Stunned; Washington Downs Baltimore, 3-2, With A 12th Inning Walk-Off Two-Run Homer

In the game of baseball, a difference between winning and losing is determined sometimes by an inch or the judgment of an umpire.

That theory could be applied to Sunday’s rubber match against the Baltimore Orioles on a hot, sunny day at Nationals Park.

With two outs in the bottom of the twelfth inning, and Baltimore ahead 2-1, thanks to a valiant comeback in the top the frame, the Washington Nationals were seemingly on their way to a second straight loss, and dropping the Battle of the Beltway series against the Orioles.

Baltimore closer George Sherrill had to only throw a strike to end the game; however, he walked Dmitri Young on a very close pitch that could have called in their favor. A pitch that might have been called a strike, if it was only a fraction of an inch closer within the zone perhaps may have set up the dramatic moment to finish off a strong weekend.

Ronnie Belliard, the next batter, had his shot against Baltimore’s unflappable closer and was behind in the count, 0-2. The third pitch in the sequence to Belliard looked to be close in the strike zone and could have ended the game; however, he would lay off the pitch and it was called for a ball by the home plate umpire.

On the next pitch, Belliard took Sherrill’s slider that missed its spot and deposited it over the field fence at Nationals Park.

When all was said and done, he rounded the bases like a little kid; thus, upon reaching to home plate, Belliard got a hero’s welcome as he was awash in a sea of red with his teammates giving him high fives and much deserved congratulations.

His two-run homer stunned not only the Orioles, but perhaps the 39,824 in attendance – the largest crowd in the stadium’s three month history.

Washington fans, who jockeyed with those that ventured down from Baltimore all weekend in the stands, got a well deserved and hard fought win as they beat the Orioles, 3-2.

Before the dramatic finale of Sunday’s game, Baltimore had gone ahead in the top of the twelfth inning to break a deadlocked 1-1 tie. Washington reliever Luis Ayala started off the inning, and then gave up two consecutive singles with two outs to Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff; thus, moments later, Ayala was replaced with Joel Hanrahan.

With men on both first and second, Adam Jones singled off Hanrahan and plated Markakis and took the lead, 2-1. Guillermo Quiroz would fly out to end the frame, but Baltimore had valiantly come back after being stymied by Washington all day.

After keeping the Orioles off the board for six frames, Luke Scott took Washington’s Jason Bergmann deep to right field and hit his 14th homer in seventh - a solo shot - to tie the game, 1-1.

Meanwhile, Baltimore’s Jeremy Guthrie, went seven strong innings, gave up an earned run, while striking out three and walking four. He pitched well enough to as well earn a win, but a lack of run support – finished the day with a 3.50 ERA and only a 4-7 record to show for it.

And yes, the Orioles are shockingly only 1-12 on Sundays!!!

For Pictures from this weekend: Click here and here…

Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Nationals; Washington D.C., June 29th, 2008

Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Nationals; Washington D.C., June 29th, 2008

A Yawner in Washington; Staying the Course: Felipe Lopez?

After a huge series at Wrigley Field, where they took two of three from the Cubs -- the Baltimore Orioles returned home -- sort of, as they played a road game down in the Nation's Capital last night.

It rained and poured literally before the game, but after a brief delay, the Orioles and Nationals tangoed in the second round of the Battle of Beltway. Baltimore looked flat and very lethargic, and in the end they would lose the NL's worst team, Washington, 4-2, last night.

In a game full errors and miscues on the field, along with looking woeful at the plate; Daniel Cabrera was serviceable -- not good -- as he got charged for two runs in the both the first and seventh innings to fall to 5-4 on the year. Besides those two innings, he looked fine, but was hittable on the night.

In a lineup not featuring Aubrey Huff -- by in large, the team's hottest hitter and Luke Scott, the Orioles offense suffered. Nick Markakis and Brandon Fahley drove in runs for Baltimore, but they just could not get the engine going.

***
Despite the Orioles taking the Cubs series at Wrigley Field, where they caused the Cubs to lose their first series at home for the year, Baltimore to repeat again and again has been a pleasant surprise.

With the loss yesterday in Washington, they are currently 40-38, two games over .500 and 8 are games out, but most fans would be fooling themselves if they thought Baltimore was a contending team. I don't want to sound crass, rude or raining on the parade -- but the reality is that the Orioles are playing way above their heads.

Despite Huff, Roberts, and Markakis' numbers, the fact remains this team has a lot of holes -- (i.e., shortstop -- Brandon Fahey starting??), an inconsistent starting staff staffed by mostly youngsters, and a lineup stuff devoid of power.

If the Orioles are still contention by the All-Star break, Andy MacPhail should wheel and deal -- for the future -- not to contend for a pennant. As much I would love to see the team in the playoffs, the fact of the matter is, this still is probably not even halfway through their rebuilding job.

This notion might be unpopular, but if we have to deal one of our key guys (outside of Markakis and Roberts), it should be done if we can get quality in return. We need a shortstop, more pitching, a power bat, an offensive first baseman and more for the future.

Don't be swayed by the record right now, Andy MacPhail must stay the course.

The winning is nice, but we have to be realistic.

***The other big news to come out in the past few days are the rumors of Felipe Lopez coming to Washington.

You don't want to know what I though when heard the news.

From Fox Sports: The Orioles, desperately seeking a shortstop, have engaged in substantive conversations with the Nationals about a trade for infielder Felipe Lopez, according to major league sources.

The Nationals reportedly are close to signing shortstop Cristian Guzman to a two-year contract extension for an unknown dollar amount and are unlikely to retain Lopez as a free agent after this season.

In return for Lopez, the Nationals likely would receive a marginal minor-league prospect.

The Orioles have been looking for help at shortstop ever since trading Miguel Tejada to the Astros last off-season.

Lopez is hitting .247 with 25 runs and 20 RBI.

If a deal is completed, it likely would not be announced until after the completion of the Orioles-Nationals series this weekend in Washington, sources say.

Lopez had some good numbers in Cincinnati -- perhaps because of the bandbox there -- but he's been nothing short of a bust in Washington. Besides his numbers at the plate, the infielder has been seen as nothing but a grouse by the media, and his play on the field has left nothing to be desired.

I thought he might have made a good candidate to be traded to Baltimore when the season began; however, he could be a bad seed on a Baltimore team that fosters hard play, respect, following the rules, and playing 100%.

He's not done that with the Nationals.

Simply put, he definitely needs a change of scenery and he might be re-energized in Baltimore, but in this case -- if the Orioles do trade for him (IMO, they should not) -- buyer beware!

***Before I go, I'll have more on the awesome time I had at Wrigley Field perhaps starting on Monday. I'll say, I have nothing but respect for the Cubs fans and how the majority of them treated us from Birdland. They did a great job in making us welcome, by chatting with us, and conversing in baseball; however, they showed incredible passion for their team, and their ballpark -- just beautiful, pristine, and full of life.

In a day where ballparks have emulated rock concerts or stuff you'd see in the NBA, it was nice to see a park use minimalist bells and whistles to get the crowd going. Wrigley is simple -- you focus on eyes on the game, the crowd, and not the exploding fireworks, large LCD screen, places to go galore. I appreciated that at Wrigley, and that's why I put it in the upper echelon of ballparks I have ever visited.

I have a lot to do this weekend, and I'm doing the series in D.C. against Baltimore.

Quick Hits: Fear and Moaning; O's Lose Another One to the Nats Late, 9-6

Well, things are going from bad to worse for the Orioles. In a part of the season which had them encounter a pretty light schedule, they have not been able to take advantage of it.

Last night, the Orioles lost to the Washington Nationals, 9-6 in 11 innings. The Washington Nationals were expected to be historically bad, but they have been anything but.

Who would have thought that the Orioles and Nationals would have close to identical records at this point in the season!

Felipe Lopez ruined the night for Chris Ray, as he hit a triple past a diving Kevin Millar to settle the game.

Anyhow, I covered the game for the DC Sports Box, and the article should be up shortly.

If the Orioles have a chance to finish at .500 or above, they need to get themselves into shape, because they face the NL West (the Diamondbacks and Padres) in the next few series, and then face off against the Yankees, Angels and White Sox.

If you’re at home tonight, flip between MASN and MASN 2 during the Nationals vs. Orioles’ game – the differences in how each group of announcers call the game is quite striking.

Read what the Nationals blog, Nats320 has to say…

***

The Baltimore Orioles completely squandered the game last night, according to Spencer Fordin of the Orioles MLB site.

Roch Kubatko of the Sun gives us the sad details of last night as does Bill Ordine of the O, By the Way Blog and the Washington Post.
David Steele does not sound too positive on the Baltimore Orioles. The reality is that the bullpen and the offense have been disappointing, and those factors could lead to a 10th losing season. The other scary thing is rather then being buyers in July; they could be sellers if things don’t turn around – fast.

Sam Perlozzo is trying to be positive with the team and deal with the lackluster season the best that he can, but it is getting real bad in these parts..

Matt Palmer looks at the prospect of the Orioles and Nationals possibly having the same record, assuming Washington wins tonight.

Adam Loewen is having surgery on his elbow today, and will be done for 2007.

The Orioles need Daniel Cabrera to break through, now more than ever, according to David Steele of the Baltimore Sun -- I could not agree more.

Take a minute to read SC’s thoughts on Miguel Tejada – he’s absolutely right. It’s becoming painful to watch him now.

News on an Old Friend: Sammy Sosa is near 600 homeruns, but does anyone care?

Quick HIts: The Nationals Down the Orioles, 7-4: The Rundown...

Well, I was at the game last night and covered it for the DC Sports Box.

Last night, as we know by now, the Orioles lost by a score of 7-4 as Daniel Cabrera lasted less than 5 innings, and got tagged for 7 runs.

Rather than regurgitate everything, I am just going to link to the write-up on the game on the blog and then go into the rundown. The write-up is kind of Nat-centric, but I am not going to do the job twice…

I have had a busy morning at the office, so sorry for the lateness.

In watching the game last night, it makes me wonder if Daniel Cabrera will ever reach his potential as a pitcher. He’s sure got the physical makeup to be a force, but 90% of the game is mental, and your head has to be on straight in order to succeed in baseball.

I’m not sure it he will or will not improve, but at times he looks like he’s throwing rather than pitching and hitting his spots. Also, when he gets into trouble, rather than thinking his way of it, he at times gets flustered and pours more gas onto the fire, making a precarious situation worse.

As well, I’ll repeat – the Orioles’ offense must wake up! If not for Melvin Mora’s bomb last night, the Orioles might have been held to two runs of fewer.

About the Battle of the Beltway, it’s insignificant to most fans. For the players, it’s another game, for Washington fans, it’s a chance to take a short road trip in horrendous traffic up to Baltimore; however, for Baltimore fans, it’s no big deal – almost apathetic.

Matt Palmer of the Baltimore Examiner said it the best…

“… there are maybe- maybe! - 14,000 people in the stands on a t-shirt giveaway night. These are the two teams of the region?

This isn't about canceling each other out at this point. This is about people staying away from bad baseball. In droves.

There is not even a question of is this is a rivalry because there is not one at this point. There isn't even a hint of this feeling important to the guys in the clubhouse. No stadium move for the Nationals will change this, I fear.”

***

The Baltimore Sun has a recap of the game last night, gory details and all.

The Examiner also has a recap of the game as well.

The Washington Post has two recaps, one from Barry Svlurga and the other from Katie Carrera. Also the Washington Post has news on Alberto Castillo and Ramon Hernandez.

Mike of Oriole Magic has his thoughts on last night.

As predicted, it looks like Adam Loewen may be done for the season as he’ll need elbow surgery. The good news is that he is young, and should have plenty of time to bounce back.

The Baltimore Sun has a question with Jay Gibbons, this time on how to persevere when you’re struggling at the plate.

The Orioles are suffering through a major power outage, and it’s not good…

Backup catcher Alberto Castillo got to face his former team, the Nationals last night; however, there are no hard feelings.

Fear, Anger and Moaning -- The Game Today, Reflections of this Weekend & Wither Sam Perlozzo...

(public enemy number one in oriole-land right now...)

Ok, I am not going to review the game yesterday. Long story, short; Erik Bedard pitches a masterful game as he strikes out 12 in seven innings, plus gets two hits and drives in a run. Yet again, he got another no decision.

Why he did not finish the game, I don’t know; however, the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec noted he was tired. I wish he would have stayed in the game, but it was not a big deal.

Super sturdy Brad Bradford comes in for a few outs, and then Danys Baez comes in the game.

I knew then the Orioles were screwed and the Nationals would come back.

Even though the Nationals have an anemic offense and a patchwork starting rotation, they have a lot of heart and they’ll battle; therefore, as I predicted -- I was proven right.

Nook Logan steered the Nationals to victory, as they beat the Orioles 4-3.

Well, once again Sam Perlozzo allows Danys Baez in the game – why? Have we not learned after this week that Baez should *probably* not the setup man. But it looks like he’ll still be in that role…

Once again, the bullpen blew it…

These days, no one is happy with Sam Perlozzo. Although, much of internet land has wanted him gone for a good while (myself not included), now the Baltimore media wants him to be shown the door.

In light of the loss, the Battle of the Beltway was cool to see, and seeing Friday and Saturday’s games, as bad it has been in Oriole-land, the fans do still care about the team. At times, it sounded like a college football game, and it was wonderful to hear the passion of the fans that rooted for either the National or Orioles.

All the games were close and hard fought, and fan lived and died on each pitch towards the end.

If you want a much better feel of the events of this weekend, take out some time and read the Washington Post’s Tom Boswell and his article, “Worth Watching”.

The Baltimore Sun’s Roch Kubatko is trying to comprehend Sunday’s loss. From the comments on his blog, people want him Sam gone. My fellow blogger Mike Boehm wants him gone too, so does Ben from Oriole Central, and Dempsey’s Army goes through the ugly details of Sunday.

David Steele in today’s Sun wants Perlozzo gone as the players have not spoken up for him, or given a vote of confidence. Sadly, if this is the case, he needs to probably leave before the tide gets even worse. In all seriousness, Sam seems to be a good person, but winning is what matters in sports, and it is a very cruel business.

Peter Schmuck, the man who knows all and does so in an ornery fashion, has once again called those who want Perlozzo gone as “message board bozos”, and wonders if Peter Angelos will let Sam go. I feel that Peter very much likes Perlozzo; however, if things do not change, he needs to go as you cannot release the entire team.

Folks, Sam should deserve some of the blame of what’s going on with the Orioles, but a lot of the players need to look in the mirror and wonder what the hell is going on. The offense is anemic, Miguel Tejada is now a singles hitter, and the bullpen cannot supplant the excellent starting pitching.

People want a winner, and it looks like in Baltimore the more things have changed, the more they have stayed the same.

If things don’t get any better, the Oriole by July or August may have to start paying people to the Yard for games…

The Game Yesterday -- The Battle of the Beltway, Orioles Take Game One, 5-4.

Orioles and Nationals

Chris Ray got a chance finally to save another almost 5 days after the Boston game, aka “the Mother’s Day Massacre” and this time he delivered.

The Orioles won a razor tight game, by a score of 5-4. Thanks to timely hitting, as well as Brian Roberts and his 4 hits, the team was able to snap their 5 game losing skid.

Thus, the Orioles took the first game of the “Battle of the Beltway” on Friday night.

However, the Nationals nearly came back…

Steve Trachsel, perhaps probably the most reliable starter in the Orioles rotation, pitched a little more than five innings, gave up two runs and two hits.

Ryan Zimmerman and Dmitri Young hit two run homers for the Washington Nationals. The starting pitcher for the team, Jason Simontacchi took the loss, but had another quality start as he went six innings, struck out six and gave up three runs.

Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Kevin Millar, Jay Payton and Corey Patterson drove in runs for the Orioles.

Danys Baez gave Orioles fans cause for concern as he gave a up a monster home run to Ryan Zimmerman in the 8th inning. He’s not had a good week as he capped of the comeback on Sunday, and gave up key hits in Toronto.

The win for the Orioles was well needed, but the Nationals put up a great fight and I like opined this week, they should not be taken lightly.

---

As noted, the Orioles ended their skid last night in Washington, and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has a write-up on it. Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reviews the game as well as well as the Baltimore Examiner.

Bill Ladson of the nationals.com has coverage of yesterday’s game as well, as does Mark Zuckerman of the Washington Times.

Due to interleague play, playing time is even more at a premium. Once again, Jay Gibbons has let his thoughts be known in the media, once again about his at-bats and time out on the field.

On their trip to Washington, the Orioles took out time to visit veterans at Walter Reed. Take out some time to read the piece by Spencer Fordin, and it is great the boys in black and orange took out time to visit the men and women who serve our country.

Beltway Baseball, Live at 1PM Saturday on BlogTalk Radio...

Well, it would be an understatement to say that this week has been a one to remember in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Sam Perlozzo was roasted in the local press and narrowly escaped a lynching, the bullpen has been an adventure, and there have been rumors of the “Baltimore” returning to the road jersey, only to proven to be false (for now).

The Nationals are red hot, taking 3 of 4 from the Braves, and to top it all off, Jason Bergmann nearly no-hit Atlanta!

In addition, the Orioles and Nationals are taking on one another this weekend, and I'll give you my thoughts from the weekend...

We’ll cover it all and more on Beltway Baseball!

Join us at 1pm on Saturday as we’ll be live on BlogTalk Radio and we’ll be taking your calls as well as IMs.

To call in live, the number is (646) 478-4728, or you can IM us at beltwaybaseball.

If you want to email us a question or thought before the show, drop us a line at beltwaybball@aol.com

To Hear Us Live: http://blogtalkradio.com/natsandos

***

Check inside for a full rundown of this week’s show!

· The happenings this weekend, the so-called Battle of the Beltway

· The Game Sunday against the Red Sox, the ensuing 5 game losing streak

· Nationals Are Streaking - Winners of 5 of 6, Took 3 of 4 from the Braves

· Perlozzo’s Status, the offensive struggles

· The O’s Bullpen? Worth the Money?

· The Nationals Suprising Starting Pitching

· WNST - Jim Palmer & the Jersey fiasco

· Nats/Orioles Roundup

The Battle of the Beltway -- A Much Ado About Nothing...

Well, the two baseball teams of the Mid-Atlantic region meet up this weekend in Washington D.C., as the Nationals take on the Orioles at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. With both teams going through attendance woes due to the play on the field, and the lack of promotion of this series; to be quite honest, I don’t see much to this rivalry at the moment.

From what I can see living in covering both teams and living in the cross-hairs of Washington and Baltimore, it generates some exctiment, but it’s not a ‘must-see’. With the Nats playing good baseball this week, and the Orioles tanking and stumbling at the moment, no one knows what to expect. With the exception of Ryan Zimmerman and Miguel Tejada (to a lesser extent Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts), there’s not much star power at all to drive the rivalry to another level.

If anything, fans from Baltimore who come to Washington D.C. get to take an inexpensive road trip, and Washington fans who go up to Baltimore get to see a game in a newer ballpark.

For example, most Orioles fans are indifferent to the Nationals; however, most Nationals fans dislike the Orioles because of Peter Angelos.

In fact, both teams share the same sentiment for Peter Angelos. It’s something to be a man hated in two cities…

The rivalry is friendly, and there are quite a few Nationals supporters (like myself) who still hold quite a fondness for the Orioles.

It’s nice to see two teams who I see often and have an emotional attachment play one another, but I am not going to feed into the incessant hype. In fact, I have not heard much promotion about the series from either team this season, unlike in 2006.

This rivalry for the most part, lacks the history and emotional attachment for many fans that the Yankees-Mets, Giants-Dodgers or White Sox-Cubs seem to have. It’ll be a great weekend for Orioles and Nationals to root back and forth for their favorite teams, then perhaps get a beer afterwards, analyze the game or talk about the good old days. For me the annual interleague meeting between the two teams allows me to take pictures and note how the fanbase of the two teams interact.

For example, in my family, I root for both teams, while my younger brother is a Nationals fan, and my father roots loudly for the Birds.

Perhaps when the Orioles and Nationals meet in the World Series, or if something notable happens like a miracle comeback by one of the teams, or perhaps an ugly incident happens, then we can pump up the volume when the two teams meet.

Overall, it will just be a fun weekend to see baseball if the weather cooperates.