

There's more on the game from the Baltimore Examiner & the Washington Post.

Sun blogger and beat reporter Roch Kubatko has his thoughts on yesterday's game and also the surprise resignation of former Oriole manager Mike Hargrove.

With the struggles of Chris Ray, the Orioles may move to a "bullpen by commitee". There's more also in the Washington Post and the Orioles MLB site who reports that Chris Ray is now being rested...

As noted earlier, Brian Roberts was selected to the 2007 All-Star Game as a reserve second baseman. The O, By the Way blog has their thoughts on some of the All-Star snubs including Jeremy Guthrie and Erik Bedard being passed over. More on All-Star news from the Baltimore Examiner & the Washington Post.

Daniel Cabrera is 'living a dream' by having the ability to pitch in the majors...

The injury to Steve Trachsel and he subsquently landing on the DL leaves a big hole in the Oriole rotation, and perhaps it will be filled by Rob Bell or Garrett Olson.

The Orioles have a lot of good hitting prospects down in the lower levels of the organization according to the Baltimore Examiner.

The Washington Times has an interesting story on Jeremy Guthrie, his season with the Orioles and his time with the Cleveland Indians.