Tough loss on the road last night--a game we should've won. When I saw that Guthrie had thrown 96 pitches after 7 innings, I thought he would be done. I don't blame Guthrie or Trembley--we had lots of chances to blow the game open early on--runners on base & King Felix was wild. The game was there for the taking & we blew our chances. Usually when you don't cash runs in early, you end up paying later. Our bats couldn't get it done. I just hope we rebound well tonight.

Based on the upcoming schedule I would sign up for 27-27 right now. Hey Roch good job on XM right now, glad to see they gave you a full segment this time.

My expectations at the beginning of the seasonfor this team to be a success was to flirt with the .500 mark. This is still my realistic goal for the season even after the surprising start. I certainly hope that we have the makeup to not endure the numerous series sweeps that were predicted by all the Grand Poobahs of Baseball. When we do lose a series, let's just hope that we are competitive in the games and win one or two...that's all we can realistically hope for from a young, rebuilding team...one difference I see this year is this bunch doesn't quit no matter what...how many times did you feel that last year?

I just have to ask one question going back to some responses from the last post, real quick. When do we go from complaining about the artificial ceiling of the 100 pitch count to questioning why a guy is left in a game after 110 pitches??

As far as this post...for me, personally, I don't care what the final record is on the season as long as the team keeps playing the way they are. For the first time in a long time I see a team of players who look and act like they are genuinely excited about getting the chance to play every day in the big leagues and they are doing everything they can not to be the one to let the team down.

I think there will still be plenty of ups and downs to this season yet to come, but I don't believe that there are going to be any epic 30-3 type games or 9 game losing streaks with this team. Only time will tell though.

If they come out of this 20 game stretch 10-10, I'll be thrilled.

The first win will be big, so lets hope its tonight.

"And does it really matter in the grand scheme of things, since this club is supposed to be rebuilding?"

11-7 and under the delusion that they would remain a + .500 ballclub with the glaring holes is far different than 11-7 and recognizing that you have taken the first of many steps to comprehensively build a winner. I also believe that this team has a bunch of young guys who should improve over the course of the season instead of decline precipitously. Plus, we can bring up solid (if not unspectacular) ML talent when pitchers or players get hurt. The lineup that was on the field in August and September was not pretty last year.

Why the sudden focus on the W-L record? Relax, folks. This is solid baseball-- not 10-2 (or 30-3) blowouts.

"One more clutch hit last night and the Orioles might be 12-8. That's baseball."

And if not for two very impractical but awesome rallies, we could be 9-11. I didn't buy last year's decent start and frankly, I don't much care about the team's record this year although more wins = more fun. I still can't fathom a playoff berth so therefore I want to see energy, dedication, improvement, and quality effort each night. This team has yet to disappoint.

I haven't noticed any comments about Ramon Hernandez's throw to try and pick off Ichiro that resulted in an error and a run scored. That hurt right after Guthrie made a great play for the second out running the ball to third unassisted. We go from a great uplifting play to a big screw up. I know it is hard to pick spots, but there was a guy on second and two outs, Ichiro, on first, wasn't going anywhere and I just think it was too risky. Yes, I might have been happy with a successful pick off, but I wonder how often his throws result in good things and how often in errors and extra bases yielded.

I know it makes for good discussion fodder, but comparing the 2007 season to 2008 is the proverbial apple and orange. 2008 has a different set of players, a different manager, a different GM, a different focus, is playing different teams in different venues and has different chemistry. There are far more disparate things to compare than similarities. Any coincidence in records from one year to the next is pure happenstance and utterly unrelated to the prior season.

Having said all that, I don't see this team falling into the same prolonged funks demonstrated by teams of the recent past.

Roch, in 40+ years of watching, coaching, and playing baseball, I've never seen a pitcher unassisted forceout at third. Any record of when it last happened in the majors? What about the same thing at second or home?

While I think that 17 of 20 on the road is daunting, I also think the club under Trembley will find a way to, first, not let it be an excuse, but moreover, to allow it to motivate the team to play great competitive baseball.

(Message to the O's: the won-lost record is at this point secondary. Keep playing the way you're playing and the rest will take care of itself.)

While Perlozzo made a foolish mistake in pulling Guthrie last year in Boston, Trembley, perhaps aware of that game, may have overcompensated in an effort to convey his belief in Guthrie's tenacity. Better, however, to err in Trembley's direction than Perlozzo's.

I like what I see so far. They are playing good baseball. Sure they have some holes and they don't have the firepower to hang with the heavies, but they are battling and I think that is all that we can hope for. Last night was a tough loss but it was a great game to watch. One bad pitch cost Guthrie the game but he pitched an incredible 7 2/3. And that one fielding play was awesome!

If BC Dave was right & Guthrie was at 110 pitches, then Guthrie should have been removed for Walker. It's still April & that was enough, he had nothing else to prove & that's Walker's forte, get that one out in that moment. we can allow Kirk one brain fart I suppose, but I hope he doesn't do that again. Use that 13 man pen.... they need some trust shown as well as the starters.

Let's see what happens the rest of this trip before we starting tripping over last year.....

Jennifer, sorry I made you feel eeewww a few blogs ago, but that one was too easy, too sweet to pass up....

Unfortunately, baseball relies heavily on statistics, which means that baseball is watched but millions of historians. It's hard to stay clear of the "past is now" mindset given all the statistics available. However, to reap the most enjoyment from a game we have to recognize that 10:10 pm PST in Seattle on April 23rd, 2008 is not a revisited minute from 2007.

Over at The Loss Column we've all pretty much agreed that one of the major markers for success this year is that the team not suffer a meltdown. Much more so than wins and losses, relative stability and consistency will prove that they've finally turned a corner. Maybe not "the" corner, but a corner of some kind for sure.

Incidentally, the Orioles were also 11-7 in 2006 and 2005.

I guess they really like to be 11-7.

It's, like, totally their thing.

Roch, I say that it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things because the team is rebuilding. The worst thing would be for fans and players alike to see this and say, here we go again. The records are nothing but coincidence. Maybe it just shows that, once the other teams in the league get into their grooves, things have a tendency to go back to normal for lesser teams like the O’s. April has always made contenders of mediocre teams and stars out of unknown players. A 162-game season, though, tends to set things to the way they should be.

We all want the team to win, but reality has to come in to play here. The reality is that this team should not be expected to win a lot of games or finish above fourth place, as the team was constructed before the season started and as it’s constructed now. Defying expectations, though, is a lot of fun and I hope they do it. But I think we should be focused more on incremental progress from certain players at both the major and minor league level than winning games here (and not write the team off in June if they’re 10 or 15 games under .500). That’s not easy to do, and it’s often difficult to separate organizational progress from a win/loss record.

Right now, I feel upbeat about the team’s future. I think they made some good trades during the offseason, and they seem to be over counting on mediocre free agents to be their salvation. Instead of wondering what boneheaded personnel decision is coming next, I’m anticipating that they’ll hold onto the good young players they have, make decent draft picks, and get decent return on their remaining veterans if they decide to trade them. For now at least, the dark cloud that’s been hanging over this franchise has shifted slightly.

it's heartening to see so many posters here rationally accepting the fact that trembley didn't make a bad move leaving guthrie in. it just didn't work out.

and it's nice to see blame go where it's due .... lack of clutch hitting.

over at some other blogs, which shall from now on remain nameless, they're already calling for trembley's head. cuz - um - they're idiots.

Come on now Roch... Stay focused, stay grounded. Don't get caught up in an orange kool-aid delusion. The team is 5-8 since they ran off that 6 game winning streak. During that period they have averaged 3.5 runs per overall and when they lose it's 2.4. That Roch, is the team of 2008. Expect more of the same... after all, rebuilding is the operative word.

Why do they have to have to be the worst team in baseball to be considered actually committed to "rebuilding"? They made some risky transactions, and they're doing OK all the same. What's the problem with that??

Now's the time to hang tough. No sullen faces (Mora). No throwing down to first base (Hernandez). No fake umpire arguments by the skipper (See Mazzilli/bubblegum).

Time to stay the course and keep our heads straight.

Guthrie is one tough cookie. He'll get his share soon enough.

Keep it loose, boys.

I feel like we're destined for some tough times with starters that can't go deep and with having no big boppers. For now, enjoy the ride and let the kids play and contribute. While I dig B-Rob, I worry that he knows nothing but losing at the pro level and I would not mind another multi-player trade with a Pie or Bruce in a package.

Captain Kirk is a good manager and is perfect for the town and team.

My bottom line is this with the O's... my wife and I watch every night (except west coasters) and root for the club. We're happy when they win and disappointed when they do not. I listen to plenty of sports talk and understand, we want a winning club. We focus on the overall attitude of the organization and try to find the best. This is the best in many years. We're pumped, not mislead, and we believe that the company is moving in a great direction. Andy McFail, Mr. Trembley, and plenty we don't know, will get this franchise back where we want it. This team is fun to watch, and exciting to think about... if we keep playing good ball...winning games... fun stuff.

The O's still have a weak offense. They have more good at-bats, but they still consistently fail to tak advantage of walks and opponent's errors, and fail too often to drive runners home from third with less than two outs. They're 3 for 17 with th bases loaded.

Last night's game was lost in the first and second innings. I don't understand how Huff and Markakis can watch hittable pitches go by for strike three in scoring opportunities when they should be protecting the plate with two strikes. At least go down swinging.

I'd have lifted Guthrie, because Vidro was 5 for 11 against him.

Roch,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it doesn't really matter very much , because football is right around the corner,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,in Baltimore , baseball is used to pass the time away until training camp begins,,,,,,,,,,draft weekend coming up , go Ravens,,,,,,,,,,,,

This year there is a higher ceiling. There is hope that the kids will improve or we can bring in new kids who are only going to get better. Last year and in previous years, our players had their best years behind them.
Let us look forward and stop whining about the past. Please. Whiners, get out of Baltimore.

I stand by my original prediction..71-91...10 games, yes you read right , 10 games below .500.

The big difference at this time is that it all looks like upside to me . I did mention the Hernandez throw...there was a conference on the mound between Millar, Guthrie and Hernandez prior to that play so I don't think Hernandez was acting on his own accord entirely.

It looked like a turning point , but that changed in a minute , make that a minute and a Huff.

At the end of the day , look at the options you have in the bullpen...solid and ditto outfield . Starters ...improving (Loewen is key..he was having a long converstaion in the pen with Kranitz before the game last night) Where there are holes..there is a plan (read Wieters and Rowell) add a free agent 1st baseman and next year looks very promising.

I'm off to Safeco. Looking forward to DCab...Bedard is out for tomorrow and will throw against the A's on Saturday.

hef in nj -- BC Mike, who was at last night's game in Seattle, at 10:39 a.m. in today's previous post wrote "R Hernandez's throw to 1st was ill timed, totally unnecessary."

Yeh!!!! Roch, I'm watching O's pregame, hope this is the first of a regular spot for you, the pregame NEEDS you.

Wow! All that green, Roch, is it St. Paddy's Day again? There are cans in my pantry with less green.
On another note, Amber looked delicious tonight. She has a certain quality about her. What is that called? How long before she follows Sage Steele to ESPN?
Go Birds!

Ugh..... it's going to be a long game tonight.

Apparently the strike zone is the size of my backyard.... so it should make for an interesting game....

Ichiro is a freaking pest by the way!

Does it bother anyone else when Gary Thorne says "non-decisioned" instead of "no-decisioned"?

The reason Trembley didn't take out Guthrie right away was that he was playing cards in the clubhouse with Rickey Henderson and Bobby Bonilla.
Thanks BC Mike for the update from last nights game. Andy, Thanks for sharing the Jeff Conine story. I mentioned it last month so I was happy to read the story.
Roch, If you come out the the Keys game in DE against the Wilmington Blue Rocks on the 30th, I'll take a new 2008 blog photo for you. Have to find some shade so you don't squint like Adam Jones Yahoo pic.

Rock, I do not get to see the games and usually just casually check-in with gamecast...how is Huff thrown out at the plate with nobody out? That is just INEXCUSABLE! Was there extenuating circumstances? Did he fall or something? If not, one musr seriously question Samuels judgement---it's HUFF with nobody out? I hope there's something there that doesn't come up on the computer?

How is it possible that any major league baseball player could have such poor instincts as Huff demonstrated on the ball hit by Hernandez? That could be the ballgame right there!

Huff's baserunning gaff probably ranks nearly as high as Stumblin' Jack Cust's journey home. What game was he watching?!? We were almost guaranteed to tie or take the lead but then he caused that train wreck. And then Luis decided to play the familiar role of rally killer.

If SafeCo played like Camden Yards, we wouldn't need to rip Huff. However, we are usually not good enough to overcome that. I guess I'll leave the game on for a bit. Ughh.

not to jinx the guy, but someone has cabrera's ear and his head, 'cause he's pitching pretty well. hopefully he's turned a corner. it'd be nice to see some continued good efforts from him this year.
C'mon bats, support your local pitcher...

Just a few more comments on Trembley's decision last night. The manager said it was Guthrie's game to win or lose. How can he win when the game is tied? You can say that if you are ahead 3-2, but you cannot when the score is tied. Trembley's not stupid and I really like most of what he has to say, but his comment was a major CYA after the fact.

The only way he could win was to retire Vidro and have the team score the go ahead run in the ninth or the tenth, eleventh or beyond. Just let him keep throwing until we go ahead, right???

Just a few more comments on Trembley's decision last night. The manager said it was Guthrie's game to win or lose. How can he win when the game is tied? You can say that if you are ahead 3-2, but you cannot when the score is tied. Trembley's not stupid and I really like most of what he has to say, but his comment was a major CYA after the fact.

The only way he could win was to retire Vidro and have the team score the go ahead run in the ninth or the tenth, eleventh or beyond. Just let him keep throwing until we go ahead, right???

Put me in the optimistic column. This 20 game stretch could tell us a lot about how the rest of the season will go. If they come home after Mother's Day with a winning record, there could be hope for a summer that seems a lot less long and hot. I think that result -- a record of 9-11 or better throught these two long trips -- would have to open up a few eyes among the pundits across the country.

Expectations are low for this team this year, and rightly so. But MacPhail (for gawd's sake, people, show some respect and spell his name right, for the sake of his father and grandfather, if nothing else) knows that this is a marathon, not a sprint. And in reality, it's a double- or triple-marathon; he's constructing a team not just for this season, but for '09, '10 and far beyond. Yeah, it'd be sweet to re-live 1989 and have us be contenders right down to the wire. But even some baby steps toward a long-term future that sees the Orioles on the sunny side of .500 would be a welcome change.

We've already got some of those in place, thanks to Scott, Albers, Jones, and the way Trembley treats the players and uses the bullpen. Lefties follow righties, flame throwers follow junk ballers, relievers go through the order once instead of using six arms to get six outs -- curse you, Tony LaRussa, for fouling up a generation of managers and pitchers!

Okay, I feel better now. Let's get some runs!

What am I feeling about this team right now? With a win tonight(overcoming Huff's baserunning) I'll feel better, but they have been solid. One thing that hasn't been mentioned, much of late, is the starting pitching. They are now going deep into games, by today's standards. Guthrie threw very well last night. Cabrera has been great tonight. That's three very solid starts in a row(show him some love fans). Burres and Trachsel are gritty and Loewen with time will get better this year.

Roch, to ask if it really matters since the team is rebuilding, is a silly question. At some point every rebuilding team needs to make progress to turn the corner. Why not 2008?

We got this one,, Cabrera, Markakis and George,,, I like this team alot better. We r in every game so far

Way to go Daniel Cabrera! Full of strikes and an excellent pitching performance for the win.

Nice shot to the right field seats, Nick.

And George turns the lights out on his old shipmates.

12-9 looks good.

Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good as larry david would say.

Honestly, I don't have any expectations, I just enjoy the wins. I like the direction AM is taking the team and Trembley seems like a great coach. It may not be this year, but you can finally feel the tides turning. Way to gut it out. They're playing good baseball and keeping the games close. I'll always be cheering, but as long as they continue in the direction they are in I'll be excited about the future of the O's.

Great effort by DCab tonight -- and he had no BBs!!!

Still weak hitting, but got the big one when it counted.

I can't help but get excited with every win even though I know with this line-up we are going to struggle.

Cabrera was awesome tonight. I wanted Trembley to leave him in for the 9th. Fortunately Sherrill did the job again. 12-9! How could Huff not score from 2nd on the Ramon hit off the wall in left? I called the Markakis HR off of Rowland-Smith. Nice to actually get one right for a change. Roberts needs to get on track again, feels like he's just slightly off these days, hitting the ball hard but can't find the gaps.

Another outstanding game tonight.

To the naysayers surrounding last night's Guthrie decision, and I say only that if Trembley errs, I'd much rather him err on the side of being somewhat overconfident in his players, rather than underconfident, as seemed to be the case with Sam P last season.

Here's the psychological difference. Last year, Guthrie is taken out too early and the bullpen blows a huge lead to the BoSox. The team was deflated and then went to Toronto, if I recall, and suffered an utterly demoralizing 3 game sweep. Soon thereafter, the team blew nine in a row, and Perlozzo was toast. In other words, the original lack of confidence from Perlozzo seemed only to breed a greater lack of confidence, first in the bullpen, and then in the whole team.

Contrast this with last night. Guthrie throws an OUTSTANDING game, the likes of which we haven't seen since before the All-Star break last season. It's a hard fought game tied 2-2, and Guthrie feels he can finish off Vidro w/ the bases loaded. His pitch count is high, but not astronomically so. This is exactly the kind of situation that separates the best pitchers in baseball from everyone else. What would you do with Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez (in his prime) or Roger Clemens (in his prime) in that situation? Would you take them out, even when they are saying they can finish it off? Maybe, but I tend to think you only do that if a special set of conditions are met: your team is competitive in the pennent race, it's fairly late in the season (especially August or September) and you have an outstanding set-up man in whom you have very high confidence.

Contrast that with last night: not only is this a rebuilding year, when the primary goal is to see improvement in all of our young players, but it's also April when all managers in baseball are still trying to get a feel for the capabilities and limitations of of their players. As Trembley said himself to start the year "We're not conceding anything to anyone" this season, but when faced with the decision to give a huge show of confidence to his number one starter, or to call it off and play extremely conservatively in an April game of a rebuilding season, it's clear to me that he made the right decision.

Last night's loss was not demoralizing. If anything, it was inspiring. It was an exciting game, and Guthrie went toe-to-toe with one the most highly touted starters in the game. After trading our best pitcher away to the Mariners in the off season, they seem almost unable to beat us this year.

More importantly, confidence breeds confidence. After showing faith in Guthrie last night, the team again found itself in a gritty, low-scoring close game in the late innings tonight. Again, Trembley could have pulled Cabrera after Markakis' homer in the top of the 8th, but again he chose to stick with his starter who was looking as good as he has in a l l o o n n g g time. Certainly, that would have been the "safe" thing to do.

Instead, he sticks with him and this time it works out easily: Cabrera finishes the game with 8 IP, 5 h, 5 k and NO(!!!) walks. The team comes away with another tight one-run victory and George Sherrill records his 4th save against his former team, (which is 1 more than he had in his entire career as a Mariner).

In the end, this is still April baseball. If we've learned one thing from the nightmare that has been the previous decade of Orioles baseball, it's that April success doesn't always translate to later in the year, when the better teams sort out their early season kinks, establish their lineups and bullpens and start running on all cylanders. It will be challenging to keep the success up for a full 162 games.

BUT, one thing is for sure and it's this. To all of those O's fans who are still (understandably) hiding in their caves of cynicism in order to prevent themselves from what has been the inevitable sting of ruined hopes and unhappy endings, I'd like you to open your eyes and look at what the Orioles are putting on the field this year. This a team that was picked by virtually everybody to finish 30th of all 30 teams. This a team that could concievably finish without a single 20 home run hitter. This is a team with a lifelong minor league manager, a team that traded away it's most recognized names for young talent, and a team with players all over the diamond, on both sides of the ball, getting their first extended opportunity in major league baseball.

And yet this team is winning. They're playing excellent defense and pitching well enough, and scapping on offense for enough runs to squeak out wins. Can they keep it up for a full season? Nobody knows of course, and if I were a betting man, let's just say I'd be conservative with my money.

But even if they don't keep it up, you've got to love watching a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. You've got to love watching a team that doesn't throw away outs or at bats and runs out their ground balls and doesn't back down from anybody.

On a more philosophical note, I have to say that these last ten years have certainly taught me that the special allure of baseball doesn't lie in winning or losing. Baseball itself is its own reward. It's a simple a joy, much walking outdoors on a beautiful day.

I say let the Yankees and the Red Sox and the other teams spend their millions of dollars to watch overhyped celebrities play baseball. If their fans can only watch the team when they're successful, then they're not real baseball fans, no matter how much they'll plead to the contrary. I'd much rather watch a group of young, hard-working and genuine guys play hard and outperform the skeptics than watching a big money team buy their way into contention.

So I have just one more thing to say. Wouldn't it be great if the stands started to fill up at Camden Yards again? I live in California now, so I'm limited in my ability to make it to the Park, but boy would I love it for the city to come out and start supporting this team. It's painful to look at all of those green bleachers night after night. To those of you still in the area, try to spread the word and get people excited. Let them know what's going on and that encourage them to support a team that everybody has counted out. We don't need a world series ring; a bunch of guys who respect the game, play it the right way, and give it their best day in and day out will do just fine. If they give us that, they give us the simple joy of baseball, and the least we can do is to give them some support in return.

Wait just a damned minute...nobody NO BODY beats Stumblin' Jack's run for the noses. I may be seeing him back in the PCL (for Sacramento) if he keeps on the way he started.
I wasn't able to get to Seattle this time, but after tonight I have season-long bragging rights on PBS' NewsHour reporter Lee Hochberg, who has given me unholy hell for years. Well, yes I gave it back when the M's went in the tank for a few years but still..........
And btw....enough of this 11-7 crap. The O's are 12-9 and ahead of the Y.
First decent starter in Norfolk replaces Trax....in a hurry, please.
What exactly does he bring to the O's? Runs runs runs runs runs.

i have yet to actually see my beloved O's play a game. i live in los angeles and follow the games on gameday and in the papers.
when i see clips of guys winning games by one run, coming back from deficits to win, and cavorting around homeplate like they were off to the LCS...in april ?
that's entertainment gentlemen !

predicting is fun, having goals for the team is admirable.. but the real joy is watching these kids go out and fight the fight every night and find things to do to give us hope that they can keep it going and give us cause to watch, applaud,
and stick it to the sox and yanks.

enjoy for as long as we can
and if they fly too close to the sun, we will all gather the feathers.

JPA - I would agreee that Huff's baserunning last night matched Jack Cust. Maybe he was thinking about playing cards in the clubhouse with Ricky Henderson and Bobby Bonilla(very funny Bill in Elkton) when the ball was hit.

Which brings me back to Trembley and "it was his game to win or lose" comment. Had he left Cabrera in for the ninth, that comment would have fit. However, he brought his closer in because that's what closers get paid to do. It was the right decision and thank goodness it worked out. Again his comment the night before was a major CYA after the fact and it didn't fit the situation.

The organization is very different now. The last two years when the Orioles got off to good starts you got the feeling that was as good as they were going to get. This year this team feels like it has a more solid base and seems to have a much higher ceiling. They are moving towards where we will be able to target specific needs (power, one more starter ) instead of just needing everything in general.

As for this notion of re-building, look down the road at the Nationals who have been building for three years or so and tell me which team looks like it has a brighter future?

I'm glad Trembley left Guthrie in...Guthrie earned it; he should have had a nice lead at that point in the game and deserved a win. Plus, with so many games coming up on the road - a grueling point in the sked - you need to save your bullpen. Regardless of whether or not Guthrie goes 7 or 8, he's guaranteed 4 days of rest. The bullpen is not, so use your starters while you can.

That being said, I was very confused as to why Trembley left Guthrie in, but yanked Cabrera. I'm not going to complain about a win, but I think Cabrera deserved a shot at the CG, especially with "only" 95 pitches. It may even have boosted his confidence.

Either way though, Cabrera is starting to look legit...this heavy-dose-of-fastball diet he's on seems to be working. No walks last night in 8 IP. Should we be believers yet? I think one more solid start should have us headed in that direction.

Now if we could just get Loewen to find the strike zone...

Does it bother anyone else when Gary Thorne says "non-decisioned" instead of "no-decisioned"?

Not really too annoying. I do like Jim Hunter as TV play by play guy a little better than Thorne but at least Thorne doesn't kill us with a $100 hairpiece and a lousy, stolen home run call. I am speaking of that horrible "See - You - Later" basketball anouncer that infested the Orioles airwaves for years.

Way to go O's! Cabrera was on again! Someone must have turned a light on in this guy's head.

Thank God Markakis didn't get thrown out for arguing with the Umpire last night. I really wish he would have swung at the ump's head. Honestly, good job to Cabrera for no walks, but with last night's strike zone, I don't think Cabrera would have been able to intentionally walk a player.

Now I switched back and forth between the game and another program, so I caught the end of that Huff running error. Now was Huff to blame for that or was he being waved in by Samuel. I wouldn't be shocked if it was all on Samuel because he's made some poor calls in the past. I think in his mind every player on the O's is as fast as Roberts, so he just waves everyone in. Now if Roberts was in Huff's position we would have had another run no doubt, but oh well. We won. I'm happy.

The third base coach and short stop are lifetime minor leaguers................

Go O' and Ravens,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"I was very confused as to why Trembley left Guthrie in, but yanked Cabrera"

Simple. Guthrie and Cabrera both went the distance. Both had an opportunity to get out of the 8th inning. Cabrera did and Guthrie didn't. That's the only difference. Trembley said it was Guthrie's game to lose, and he didn't feel it was fair to Guthrie that after Betancourt's double that Walker or Sarfate should be in charge of protecting Guthrie's run. Unfortunately, instead of working himself out of trouble, he surrendered the single and the two runs and that became the ballgame decision. Cabrera got the same treatment to work out of his 8th inning, but did it with more success in less pitches. Sherrill's job is to close ball games, and that's what he came out and did. Had it been 6-2 and not 3-2, I'm sure Cabrera would have completed the game, but with one run on the line, you have to err on the side of caution and bring in the fresh closer.

Last year the Orioles did well until they lost starting pitchers to the DL & had to move Guthrie & Burres into the rotation, depleting the bullpen. A good season hinges on good pitching, healthy pitchers through the season.

Until something happens I'm going to assume the team will continue playing good ball. I'm staying positive.