O's Lose to the A's 4-3; More Ripken, the Rundown

Last night the Orioles put up a valiant effort against the Oakland A's, but could not muster the win against one of the best pitchers in baseball, Dan Haren.

In the end, the boys in orange and black would end losing to the A's by a score of 4-3 on the left coast on Saturday. Haren would show how solid he is as he struck seven in a little more than 6 innings of work. Alan Embree would earn the save, his tenth.

Thanks to a former Oriole, Jack Cust (who put the nail in the coffin for Baltimore), Oakland just won it's second game in about two weeks.

Corey Patterson once again continues his hot streak, as he went 2 for 5 with an RBI, and Kevin Millar doubled in 2 runs.

Steve Trachsel went a little more than five innings, and yielded four runs in the loss. This was his first start off the DL.



The Orioles try to hit paydirt again on Sunday as Jeremy Guthrie counters against Dallas Braden in the rubber game of the series.

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The Orioles MLB site, Baltimore Examiner, Washington Post, Baltimore Sun,

This week will be a huge one in Baltimore and the surrounding with the impending induction of Cal Ripken into the National Baseball Hall Fame, and a parade was held in his honor in Towson, Md. Cal enjoys and savors the attention, and Sun blogger and beat writer, Roch Kubatko has his thoughts on the event from yesterday in his blog.

Oriole legend Jim Palmer praises Erik Bedard in an article on the Orioles MLB site. In the same piece there's news on prospect Hayden Penn and more on Miguel Tejada.

As noted prior, Orioles centerfielder, Corey Patterson is on a tear; however, his future with the organization is up in the air. He says he wants to return and his play the last couple of weeks is not hurting his cause.

Tony Gwynn is on a Wheaties box; meanwhile, Cal is not. As well, Cal's mom, Vi, was in the Cooperstown parade held on Saturday in Towson and the Examiner's Sean Welsh has a Q&A with her.

David Steele of the Baltimore Sun believes that most outsiders who focus on Ripken's career miss the big picture of his body of work (as we all really know about the 'streak' now) and forget his accomplishments in the game.

CNN.com has a great article on Cal Ripken and what he has done post-career; however, I think the piece may be a little dated (perhaps done in early spring).

As of now, the human vaccum, Brooks Robinson had the largest crowd at a Hall of Fame induction, and thay may change with Cal; however, Sun writer Mike Klingaman looks back at the induction of Mr. Robinson with an interview with the man himself.