Roch: Please reassure us that those buyouts at The Sun will have nothing to do with you. Taco Bell? Do you know how many bench presses that stuff negates? Get thee to a Double T, please!

I don't mind bringing Walker in there in the 7th - 9 at bats is WAY too small a sample size to worry about that and Walker has been absolutely dynamite this year.

He battled Ortiz, for sure - and I've come to expect nothing less from him. That said, you could tell he was struggling with his stuff a bit because when he got Ortiz 0-2 he didn't have an out pitch to go to. He didn't trust his change against the lefty and wasn't getting the strike off the outside black of the plate.

Cabrera pitched pretty well - a couple curveballs up, but for the most part, he's looking quite good. Worried about the number of hits he's giving up, but a lot are fluke-y (infield hits, bloops, etc.)

Tomorrow is a huge game. I'm in Chicago - any of y'all know what the weather is supposed to be like?

Roch, I can tell you like this team a lot. Let's hope that their positivity and camaraderie weathers the storm.

Thanks...

Sammy could have gotten his 3 outs in the 7th with better matchups if he just brought in bradford to lead off the inning. It was pretty darn clear that cabrera had lost his control in the 6th, walking two batters. Then he leads off the 7th walking Pena!

Bradford could have come in and faced 3 righties of the next 4 batters (none of them being manny), the lone lefty being cora....and if bradford does his job, you have baez in the 8th to face ortiz and ramirez (combined they are 7 for 33 against baez) and then you have jamie and parrish for tomorrow nite.

I have been an Orioles fan for ten years now, and its ironic that the first year I become a fan they become a cursed franchise. I tried countless times to start rooting for my hometown Padres and curse them, but for some mysterious reason I cannot stop caring about these pathetic Orioles who, like a cheating girlfriend, find millions of creative ways to chew your heart up. They will suck the rest of this season. So much for harmony in the lockeroom. life sucks

End of the line: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS-Released RHP Jim Brower.

hang in there Roch, Ravens in about 4 months

Roch,

your comment:

"I can't fault Perlozzo for bringing in Walker, despite Ortiz's past success against him. This is exactly why you're paying $12 million for the guy. He has to pitch in that situation. If Perlozzo leaves in Cabrera and he gives up a bomb, everyone is ripping the manager for not bringing in the left-hander."

No one is saying leave Cabrera in, and you Walker was not paid 12 million to face Ortiz. if that was the case 5-9 with 3 HRS agaisnt him, then that was 12 mil poorly spent. Walker ws paid to get guys out in favorable matchups. Even Palmer was visibly upset with this decision. And Baez was sitting in the pen with great numbers against BOTH Ortiz and Ramirez. This was a critical pount in the game. W had just tied it up. Runners were i nscoring position. Your'e taking an incredible hitter and throwing a pticher out there who the battr hits well over .500 agaisnt with a 50% HR rate agaisnt him. This is NOT a good decision. This is not a decision based on - well, we paid 12 mil to the guys so better risk it.

Ask yourself. Would Davey johnson had made that ddcision or Earl Weaver? No frigging way. Matching up lefty to lefty and right to righty is simplistic in lieu of career stats. For example, Perlozzo correctly sat down Mora who can[t hit Schilling for squat. I can give him credit for that, but what in the world was he thinking.putting that matchup of ortiz and Walker when it wasn't necesary with Baez on his butt. We paid Baez more than Walker. his performance vs. Oritz is vastly better than Walker. so it can't be the money issue. it has to be the stupidity issue of simply lefty to lefty matchup, and Perlozzo's intransigence in this concept of role playing pitchers for certain innings.

I'm get angry about boneheaded plays like the Cpat running and Mora bunt the previous night. I get frustrated with poor defensive plays, but I get absolutely livid when our manager give the other team a victory due to just plain stupidity.

ya manny acting like that reminds me of willy mays hayes in the major league movies when he thought it was gone only to retreat off the field.

Some suggestions:
No more Happy Clubhouse talk the rest of the year. Do the writers feel obligated to produce a simple irrelevant fluff piece every year, so we all get a case of the warm and fuzzies? After this futile 9 year stretch, I'd opt for a dysfunctional winning team. I'd love to see this article... Team Hates Each Other On The Way To The Series.

When Millar gets up, adjust the foul territory on the third base side to include the first 30 rows behind the dugout.Schilling made him look silly last night. Feed him all kinds of stuff he can't lay off but can only hit very foul. Then throw him junk he'll still try to hit very foul. That was one putrid at bat, I think its on You-Tube so every Little League pitcher now knows how to get him out. Perhaps some of the film Mr Millar (notice how i respectfully address the offender) watches should be of his own horrendous at bats. Old habits die hard.

Do something with Gibbons. Anything. 5MM for exactly what? He can't play first, can barely play the outfield (perhaps short field in softball), and now he can't hit at all. Plus, that's money that could be well-spent on another reliever. Colorado?

I told you so about Mora last year when you kept yelling "Sign the man!" and I kept yelling 'No!" Then more quietly, "who gives a guy who's offensive production continues to decline more money than he's ever made?". Unfortunately, we all know the answer. So now, live with him. No more complaining that he chooses to attempt to bunt in the tie run instead of taking his hacks. CS should find the doghouse and deposit him right in it.

Can Millar play third??(That's a joke).

I couldn't agree more with John G's last post. Situations are far more important for a reliever than what inning it is (their agent might care but fans should not). Ray seems like a guy who likes the adrenaline of a tough spot. Well, the game was on the line in the 7th. Now I would argue that you should try to have some sort of routine overall, so you don't start warming up your closer in multiple innings which would seem to be the biggest potential drawback, but against the division leaders I like Ray (or Baez at least) in that scenario.

Roch. You seemed to be one of the few that I agree with on last night's pitching moves. First, I watched the game and there's no way Cabrera should have been yanked after 6. Forget about pitch counts,etc. he should have been able to finish Youkolis off after having him 0-2 but he will only learn from this. DCab was throwing great and to hold a hard-hitting RedSox lineup to only one run after 6 was excellent. If our offense did it's job, he gets the win instead of the loss.
Our starters have to begin going deeper into games or our 'pen will be burnt out by June.
To those who say Walker shouln't have been brought in to face Ortiz-give it a rest! I watched the game on TV and he had Ortiz 0-2 but Big Papi fouled off at least 4 potential strike 3's so sometimes you have to tip your hat to the good hitters. I liked Walker's attitude after the game-I'll get him next time...
Looking at the numbers, I suppose we could question why Bradford vs. Manny(he's now 8-13) but he hasn't been swinging the bat very well lately.
The bottom line is that we only scored 1 run anyway and the RedSox big boys got the job done and ours didn't.
By the way, I would hate to be in the stands with all those RedSox fans-is it always like that?-seemed like they were the home team!!! To anyone there in these games are they as obnoxious as they seem?

Let's see, . . . Ortiz now 6 for 10 with 3 HR lifetime against Walker.

way to go Sammy, don't let the facts get in the way of your decision making!

Uh, Roch, your friend Rick Maese is sort of losing it... his article about the "core" of the O's is way off. First of all, Melvin Mora is on pace to hit 32 HR, 48 2B, and drive in 121 runs. Roberts, even though his BA is in the dumps, still is getting on base .100 points higher than his average and is still on pace to score over 100 runs. Tejeda is on pace for 216 hits and you know he'll start driving in more runs eventually. Maese's assessment is based on less than a month of the season. The criticism of Hernandez is unwarranted seeing as he was very durable last year and for his career, and it's likely he'll be back to one of the tops catchers in the AL in a few weeks. Gibbons is disappointing, but not surprising. He's not happy, he doesn't really know how to hit. John Knott will be up in his place eventually! Anyway, the real core of this team is Roberts and Markakis, and the pitching staff, Bedard, Cabrera, Loewen, and Ray.

I still say give Perlozzo a break guys, I am quite certain we don't know all the facts with what is going on, how could we?

It got on my last nerve seeing all those Suxs fans waving at the camera, holding up signs, RIGHT behind BOTH dugouts, during AB closeups from the dugout side cameras. How in the hell do they get those tickets? I thought they were the in sole grasp of potter's privledged? His suits, his flunkies, his annointed minions? He should revoke their seats for selling them to the Suxs & Spanks fans. Banish them to the OF or upper decks at least! If they are so rabid, they'll buy those as well.
In any case, take note Suxs fans, when you do get those seats, at least try to act like you have been there before or have some clue how to act, waving at your beer buddies watching on TV or holding up signs to Aunt Flatulence back in Revere makes you look idiotic.

Gotta love Walker, I wish we had some more with a pair like he apparently has.

Ramirez should catch one in the ribs for showing up the P that way, not just heat. He should know better, he isn't a rook.

Sounds like the Atlantic League might be a tough one this year...

Salads Roch, add some grilled chicken if you like, but no more taco bell! Don't you recall the hazing you took over that picture in the wife beater shirt & the tatoo this spring? :)

Suicide watch on nathan please, it sounds like that is one miserable existence....

Are we actually claiming that Ortiz's success against Walker foreshadowed an 11 pitch at bat that resulted in a flare to left?

Ortiz didn't win that match-up - he got lucky. Good hitters do...and his luck was in part because we're forced to play his so deep. But Walker didn't let him get square wood on the ball once.

Bad luck. But the match-up didn't "backfire" in any way other than chance.

And that's just baseball. It's why we look to BABIP to understand when someone is good...and when someone has been lucky.