hey wait a minute, let's make guthrie the closer! now wouldn't that be great. positive thinking roch, if we win 2 our of 3 in cleveland, it'll be all ooohhhs and ahhhhs.....

You didn't seriously lock your keys in your car again?

Williamson has pitched 1 inning for every 4.4 games, you mean to tell me that this 42 million dollar bullpen can't pick up that slack?

Regarding Schillings sock: The real explanation is that it wasn't blood and wasn't paint. It was really shoe polish and Gil Hodges put it there when Schilling tossed his sock into the dugout!

i can't wait for ray to pitch again with the bases loaded. Maybe Leo had a talk with him after the game and told him not to worry about it. Most closers with just one pitch are gonna give up a bunch of homers to major league hitters in clutch situations and lose games. Its all part of the learning process. Usually by age 33 or so you've figured it out.

This team continues to do all of the things that make for a long losing season. Think everyone can't wait to get to the ballpark today?

We are starting to see the effects of a mismanaged bullpen.

I couldn't even post after the gama last night I was so disappointed. How many times does Perlozzo have to prove he can't even remotely handle the responsibilities of using a bullpen. You could spend 100 years explaining why he went with Baez in the 7th instead of the eighth and I would never understand.

The starters have got to quit walking so many people. The walks are killing us. Oh well.

At least on the bright side it is starting to heat up. Maybe with the warmer weather we will be able to make a better evaluation of Amber T. Lets see how much upside she has in summer gear. In my mind the jury is still out on her.

You're going to have nights like this w/ your bullpen over 162 games. This team needs to start hitting.

Roch, HOW IN THE WORLD does Perlozzo give the order to walk Jason Veritek??? I was at this game, and it honestly looked like Veritek was swinging a 60-ounce bat. And statistically, he's been ice-cold all season. You really want to send Ray the message that he can't handle this guy? No way he catches up to Ray's fastball! Instead, you face a dangerous hitter like Pena with the bases juiced? Ray threw the pitch that cost the O's the game, but I must say the "L" should go to Sammy P. Terrible call.

Another depressing loss. Willie Mo can't hit anything outside, so Ray throws him a belt-high fastball on the inside half.

It's easy to second guess, but geez, why not bring in Parrish, who Sammy got up at least three times, so that Ray only has to pitch the 9th with the bases empty, the way God intended?

The Orioles actually won two of three games at Jacobs Field last summer. Did they play more than one series up there? I only remember the one series and I know about those two wins because I was at both games that they won! =) One of those games even had R. Lopez as the starter so I have NO idea how they ended up winning that game, LOL =) Maybe the O's need a change of scenery. I'm trying not to lose optimism yet (it is only April) but I'm concerned about the guys confidence as they struggle through this early part of the year. It will be a LONG season if they can't pull themselves together soon.

I do not care how shallow the BP is, you do not bring in your closer in the eigth inning for a 5 out save.

This team has wasted so many opportunities this season already. I do not know what to expect. They come off a three game sweep of the Blue Jays and than promptly lose 4 straight at the Yard with poor execution on everything from defense to managerial decisions.

It also appears from what little I have been able to see of the team this year that Mora and Tejada and going through the motions and not playing to win. Both these guys need to get their act together start playing smarter baseball. We need their ability to be clutch hitters to show.

It is early, but this is the time for the team to make a move in the divisions and get other teams to chase them this year. They have enough talent to win 85+ games.

Disappointing. I think we have some serious pitcher and bullpen management issues. Sam and Leo need to remember a number of our pitchers are young and need a little more direction. Situational leadership if you will? Not that I am sure Sam and Leo are the ones to provide direction.

I don't like using our closer in the 8th. I don't like that our starters are throwing so many pitches in the first five innings.

This does not look good.

Not wanting to beat a dead sock, but what Thorne said was not the first time this has come up and a number of people who were in the Sox clubhouse have not said that it was fake but that it was embellished.

But, what was the big deal? You would have thought Thorne had said Paul Revere didn't take his ride or that Old Ironsides was made from a kit.

ESPN devoted a whole day on both TV and radio. I heard they even interrupted their 24/7 draft coverage to show the pre-game press conference.

I really don't care if Schiiling put dye, catsup or paint on his sock or if it was 100% blood, but the more they carry on the more I am convinced he did embellish the sock. I am also very disapointed that ESPN has been dragging Palmer into this. What did he say?

(I also realized, from his conversation on the Dan Patrick show, that I do not believe a word Millar says.)

I think if Mirabelli had a chat with Thorne before the game and Thorne made a comment on the broadcast it would all slip away. But now you know, when the O's go to Boston, this will be brought up all over again.

I am also betting that ESPN and Fox will revisit it on their braodcasts of the Yankee/Red Sox series this wekend.

What a joke.

Roch,

I agree with the Boston writer, but I see Ray's point, too. To paraphrase Leo, "Location, location, location...." Ray threw the ball up and out over the plate. He did not have command at all.

I think you need to think about leaving Ray in with the bases loaded....

I do not believe Ray should be in ANY game in the 8th inning. As much as I hate to second-guess Perlozzo because it is done so casually by so many here, he needs to come up with a better plan with his 'pen. Baez should not be in the game in the 6th inning.

If he needs to go to the 'pen, he should diagram it so Guthrie would go in from innings 1 - 3, Burres or [someone other than Jim Johnson] from 4 - 6, Bradford or Parrish 7 - 9, Baez or Walker in the 8th and Ray in the 9th.

Barring illness, injury, certain situational moments or the game after a Wright start (because the 'pen will get a LOT of work the night he pitches), he should write this in indelible ink on his arm and live by it.

We have a lot of good arms in the bullpen, but they only have value if they are used in the right situation.

It is early still and there is still a lot of time. But we cannot afford to give away games against teams in the division.

I think the 2007 Orioles are still a vast improvement over the last few years and have a chance to be a .500 team or a little better. Certainly they can play with the Yankees, Jays, and Rays. But the Red Sox have bought themselves a dominant pitching staff and have two game changing sluggers in their lineup surrounded by guys who have great at bats. Their three top pitchers all go deep into games and spare the bullpen. The O's top pitchers are talented, but still can't work there way into the 8th inning very often.

In the AL, clearly Boston and in my mind the Tigers are the two best teams because of the pitching staff. The Angels might have the same depth in the staff, and if they start scoring runs, they're probably 3rd best. The good news is the other teams that will be in the running for the WC...Oakland, Minnesota, Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto, New York... all have serious flaws. I think the Orioles can at least play with those teams.

Same Old O's.

WHY THROW PENA (a dead fastball hitter) a FASTBALL right down the middle? throw him 10 straight breaking balls, i dont care if you walk him,Then its only 2-2 instead of 5-2. Why do i know that and Ray doesn't? unbelievable. Never going to have a winning season until they learn how to close out games. Its depressing.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY, 1988:

Orioles lost 21 in a row.....

Lets be glad to be around .500

Lets also be glad Ogden is coming back for one more year...go ravens

Go O's!!!!

Maybe more frustrating than Ray's second bases-loaded implosion is the lack of hitting with men on.

Huff, Tejada, Mora and Markakis all have the track record that tells you the rbi will come, but they are not getting any help.

Gibbons is getting hits with men on (but showing no power), but Patterson and Robers have just not been there. Millar had a moment, but he has taken called 3rd strikes in late innings with a runner in scoring position in each of the last 3 games.

Still, Mora is only hitting marginally better in the clutch, Tejada is hitting .100 points lower, Markakis is 20 points lower and Huff just isn't hitting, period.

The team needs a lift. Maybe Hernandez being back will give them one.

But I would also bing Knott back. (Since Knott was sent out Bynum has NOT appeared in a single game in any capacity - is this the kind of versatility they kept him for?) Not that he is the team's salvation (no pun intended), but he can hit for Patterson, Millar or even Roberts (right now) in clutch situations.

I've been an Oriole fan since I was a kid. I am now 56 yrs old. I also played baseball. Why would you throw a fastball to Pena. That's the only pitch he can hit. Baez also threw a fastball for a double. It is sad watching this team play. No emotion and weak on fundamentals.

April 30 is now just 3 days away, so, I say, what the heck, let ‘er rip on assessing this team (based on the first 22 games, not the pitiful last 4). You might come to the conclusion that the O’s are, gasp, a fourth place team, perhaps slightly better than last season but not good enough to compete with the big boys. In another month, we’ll have an even better read. Hopefully, by then, Bedard will have his act together, Hernandez will add some pop to the lineup, and other hitters will start hitting, though I expect I will come to the same conclusion (the same one I’ve had since November).

So far this season, there are eerily similarities to 2006—last season, the O’s started out 11-7, then dropped 4 straight to put themselves at 11-11, just as they have done this season. They won the next two, then lost the next two, and after April 30th, were never over .500. Let’s see if that happens again. If it does, it just proves that mediocrity can be frighteningly predictable.

Clearly, when I advocated using Ray in situations other than the 9th inning, I was working under the assumption that he was our best reliever. If he can’t enter in the middle of an inning and be effective, he’s not. If he gives up game-deciding grand slams to New York and Boston, he’s not. Both things sort of defy the meaning of the word “relief.”

There are many closers in baseball who can only work a full inning, and that one full inning must be the 9th. That, in my opinion, makes them of dubious worth. Maybe your closer isn’t your best reliever; but then you have to wonder, why isn’t the best reliever the closer? The answer will most likely be, well, he doesn’t have closer stuff (or the closer mentality), even though the guy who can’t enter in the middle of an inning does. This is about the point where my head explodes.

Another thing to add: you can’t score three runs in two games against the Red Sox and expect to win (and it helps also not to give up grand slams in the 8th inning as well). Schilling and Beckett are tough, sure, but you’ve got to do better than that. Somebody’s got to step up.

I hate to say this, but Chris Ray stinks. He's a 1-pitch pitcher with mediocre control. Against the bottom of some major league orders, he'll throw gas and be fine. But against patient, professional teams (Red Sox, Yankees) he'll give up the gopher ball all the time. He's Armando Benitez. He's Jorge Julio with slightly better control.

Len, good one!!!!!!!!!

Roch, you have to steal that one!

I love the spin doctoring by the Sux, Mirabelli, & Thorne on Soxgate. These guys should work on Capitol Hill. Mirabelli's first defense is , I don't even know the guy. Then he remembers a joke to him? He knew who he was... I think a few people got together over night, came up with a plan & it was executed. Cover stories concocted, crisis resolved.
Didn't any of you, Roch too, wonder why an allstar P playing in the playoffs would even bother to keep that d@mn sock in the first place? I mean, if it was no big deal to Schilling, why was't it just trashed or thrown into the pile of dirty or used clothes after that game? It was carefully saved & CARRIED to Copperstown? Doesn't that sound like there was some thought put into the whole "bloody sock" thing to anyone?
I could really care less if it was blood or paint, but I don't buy the spin we got yesterday.

I will laugh if anyone claims Castillo. I think it's safe to buy his ticket for Norfolk.

Why the panic, yesterday was the first game that the O's have had their entire hitting lineup available this year. Now we need to give Hernandez & Payton some ABs to get comfortable. It wouldn't hurt to have a few other guys break out of slumps too. I can recall some excellent O's team from my childhood, starting off terribly, at about .500 in late May, then they won 90+ games.
The bullpen will be fine. Rushing Ray in was not necessary. They have the guys there, trust them & use them accordingly.
I agree with Roch on keeping Johnson. No need for him. He needs to pitch in Norfolk & start. All I can think of is that someone in Balmer really doesn't like T Williams.

J Remy is an idiot. There should be more stink about his comments than Thorne's. I bet Thorne is really looking forward to that first trip into Bahston.

CRB & TomD. Good posts; you are the few who seem to 'get it'. Our offense isn;t getting it done and the bullpen needs to have defined roles. As I have also noted, the starters need to throw strikes and go deeper into games(the 2 are interrelated).
Other than that, we should be fine(somewhat tongue in cheek!). Most relievers are going to implode sometimes during the season. Even Rivera, Jones and Ryan coughed up leads already this year.
The key is to have enough of a cushion to absorb some of these meltedowns. When's the last time we out 9-10 runs on the board?
Many of the others here just rant and rave/or blame Sammy for everything that goes wrong. He's not the one swinging at pitches in the dirt or a foot outisde or making careless plays in the field.
As far as the Mazzone effect, let's see some improvement in the next month or two, especially with control.
Overall, I guess the logical approach is to be patient but that's easier said than done!!!

The big problem is that this team still lacks a true number 4 hitter, a real bopper. I'm not going to get into the front office's difficulties in signing a front-line slugger, but the Yankees and Sox each have 2 number four hitters (Giambi, A-Rod, Manny, Papi). (Thank goodness the Yankees pitching stinks so far this year).

Who would you fear on this team? Tejada is the O's best hitter, but he isn't a true number four hitter and his power with men in scoring position declined severely last year (.358 slugging with RISP in 2006) and has been miserable this year (222 slugging this year!). I mean lately, I'm shocked when Tejada does anything with the bat. I had to double check the stats - he has exactly one extra base hit with runners on base this year (a double.) He's certainly a much different player than he was in his first season here.

You just know that guys like Ortiz or Ramirez are going to end up killing the Orioles by the end of night. I still think Miguel is a good player I just hope he snaps out of it and starts producing like a number 4 hitter.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=tejadmi01&year=2007

CRB--you are probably right but that is really depressing. Oh well, I hate to advocate turning to the Ravens for relief which is the only outlet for the beleaguered Baltimore sports fans, but at least there is the draft. Great--then voluntary minicamps. Woo. I think I'll skip a few games this weekend. Let me know how we do.

Lastly--bring back Knott! I don't care about track records, he clearly sees the ball better than half our position players right now (particularrly Gibbons). Screw their fragile egos. THis is the majors. If they need a confidence boost, they should get one of those posters with an inspiring slogan.

I'm really tired of being the minority at games like these. I was the only person standing up to cheer in my club level section the other night and when the Sox got a big hit, it was sad to see how many people were standing up in the stadium. I've been an O's fan my whole life and while I know a lot of people are still riding the coat-tails of the sox world series win, where are all the O's fans??

BRIAN, what did Remy say?

Roch, reading your comments from last night, I have to disagree about Lowen.

Think Daniel Cabrera with less heat.

I was down on Cabrera all last season and did not see him coming around because he would say things like "who cares about the walks?" But look at him now! He is consistently hitting spots and keeping the hitter off balance.

The difference is that, last year, Cabrera was giving up bases loaded hits or walks and getting killed. Lowen is getting out of the jam.
He is the living example of what Earl Weaver was talking about when he said "he has crawled out of more coffins than Bella Lugosi."

Maybe he starts to think he is special and doesn't have to pitch until the bases are loaded. But I think he is actually learning how to pitch.

Once he figures out the pitches that are getting him out of innings will keep him from getting into bases loaded jams, he will be what was promised.

If Bedard gets his confidence in the change-up back and Lowen gets in gear we will have a top 3 better than ANY team in baseball.

A lot of interesting comments by many posters this time around.

By the way, I know that Tejada is still a great player and that, eventually, he'll end up somewhere around his season stats. I just hope he starts hitting with more power soon.

Heck, he is still probably the best number 4 hitter the Orioles have, he's just not a true number 4. That said, I'm still in favor experimenting with hitting him 3 and Huff 4 and moving Markakis to 2 and Roberts leading off (left-righty be damned). That way at least our best hittter (Tejada, still) is reaching the batter's box in the first inning.

Here's to a Cleveland sweep.

Anywhere but at the Yawn Scott....

For everyone feeling bad right now - think about this:

NY Yankees - 8 wins 12 losses, last in the division and currently in the middle of a 6 game losing streak, Mariano Rivera has a 7.11 ERA and tonight they face Dice-K.

Let's go Yankees, clap-clap-clap-clap.

Sammy P doesn't deserve the blame for all the woes the Orioles have but he does deserve a fair share. Bullpen management and matchup problems are obvious and they needed to be pointed out. Wanting better effort from the players, coaches, or newtork covering the team doesn't make you a bad fan.
I enjoy reading posts from others proclaiming how they and a few others "get it". What's to get? The starters can't pitch deep into games, Perlozzo uses dubious matchups, and the offense is struggling. Did I miss something, do I not "get it"?
Also it seems to me we are swinging at a lot of first and second pitches. There is a lot of credence to working the count and getting into the middle relievers, it seems to work against us.
Also MASN's audio was significantly better last night. Still no HD, but incremental progress is better than no progress.

Andy I agree with you completely about walking Varitek. He was cold last night and atleast there was a base to work with. Pitch him well, go for the K. At worst he brings in one run...better than 4. Bad bullpen management. And Gibbons stinks. I hope Brian starts hitting better as his double last night was good. Ramon will be good to have back. I also agree next year our priority has to be a true number 4 pitcher, overpaying if need be.

Roch: Enough with the gloom, doom and sucking up to your Oriole-hating fan club. How about some recognition that the four game losing streak coincided with facing Haren, Schilling and Beckett (whom you didn't even mention in your story slagging off the O's). If you're going to say these are typical journeymen American League starters and that our bullpen will consistently have meltdowns in three straight games, then, yes, it'll be another long season. Otherwise, this losing streak has no more predictive value than the two four-game winning streas we've had this season.

My problem with Perlozzo is why he does something brilliant like recognize someone like Mora has historically not hit Schilling and has Mora sit agaisnt him (good decision Sam), but then seems to ignore records of hitters against our pitchers. Walker-Ortiz, Bradford-Ramirez, Ray-Pena.

I hate beating a dead horse and am letting this go, but the decision he made to sit Mora against Schilling was based on Mora's record agaisnt SChilling. A wise decision by Sammy, but he needs to apply the same logic to his pitcher-hitter matchups.

Could someone please point out to me the last mamager since Weaver (aside from Johnson) who was actually good at using a bullpen, or greater still, the entire pitching staff?

It seems to me that over the last twenty years or so, I just recall Oriole managers being BUFFOONS in their misusage of the pitching staffs. I would have hoped Perlozzo was different, but I see no great history of that. And worse, what effect is Mazzone actually having in their with any input? That *really* is discouraging to me!

Having been a O's fan since 1958 (doubleheader at Memorial Stadiulm against the Indians), it's pains me to feel that every game is going to be lost in the late innings.This year has been worse than any other in recent memory in that vain. Bullpen mismanagement, no one on the bench to hit for guys like Gibbons (another guy who got his deal and then quits) what is Sammy thinking about? He and Leo are way over their heads in this League. They have left at least 6 games on the table with BP mismanagement. Runners left in scoring position, that's another story.Bring up Jon Knott now, No fielder he, but man, can he drive the ball. Also, these guys with the Tejada attitude about "I did nothing wrong"-after getting doubled off last night- is the mark of a 12 year old. C'mon men, some of you read these postings, get with it.Please dont' poison Nicky M. and the other young Birds with this attitude. These guys can play. We need 2 more big sticks and a BP manager. Hey Roch, where do I go to find out the score of that 1958 dblheader? Nostalgia, ya know.