Quick Hits: Another One Bites the Dust, O's Lose Again and the Rundown...

photo from the baltimoresun.com -- I just think this an awesome photo...

Well, as we all know by now, the Orioles lost a very close game to the Detroit Tigers by a score of 3-2, thus extending the team’s slide even further. Even though Sam Perlozzo shuffled the lineup to add a spark to the team and try something different, the end result was the same – yet another loss.

Tigers got a series sweep thanks to Gary Sheffield. Did Cabrera just awake a sleeping giant?

The Orioles now have lost 10 out of their last 11 games, and are now 4 games under .500.

Steve Trachsel pitched a respectable game, giving up homers to Gary Sheffield, and Craig Monroe. In addition to the homer, Gary Sheffield drove in another run.

Trachsel went 7 innings, struck out one, gave up eight hits, and walked two before being lifted for Chris Ray.

The Orioles runs were driven in by Jay Payton and Melvin Mora, who managed to get a bases loaded walk to allow Brian Roberts to score.

***

The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec has a recap of the game.

Now there’s news that Adam Loewen is hurting. He’s scheduled to see a team doctor today because his throwing arm that has been bothering him for the last month(!). It may have played a role in the walks he has accumulated, but it is never good news to hear one of your starting pitchers suffer through pain.

I would not be surprised to see him miss a start or two to recuperate (assuming he does not go on the DL). It’s still early, so give him the rest he needs.

Sam Perlozzo says the injury is not serious.

The Baltimore Sun has a question for Melvin Mora, this time about being moved in the batting order…

Roch Kubatko of the Baltimore Sun opines on the losing and the shuffling of the lineup. It looks like Matt Palmer of the Examiner has started blogging as well...

As mentioned yesterday, Baltimore Orioles Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Joe Foss is stepping down to accept a position as Chief Administrative Officer with Erickson Retirement Communities, based in Catonsville. It sounded like Mr. Foss wanted to take on a new opportunity, and for that I wish him the best of luck.

According to the Examiner, “Foss, 58, most recently was heavily involved in building the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which is owned by Orioles owner Peter Angelos. Foss was a part of Angelos’ acquisition team in 1993 and served as supervisor of the transition of ownership from Edward Bennett Williams.”

He was definitely important to the team, and was pretty much the right hand man to Peter Angelos.

Well, at least something went the Orioles way – MLB had denied the Indians’ protest of Saturday’s game.

Michael Olesker of the Examiner wished the Tigers and the Orioles would have got it on in Michigan on Monday night…

Frustration: The Losing Streak & Not Putting Together...

Ok, we have yet lost another game. I just got done listening to the game right now via WHFS and it's a bit frustrating.

Overall, I am not happy as a fan right now. For a team with so much talent, the Orioles are falling short. Trachsel did decent today, and kept the Orioles in it, but the offense once again could not get anything going at all.

I'm a person who likes to stay positive in light of the bad, but we have a lot going on here and basically, the ship needs to be righted if we have any chance of contending, much less finishing around .500.

It seems that the offense is still struggling in spots, and leaving guys on base. and the pitching really needs to get deeper in games.

Furthermore, we walk way too many guys in general -- the pitchers need to throw strikes and if the batter hits it, make them work for it.

Right now, the bullpen is being used way, way too much and it being only May; therefore, if the trend keeps up, there might be an injury or two and cases of tired arms.

I expected the Orioles to be around .500 as they have faced teams that are perennial contenders, but after their strong start, the fall has been pretty hard.

The whole offense needs to wake up, and the pitching needs to be a lot more consistent.

Furthermore, I would really love to see a lot more fire from this team. The team is not doing the little things they did to win during their hot streak right now and we have now lost 10 out of the last 11 games! The Tigers have now sewpt us...

Everyone feel free to chime in! We are a whole lot better talent-wise than last year or perhaps in the past several years, but the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same...

I blog about the team, take photos and love the O's, but right now, it is disheartening to see a team with this much talent and potential not put it together.

I'm not going to flame or yell, demand Sam Perlozzo get fired, or bench anyone -- the players on the O's are professionals and know what they need to do, but it's just tiring to see the losses pile up when the team is much, much better than how they have been playing.

Quick Hits: The Game Yesterday with Tigers and the Rundown...

Well, after the excitement of last night and both benches being fired up, many of us were hoping for the incident with Daniel Cabrera, Gary Sheffield along with Miguel Tejada and Jeremy Bonderman to simmer into Tuesday.

It didn't.

The Orioles once again lost a game, this time one that was winnable, to the Detroit Tigers by a score of 5-4.

The game was tied 3-3 in the eighth inning, until Sean Casey, who has been struggling and missed a few games due to the flu, came up with a pinch hit single that squeaked by Melvin Mora and allowed in 2 runs.

Reliever Danys Baez came in the 8^th inning, gave up two runs, and took the loss.

Starter Adam Loewen pitched 5 innings, struck out 4, walked 2 and gave up 3 runs. However, he had to leave the game due to forearm pain.

Brian Roberts stole 3 bases in last night’s game. As well, Miguel Tejada had 2 hits and drove in 2 runs, Melvin Mora homered, and Roman Hernandez drove in a run.

Todd Jones got the save for the Tigers, and Joel Zumaya earned the win in relief.

This will mark the Orioles’ 9^th loss in 10 games, and right now things are not going good – in fact, it’s been very lackluster. It seems that the offense is still struggling in spots and the pitching really needs to get deeper in games.

Right now, the bullpen is being used way, way too much and it being only May; therefore if the trend keeps up, there might be an injury or two and cases of tired arms.

I expected the Orioles to be around .500 as they have faced teams that are perennial contenders, but after their strong start, the fall has been pretty hard.

The offense needs to wake up, and the pitching needs to be a lot more consistent.

***

Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has a recap of the game, and sadly Brian Roberts opined that “it seems that we find a way to lose every night”.

The Baltimore Examiner has more on the loss, as does the orioles.com.

Rick Maese touched upon a point I made earlier about the starting pitching needing to go deeper into games – he’s right. If the O’s pitching cannot go deeper into games, they will be in trouble for the season.

Peter Schmuck says it’s good that the Orioles showed some fight against the Detroit Tigers ala the Cabrera-Sheffield incident.

The Baltimore Sun asks Corey Patterson a question – this time on brawls…

Millar griped about playing time to the Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore. At this point, he’s trying to patient, but considering the situation with the bench, it was to be expected (at least on my end…). There’s also a report on this very topic on the Orioles.com website.

Quick Hits: The Game Yesterday and the Rundown...

It was fight night in the Motor city --- um, almost.

Our boys in black and orange are in an ugly stretch right now, as they lost to the Detroit Tigers 8-4. The Orioles have lost 8 out of their last 9 games, after a hot start to the year.

The team started of the year doing the little things right and getting timely pitching in; however, now the pitching has been very inconsistent, and the offense has just been plain listless.

Of course, if you missed the highlights or didn’t hear about it, it nearly turned into Monday Night Smackdown. Daniel Cabrera hit Gary Shiffield in back during the third inning as a pitch got away from him, and then as retribution, Jeremy Bonderman (the starting pitching for Detroit) hit Miguel Tejada in the ankle.

Both benches and the bullpens cleared as Tejada and Bonderman got into it and catcher Ivan Rodriguez had to restrain Tejada.

The starter last night for the O’s, Daniel Cabrera was very inconsistent as he walked 6, struck out 5, and allowed 5 runs to come in, in which 4 of them were earned.

Of course, Gary Sheffield got revenge on Daniel Cabrera by hitting a 400+ foot homer to left field in the fifth inning.

The two men glared at one another.

Once again, walks and allowing free passes killed the Orioles and it is becoming a recurring theme.

It looks like Jay Gibbons is coming out of his slump, as he hit his first homer in the 6^th inning off Bonderman, and Miguel Tejada, Ramon Hernandez and Cory Patterson each drove in a run to supplant the offense.

John Parrish came into relieve Daniel Cabrera, but gave up 3 runs in the 7^th inning to perhaps put the game out of reach for the Orioles.

Chad Bradford and Jeremy Guthrie came into the game in the 8^th and 9^th innings, respectively, to finish it up.

Tonight, it will be Adam Loewen (2-0, 3.20 ERA) vs. Chad Durbin (1-1, 6.65 ERA).

***

Spencer Fordin of the orioles.com has a recap of last night’s game, as does the Baltimore Examiner.

Once again, Jaret Wright will return to the DL due to his recurring shoulder issues; therefore, the Orioles brought up reliever Kurt Birkins. As well, Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun reports that it’s uncertain when Jaret Wright will return. Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports that Wright has a sore arm.

Well, we all knew this was going to happen – Kevin Millar is frustrated from the lack of playing time. With Jay Payton playing everyday, there was going to sadly be a fight between Millar and Jay Gibbons for time at DH. Sam Perlozzo sure isn’t taking Aubrey Huff out of the lineup at this point…