Congratulations to Orioles left fielder Nolan Reimold for being named Gillette American League Rookie of the Month for June, a month in which he batted .320 with four home runs, nine RBI, 13 runs and 13 walks. He also impressed with a .520 slugging percentage and a .420 on-base percentage.

Despite his delayed arrival in the majors this season, Reimold is considered a top early candidate for AL Rookie of the Year honors, and might be going head-to-head with teammate Brad Bergesen, who also joined the team after Opening Day.

If you want an early favorite for next month's rookie award, Bergesen might be a good bet, since he opened the month on Wednesday with that impressive eight-inning, four-hit performance against the Red Sox.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:55 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Just when I thought Orioles fans were getting a little too emotionally involved with the team, this story surfaced about a Cubs fan who has announced he will go on a 500-calorie-per-day diet until the lovable losers from the Windy City reel off a five-game winning streak.

It's not exactly a hunger strike. The guy, 53-year-old Daniel Kamen of Buffalo Grove, Ill., can probably squeeze a couple of Lean Cuisine frozen entrees out of that 500-calorie limit, but it's the thought that counts. The Cubs need a little extra motivation. They're sitting right on .500 (38-38) in the wide-open NL Central, which may have something to do with the number of calories Kamen will allow himself until the Cubs win five straight or the season ends.

Of course, it's a lot easier to lose weight when you're an Orioles fan. You just watch a game like the one on Wednesday and you don't feel like eating for a week.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:18 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

Angels manager Mike Scioscia just removed John Lackey from the game after eight innings, even though Lackey had given up just four hits and struck out seven. That's pretty much the same pitching line that Brad Bergesen had in Wednesday's game -- 8 IP, 4H, 6K -- and a lot of people here think Dave Trembley should have been fired for making essentially the same decision Scioscia just made.

Okay, I'll give you this. Lackey had thrown 11 more pitches than Bergesen, but he disposed of the Orioles in short order in the eighth. I'm sure the Orioles were happy to see him go, though closer Brian Fuentes is no slouch.

Bonus gripe: By the way, if I hear another replay of Gary Thorne saying "Look what I found" and "Lucky Lackey" after that line drive by Adam Jones, I'm going to kick my TV. That wasn't a lucky play. That was a great reflex play by Lackey. The ball obviously came back near where his glove stopped at the end of his delivery, but he reacted and moved the glove into position to make the catch. The Angels played terrific defense all night long. The Orioles played good defense, too, but they lost the game because they were unable to station an outfielder in the second row of the right field bleachers.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:17 AM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (55)
        

Well, what exactly did you expect? Jeremy Guthrie has been extremely vulnerable to the long ball this year, and Bobby Abreu apparently has his number. It would have been nice, however, if Guthrie had changed speeds just once in that at-bat, which almost certainly cost the Orioles this game.

He threw Abreu two fastballs outside to get ahead 0-2 on the count, then came inside with a third straight fastball and it got the NASA treatment for the second time in the game. The pitch was right where Matt Wieters asked for it. It was right where Guthrie wanted it. Abreu put a great swing on it.

That happens, but when it happens this much to the same guy, it's fair to ask why it keeps happening.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:29 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (15)
        

Robert Andino's third-inning single ended a string of 32 straight outs by the Orioles offense, or the equivalent of a 10 2/3-inning perfect game since Ty Wigginton homered to open the fourth inning yesterday.

Angels starter John Lackey looks nasty, but so does Jeremy Guthrie, whose breaking stuff is pretty sharp. He just completed his third scoreless inning, but it remains to be seen if he can stare down Lackey into the late innings.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:38 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Dave Trembley is sitting Melvin for the second straight game after replacing him with Oscar Salazar, who pinch hit for him on Tuesday night and hit a game-changing home run. I don't think anything's up with Melvin, other than the fact that he hasn't hit a home run since May 7 and has just six extra-base hits since then...all doubles.

Ty Wigginton has been more productive of late and the Orioles are going to need all the offensive punch they can muster in the four-game series against the Angels that starts tonight in Anaheim with a matchup between Jeremy Guthrie and John Lackey.

The big question, really, is how Melvin is going to handle this. He can't be happy to get benched, and I wouldn't be surprised if Trembley sends Wigginton out there a lot more regularly over the next few weeks. This is a difficult situation that could get a lot more difficult in the near future. Stay tuned.

Tonight's game is a gut check for a lot of people, especially Guthrie. The Orioles need to rebound quickly from Wednesday's horrible loss, and the first-place Angels aren't likely to be very cooperative.

Meanwhile, in the Sports section: My latest "News item" column went up a little while ago and you can read it here. I managed to get soccer into the first item, which should pique everybody's interest.

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:40 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (28)
        

There have been a lot of angry comments on this blog over the past 24 hours, but our olde friend Oldetoys probably speaks for a lot of fans who flipped their lids after yesterday's frustrating late-inning collapse. Of course (sarcasm alert) I agree with everything Oldetoys has to say here:

Oldetoys take: So let me get this straight....Trembley doesn't even have to answer for this BS? Well, what about leaving Baez in for 1/3rd of an inning to give up 5 runs? And what about leaving Hill in for 3 1/3rd innings to give up 7 runs? And on and on. This "manager" has utterly no sense of when to pull a pitcher and he should be managing? Sherrill and Baez trade talk? Could our dreams be coming true. Dump the deadwood once and for all. Bring in the kids. And why shouldn't the fans be ragging on management for the past 11 years. The O's have sucked for the past 11 years and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Winning season in 2010? Forget it. You have to dump the deadwood first and that includes a "no clue" manager. Man, you don't see Francona leaving guys in until they're smeared.

Pete's reply: Actually, you did see Francona leave Masterson and Okajima in to get smeared on Tuesday night and let Josh Beckett get hammered in the early innings yesterday, but, hey, you're on a roll, as the guy said in Animal House. I think you're right. The minute a manager has, say, five decisions go against him, then he should be fired. Let's not take into account anything else. Let's just look at the wins and losses, because if you go back to the spring, you know that if Dave had managed better, the Orioles would be in first place right now. He's probably cost them 25 wins already with his horrible managing. This team was poised to win it all and he has single-handedly screwed it up. Oh, and while we're at it, lets dump the deadwood All-Star closer. He's a total stiff because he only saved 15 of his last 16. You're right on the money.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:04 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (40)
        

The nice thing about baseball is that, usually, you only have to suffer from a bad loss for one day. But even the schedule has added to the pain that Orioles fans are feeling after Wednesday's bullpen collapse.

The Orioles came back from a nine-run deficit to make history on Tuesday night, but a lot of fans didn't even know it until a few hours before Wednesday's afternoon series finale. Conversely, following yesterday's horrendous once-in-a-season loss, they had the rest of the day to wallow in it and now have all day today, since the club plays on the West Coast late tonight.

That's just not fair. I wonder if Dave had anything to do with making the schedule. Probably.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:04 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (18)
        

It's hard not to see the similarities between today's ninth-inning collapse and the infamous Mothers Day loss in which Jeremy Guthrie pitched eight shutout innings against the Red Sox in 2007 and was removed by then-manager Sam Perlozzo. That time, the O's led 5-0. This time, with Brad Bergesen cruising, they led 5-1 and he didn't seem much worse for the wear. The Red Sox won both games, 6-5, though the Mothers Day game was a walkoff win in Boston.

So, let the debate begin. I'll try to be consistent. I thought Trembley was going to take Bergesen out with two outs in the eighth, but Bergesen talked him into staying out there and got the last out of the inning. I knew, after that, he was not coming out to pitch the ninth. Jim Johnson was warmed up and needed to pitch.

Of course, we all know now he should have left Bergesen in, but I'll stick to the same reasoning I used the last time this happened. The manager has a right to believe his two top bullpen guys will hold a four-run lead for one inning. The likelihood of losing that game -- even for the Orioles --factors out to about one time in a whole season, so choosing to be conservative with your most consistent pitcher on a hot afternoon isn't stupid and isn't reason to call for the managers head.

It would have been a great win, but it wasn't. Give the Red Sox an ounce of credit just like you wish they would have given the Orioles a little on Tuesday night. Then try to put this thing out of your mind, because replaying it will drive you crazy.

Radio plug: On second thought, let it fester for awhile and join me at six for Sportsline on WBAL (1090 AM) and we'll agonize over it together. I'll be taking your calls and giving you a chance to vent on another very frustrating day to be an Orioles fan. If you're out of signal range, of course, go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:52 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (141)
        

Dave Trembley went out to talk to Brad Bergesen with two outs in the eighth inning and everybody assumed he was bringing the hook. Instead, he had a quick conversation and walked off the mound to a huge ovation. Dave should do that more often. He certainly hears plenty from the other side of the aisle.

Bergesen then got the last out of the inning with one pitch. He has been borderline unbelievable, getting the club to the seventh inning or later in his last seven consecutive starts with a sparkling 2.06 ERA over those seven starts (52 1/3 innings).

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:37 PM in Just baseball | Permalink | Comments (80)