Roch Around the Clock

Before the first pitch

2008-07-05T21:49:49Z

Randor Bierd has reported to Double-A Bowie and is scheduled to throw two innings tomorrow as part of his injury rehab assignment.

Bierd will appear in five games with the Baysox through July 17th before the Orioles re-evaluate him.

Down on the farm, Single-A Frederick's Billy Rowell came within a triple of hitting for the cycle. His fourth home run was a tremendous shot to center field. Brandon Snyder and Chris Vinyard also homered, and Jake Arrieta struck out 10 in five innings.

Bullpen move

2008-07-05T20:30:47Z

The Orioles designated reliever Ryan Bukvich for assignment, which should surprise...absolutely nobody. There wasn't a safe place to use him in any game.

Greg Aquino had his contract purchased from Triple-A Norfolk, and manager Dave Trembley hopes to use him as a seventh inning guy.

Pitching coach Rick Kranitz said Aquino's stuff plays at this level, especially his slider, which is a strikeout pitch. Perhaps the long stretches of inactivity hurt Aquino during his first stint with the club, when he posted a 14.21 ERA in six games.

Here's the lineup:

Brian Roberts - 2B

Jay Payton - LF

Nick Markakis - RF

Aubrey Huff - DH

Kevin Millar - 1B

Melvin Mora - 3B

Adam Jones - CF

Guillermo Quiroz - C

Brandon Fahey - SS

Brian Burres - P

Leading 8-1 in the fifth

2008-07-04T22:07:18Z

Jeremy Guthrie has thrown 73 pitches in four innings. I don't think he's going the distance.

Vicente Padilla is a 10-game winner? Sure didn't look like it today. In 2 2/3 innings, he allowed eight runs and nine hits, walked two batters and struck out none. He threw 74 pitches, 47 for strikes.

Before the game, manager Dave Trembley indicated that he might bat Adam Jones second against certain left-handers during the second half of the season. But he's not inclined to make any drastic changes with Jones swinging so well near the bottom of the order.

You know, if it ain't broke...

Another RBI for Aubrey Huff today. That's 53 and counting.

Two doubles and an RBI for Brandon Fahey today. Adam Jones scored standing up on the first double because Freddie Bynum had his arms raised, telling Jones not to slide. Bynum didn't realize the play was going to be so close.

The ball arrived at the same time as Jones, who motored past catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, oblivious that he was almost tagged out until after his foot came down on the plate. Jones turned his head and looked back at Saltalamacchia.

And I only tell this story because I love to type the name Saltalamacchia - over and over.

Kevin Millar has twice gone to 3-2 counts in two at-bats and produced a walk and RBI single. He walked on the 13th pitch of the first at-bat.

Lineup change

2008-07-04T19:51:49Z

Brian Roberts has been scratched because of an illness. Freddie Bynum is your leadoff hitter and shortstop. Brandon Fahey will play second.

Freddie Bynum - SS

Nick Markakis - RF

Aubrey Huff - DH

Ramon Hernandez - C

Luke Scott - LF

Melvin Mora - 3B

Kevin Millar - 1B

Adam Jones - CF

Brandon Fahey - 2B

Jeremy Guthrie - P

We've been told that Chris Ray pitched a simulated game Wednesday after having two batting practice sessions, but he's not close to appearing in a real game. He's continuing his mound progression, and it's doubtful that he'll return in late August or early September.

Ray hasn't suffered any setbacks, according to manager Dave Trembley, but the reliever's timetable appears to be a little different than the one envisioned by the ballclub. Ray wants to come back in 2008. It sounds like Trembley would prefer having him pitch in the instructional league and get ready for next season.

The lineup

2008-07-04T17:48:36Z

Brian Roberts - 2B

Nick Markakis - RF

Aubrey Huff - DH

Ramon Hernandez - C

Luke Scott - LF

Melvin Mora - 3B

Kevin Millar - 1B

Adam Jones - CF

Brandon Fahey - SS

Jeremy Guthrie - P

Still no Freddie Bynum in the lineup.

I'll have an update shortly on reliever Chris Ray, who continues to rehab his right elbow at the minor league complex in Sarasota, Fla. All I know so far is he hasn't faced live hitters.

The Orioles are wearing blue Fourth of July O's hats. Not a good color with the black and orange jerseys.

Down on the farm

2008-07-04T14:35:27Z

Happy Fourth to all of you.

If the Orioles wanted to put on a proper fireworks display later tonight, they should invite Jorge Julio to pitch the ninth inning.

Back to him in a moment...

Anyone want to share their favorite Fourth of July baseball memory?

Julio, now pitching for Triple-A Richmond, couldn't close out the Braves' 6-5 win over Norfolk last night. He entered in the ninth with a 6-4 lead and allowed a leadoff double to Luis Hernandez and a one-out walk to Eider Torres. Scott Moore's grounder delivered a run, and Julio was done after uncorking a wild pitch and walking Oscar Salazar to put runners on the corners.

Mike Costanzo flied out to end the game.

Rocky Cherry and Esteban Yan combined for five scoreless innings. Salazar has a 14-game hitting streak.

Nolan Reimold hit two more home runs for Double-A Bowie, giving him six in five games. He's hitting .283 with 15 homers and 44 RBIs, and reminding us why he was deemed a top prospect before injuries slowed him.

I assume that he'll move up to Norfolk at some point during the second half, though the No. 1 goal with Reimold since before spring training was to keep him healthy and playing, no matter where.

At Single-A Frederick, Randor Bierd made his third, and perhaps final, appearance on his injury rehab assignment. He hasn't allowed a run or hit in three innings with the Keys, walking two and striking out seven. The Rule 5 pick rules the Carolina League.

What's going on with Billy Rowell? He's 1-for-31 over his last 10 games and is batting .213 with three homers, 28 RBIs and 15 errors.

It's necessary to remember that Rowell doesn't turn 20 until Sept. 10 (two days before my birthday, if anyone wants to start shopping early). He's still a kid. And we used the "only 19" excuse plenty of times to explain Brandon Erbe's struggles at Frederick last year. I know that I, personally, wore it out.

Post-game remarks

2008-07-04T02:32:44Z

After tonight’s game, Orioles manager Dave Trembley explained his decision to remove Garrett Olson:

“I'm not going to let Olson lose the game,” he said. “He'd already been behind, 3-0, we came back and took the lead and he's the guy that walked the guy (Jose Guillen), he's the guy that gave up the 0-2 hit and obviously the momentum of the game was definitely changing right there. Let’s get him out with a no-decision and at least try to win the game with a no-decision. I thought it was the perfect opportunity for Loewen to come in. You've got eight and nine coming up and a lefty leading off, all we're looking for there are outs. Obviously, the out that we gave them, it really was a five-out inning, it wasn't a three-out inning. When you get a leadoff walk and then you make a physical error, now you're talking about a five-out inning late in the game and that rolled that lineup over again. That wasn't good baseball.”

Here’s Kevin Millar talking about his costly error:

“That thing just took kind of a high hop,” he said. “It stayed in my glove for a second. I went to go grab it and I booted it toward first base. It’s an error. It’s a physical error, and we just couldn’t stop the bleeding after that.”

Unearning it

2008-07-04T01:57:47Z

The Orioles are charged with four unearned runs as a team in that seven-run sixth inning, but only Garrett Olson's line includes an unearned run.

All three runs off Loewen are earned.

The run off Chad Bradford is earned.

But the team has four unearned runs.

And I'm begging that you don't ask me to explain why.

The Orioles were 27-0 when scoring six runs or more until tonight.

Aubrey Huff

2008-07-04T00:53:21Z

He loves Baltimore.

I think Baltimore loves him a lot more these days.

Huff has his second two-homer game of the season, and eighth of his career. He's totaled eight homers and 21 RBIs in his last 20 games.

Is this guy trying to make the All-Star team?

I disagreed with the decision to remove Garrett Olson in the sixth after Kevin Millar's error prevented the second out from being recorded, but another writer in the press box thought it was the right move because Olson was about to implode.

Olson had struck out Miguel Olivo and induced a grounder from Mark Teahen that Millar fumbled. His pitch count stood at 89, and another left-handed batter was coming to the plate.

Adam Loewen allowed three straight singles to reduce the Orioles' lead to 7-6 and load the bases.

Mark Grudzielanek singled off Chad Bradford to tie the game, and Alex Gordon's sacrifice fly has moved Kansas City ahead, 8-7. More updates to follow.

Has anyone seen Lance Cormier? He threw four scoreless innings in relief of Olson Saturday night in Washington, allowing one hit and walking a batter. Hasn't surfaced since that night. I'm pretty sure his arm has recovered.

The back-to-back triples by Adam Jones and Brandon Fahey were the first by the Orioles since Aug. 4, 2000 at Tropicana Field.

Quick quiz: Name the two batters. Answer to follow.

Jay Gibbons is hitting .311 with four homers, 15 RBIs and a .607 slugging percentage in 15 games for the Long Island Ducks.

I missed this transaction: The Astros signed former Oriole Val Majewski from the independent Newark Bears on June 21 and assigned him to Double-A Corpus Christi. Majewski was batting .368 with 47 RBIs.

Ivanon Coffie and Luis Matos had the back-to-back triples at Tropicana Field, in a game that lasted 15 innings and provided Jason Johnson with his first victory in nine decisions.

David Eckstein

2008-07-04T00:03:30Z

Aubrey Huff just hit his 16th home run to reduce Kansas City's lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning. He doubled in his first at-bat.

If you were ranking the Top 3 first-half MVP's on this team, what order would you put them in? I'm going with Jim Johnson, Brian Roberts and Aubrey Huff, with George Sherrill knocking hard on the door.

If you haven't check out the Orioles' notebook that's been posted on The Sun's Web site, the club apparently has serious interest in Toronto Blue Jays shortstop David Eckstein.

He's a free agent after this season, so it wouldn't be much of an investment. My concern is his declining skills at shortstop. He's never had a great arm. Now it appears the rest of his game has fallen off, as well.

I'll throw a second question at you - hopefully with more velocity than Eckstein can muster: Is he an upgrade over the current crop of shortstops?

Meanwhile, Melvin Mora's single has delivered another run, and Adam Jones just gave the Orioles a 4-3 lead with a two-run triple.

Trailing by a run

2008-07-03T23:34:55Z

Billy Butler, the designated hitter with one home run coming into the game, is now the designated hitter with two home runs.

Butler connected off Orioles starter Garrett Olson leading off the second inning, giving the Royals a 1-0 lead.

Olson has allowed a homer and double, and walked a batter, in two innings.

Matt Albers reports to the minor league camp in Sarasota, Fla. on Monday to begin rehabbing his right shoulder. He won’t pick up a baseball for three to four weeks before doing some light throwing. He still hopes to return by late August or early September.

“I'm pretty excited about it,” he said. “The tear in the labrum is pretty small, so as long as I get rid of all my other problems, I should be OK.”

Albers conceded that he still could undergo surgery if the pain doesn’t subside in four or five weeks. “But right now, we'll try to rehab it and take my time with it, make sure my shoulder feels better,” he said.

The lineup

2008-07-03T20:24:57Z

Brian Roberts - 2B

Nick Markakis - RF

Aubrey Huff - DH

Ramon Hernandez - C

Luke Scott - LF

Melvin Mora - 3B

Kevin Millar - 1B

Adam Jones - CF

Brandon Fahey - SS

Garrett Olson - P

Jeremy Guthrie received ice treatments again on his left triceps muscle after being hit by a line drive off the bat of Adam Jones last night. Guthrie was talking to Kevin Millar and never saw the ball. Brian Burres, who was positioned on the opposite side of Guthrie, thought the liner was going to nail him.

On a roll

2008-07-03T00:52:21Z

Daniel Cabrera has retired 12 straight batters since Jose Guillen singled in the fourth inning.

Now if he'd just stop flinching every time a ball gets near him.

Seriously, Cabrera is doing the Orioles a huge service tonight. He's thrown 77 pitches in seven innings. The bullpen is getting a much-needed break.

Cabrera owns the Royals. Before tonight, he was 4-0 with 2.25 ERA in seven career starts against them, and the Orioles have won every game. And it's not like he faces the same lineup every time.

Aubrey Huff hit his 15th homer tonight, matching his total from last season.

Time to schedule that hernia surgery for this winter.

Albers' decision

2008-07-02T21:52:31Z

Orioles reliever Matt Albers has decided to avoid surgery on his right shoulder and instead will attempt to rehab it after meeting today with Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala.

Albers could have elected to undergo surgery to repair the tear in his labrum, which would have kept him out eight to 10 months. The rehab process could put him back on the mound by late August, though there are no assurances.

The lineup

2008-07-02T20:53:10Z

The new cleanup hitter has hit safely in 12 of his last 15 games, batting .333 during that stretch.

Brian Roberts - 2B

Nick Markakis - RF

Aubrey Huff - 1B

Ramon Hernandez - C

Luke Scott - DH

Melvin Mora - 3B

Jay Payton - LF

Adam Jones - CF

Brandon Fahey - SS

Daniel Cabrera - P