"...and failed to score in the second after Chad Moeller led off the second with a leadoff triple."

So let me get this straight - was it the second inning? And did he lead it off?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I corrected that, thanks, and for everyone else who found mistakes, thanks for playing the home version of game.

Tell it like it is, Pete!

I find so much of Oriole baseball disappointing these days. It's one thing to lose to better ballclubs. It's another thing to be incapable of run production or quality starts.

Folks love to rail on Pie, and yet what's veteran Wigginton's story in the field and at the plate?

Eaton is a popular target, and yet Guthrie can't put up zeroes to save his grandmother.

And what does any of it matter when even the heart of the lineup freezes at the plate with runners on base?

It seems like a man on third with 0 or 1 outs is our kryptonite. Pie isnt gonna get too many more starts when he can't get the rbi. (Lou M. has as many rbi's as Pie......sad.) Its almost as bad as wiggy who has been stranding runners at third all season.

"...and failed to score after Chad Moeller led off the second with a leadoff triple."

So...you're saying in this version that he definitely led off with a leadoff triple? OK, that's better. Thanks.

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: You know, it's been kind of a rough couple of days around here, so my concentration level is a bit off, but thanks for being so understanding.

Now that it's corrected, I just want to make sure that Moeller led off the inning with a leadoff triple? You're sure he didn't bat second in the inning and hit a lead off triple, for example?

Isn't blogging fun? ;-)

............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Tough day. Sorry.

I thought there was another balk call with a runner on second (was watching game without sound) turns out it wasn't, do you know what that was all about? Umpires having fun at Walker and DT's expense ? ;-)

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I think there was some confusion because Uehara went to his mouth.

How the heck did Moeller get a triple?
(For some reason my boss won't let me watch the game at work.)

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: It was a legit triple. He hit a line shot through the left side of the outfield and Hunter tried to dive and cut it off.

Pete,

I'm following the espn gamecast at work and the strike zone looks erratic to say the least. Is that the case today, or is it just the gamecast?

And yes, the defense has been poor in the begining part of this season. But it looks bad around the league. Doesn't let the O's off the hook; it's jut something I've noticed.

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Tough to judge the strike zone from the press box. We're behind the umpire.

They are playing desparate baseball, errors and base tunning blunders upset this team and they don't believe in themselves. Pitchers are kept in for win opportunities rather than coming out when they are tired.Today Koji was done at 6 innings and 89 pitches based on his history this year. We didn;t score so he was sent out again. His last two starts the same ting one inning to many. Gurthie the same and even Beregson in his last two starts. There is a lack of confidence and it is growing. It seems like this team is lacking direction and discipline. Hitters seem to be starting to be free swingers giving the appearance they are only worried about thier own numbers or have pressure to feel like they need to score 15 runs a game. I like the team it just seems like something more is going on. Yesterday's game was a great example. Scott Shields coundn't find the plate and Zaun went after two pitches out of the stike zone Scott pinch hitting went after the first ptch and Roberts swung at pitches out of the strike zone as well. Yes the offense is having issues but my guess is they are feeling like the the old Ravens defense. They seem to playing like they have to do it all and score 15 runs to win a game or knowing this team has called in this year as a rebuilding year are just worried about stats. Regarless it is ugly but they are not this bad. This should be a 500 team but not until someone pulls this team together.

Glad you pointed that out about the offense; there have definitely been a boatload of opportunities squandered. Along with that, there's also been a lot more untimely errors than most of us expected from what looks like, on paper, a pretty good defensive team. The lame pitching, for the most part, is no suprise. Bad Baseball 101 hits the nail right on the head. Very disappointing, so far. I thought with some spirited play and few breaks this team could push .500 ball. Not so sure, now.

2 questions sir,

1 - Any word on Koji after he took that missile off his chest?

2 - When are they going to get rid of Ryan Freel/Farney/Anyone(thing) else that he talks to throughout the game? This clown complaining about playing time is really starting to wear on me

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Koji is okay. The Freel situation won't shake out until next week some time.

Hey Pete,
Thank you for answering my other question that I asked you about the fielding errors. This comment goes along with that one. I know Tremblay is supposed to be a great baseball person since he has spent soo much time down on the farm, but this team makes atleast 4 errors a game either in fielding, base running or just not thinking the game (what base should I throw to, should I try and push a ball towards right field when a guy is on second). These are fundamentals that Little Leagues teach. I knew this year the pitching would be bad, but the Baseball IQ of this team has to be pretty bad.

They've been running themselves out of innings/scoring opportunities/games all month. I'm all for aggressive baserunning, but there's aggressive and there's stupid. Giving Markakis the go-ahead to try to take second with one out in the 8th is stupid. Maybe that was a hit-and-run attempt, but it was still stupid. They wasted an out and Luke Scott wasted a strike trying to protect Markakis...then struck out on the next pitch to end the inning. Moeller getting caught in the run down earlier in the game was also stupid. And that's just what happened today.
On Sunday, Moeller got thrown out by about 10 feet trying to score from second on a cleanly-fielded single to right. And then Adam Jones tried to tag from second on a fly to left...yes LEFT. I can understand trying to tag up if the ball was caught on the run, but the fielder was standing under the ball when he caught it. I put both of those on the third base coach.

What in the world is up with Wiggington? He's never been this bad in his career.

It's the second half of the lineup that is killing us. Wigginton, Pie and Zaun especially.

There was word last night that they are considering trading Montanez? Why in the world would they consider trading one of the best hitting prospects in the entire minor leagues?

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: If they are considering trading Montanez, nobody told me.

Ceasar Itzuris has shown nothing. He looks shaky in the field, bad at the plate, and runs the bases like a tee baller, basically just run until you get home or they get you out. Wigginton stinks defensively and don't get me stated on Pie. The Orioles can't afford to play this kind of baseball if they want to win 70 games.

Hopefully now that Mora is back, Itzuris will settle down and Reimold will be called up so that we can put a real man in left field.

They did the same thing in the first and last game of the Texas series.
They need to learn greater discipline at the plate and competitive drive. Is Ray Lewis available to coach in the off-season?

In a mild defense of last night, the catch of Zuan's line drive may have killed a big inning.

Make it stop. Please. I want to see all this talk about defense and strong fundamentals actually applied. We knew the pitching would struggle (but Koji did his part today). We've also been led to believe that the defense would be much improved and Trembley constantly preaches fundamentals. When is any of it going to happen?

Really, who wants to go to the stadium to watch this? Andy MacPhail is a bright man and I'm sure he understands this. Despite all the talk about a new organization, it all seems to be the same ol' to me.

all the outs made on the bases....ugh. There's gotta be a stat kept on this somewhere, any idea where?

...............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I don't know that, but it's not off the charts. Those things just stick in your mind when the team loses, which is a lot lately.

This team seems lazy to me with the exception of the 1,2,3

What a pathetic performance today. The Angel's pitcher sucked. He threw weak pitches that floated in high and over the plate to every O's hitter he faced. The Orioles could simply do nothing with them. This is getting really frustrating. I'm guessing our lineup can surely use the off day tomorrow. I don't really care about wins and losses that much anyone, but I can not stand to see games like this where the whole team just mailed it in. They should've knocked that Loux out in the second or third inning and put up 10 runs.
BTW: This just in.....Ty Wigginton sucks! I know he's has a history of being a streaky hitter, but if I have to watch him strand more runners in scoring position by popping up the first pitch he sees to shallow center field, I'm gonna pull my hair out.

There seems to be a disconnect here.

We hear a lot of talk about how Trembley & his assistants like to emphasize good, sound fundamental mistake-free baseball but yet the O's lead the league in giving up unearned runs. And their situational hitting ability is virtually non-existant.

One example today was when Moeller was on second with no outs in the 7th and Pie struck out swinging on a pitch in the dirt, again unable to advance a runner. (Sorry to pick on Pie but he seems to provide a lot of opportunities.)

Trembley spent many years coaching in the minor leagues but any teaching ability that he may have had doesn't seem to have followed him to Baltimore.

I'm getting a little bit tired of his post-game happy-talk ("Gee, that was another really tough loss but overall, the guys played hard and we just came up a little bit short...") but none of the other managers they've had since 1997 seem to have done any better. What is the answer?

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: The answer is for players to get better or to get better players.

Well put, Peter. I think it's a bit premature for Adam Jones to have called this one of the league's great offenses (I'm paraphrasing). Thus far, the top half looks great (though the first inning today and the last inning yesterday wouldn't support that claim), and the bottom half is anemic.

Peter, I don't want to rub salt in a wound, but you are the one who brought up the touchy subject of the lack of offense with men in scoring position. Just how long do you think the O's will continue to insanely give away the at bat represented by the presence of Felix Pie in the lineup? He's now 3 for his last 38 times at bat. One of those was three singles was a topped ball to thirdbase, another was a bunt, and the third a liner over the SS's glove. He's also struck out almost 1/4th of those at bats. Do they (MacPhail and Trembley) give him another sixty ab's to give him the 100 attempts they've been talking about. This is getting ridiculous. He's not in a slump. You have to have been actually hitting for an average at some point in order to get into a slump. He's actually disappeared from the batting order. It would be okay if he was hitting the ball hard at someone. But that's not the case, he's the invisible man at bat. An almost guaranteed out. No wonder Ryan Freel is angry about lack of playing time. I wonder how Montanez is reacting to this situation?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Montanez isn't tearing it up either. The Pie experiment will last at least another month.

YOu doing ok there Schmuckster? Haven't heard from you in a bit.

The untimely hitting today killed us! Not sure if Rich Hill is going to be able to get his game in tonight, forecasting rain all of the sudden...

............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I'm okay. Hill pitched 3 1/3 innings and gave up just one hit, but two earned runs.

Excellent observation Peter. It seems like bad teams find a way to lose. Good teams play solid fundamental baseball so that they can 'steal' a game once in a while, thus avoiding the 3-13 type 'ruts' that the O's often find themselves in.
How much of this 'bad baseball' can we blame on Trembley? It's not as if the mistakes are made by the younger players so don't you think he should be trying to correct this? Any idea if the O's are still doing drills etc before the games because I remember Trembley saying that last year?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I think he'll address that over the next week. Dave Jauss is back from his illness (tonsilitis), so he may get involved in that, too.

Pete,
How do you think the left field situation is going to play out since Pie is struggling and Reimold is feasting on Triple-A pitching?

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I think Pie will get another month and Reimold will continue to feast in Triple-A.

Trembley has brought some positives to this team, however I have been unimpressed w/ the defense & baserunning....sloppy sloppy

A LETTER TO ANDY!!

Dear Pete, please pass this along. I might not be a baseball genious. However i am a paying fan. No longer will i pay to see Greg Zaun bat 100. No longer will i pay to see PIE run around in circles in the outfield and even more circles at the plate. While we are there, which 5 tools is he supposed to have. It must be a screw driver to get himself unscrewed. No longer will i pay to see Ty Wiggington hit weak fly balls on the first pitch stranding as many runners as possible. I am a fan. I am a paying customer. All i want is a little respect and a fair entertainment value for my money. I am 47 years old and i can at least lay down a bunt and advance a runner when needed. I will do it for free. I will also offer to teach lessons on how to do it! Dave Trembly is supposed to be Mr. Fundamental, yet all we see are serious breakdowns. I see Pie air mail the cutoff man after he took his time to get to the ball. These are basic things the we have to do to win.
Again, i offer my services. When the organization can start making tuff decisions.... See Zaun, Pie, Wigginton, send me a note and i will come back to the park. Until then get ready to call 911 to shock Zaun to life or get a GPS for PIE so he can locate himself.

Signed
A PAYING FAN

Don't forget the catcher Moeller grabbing the ball that was barely hit past home plate, then drilling the runner in the back with his throw to first! We were sitting behind the Angels dugout about a dozen rows up, and from our angle, it appeared the ball bounced at an angle off the runner's back and into Huff's glove for an out. Talk about a lucky play. As much as Moeller did with his bat, his baserunning and fielding mistakes just about canceled that out.

And Felix Pie...Oh my, does that guy need some batting help or what?

Bad Baseball 101 indeed!

Pete,

Would it be reading too much into your Headline Baseball 101 as some sort of code that your predicting 101 losses?? Just trying to keep it light tonight!

Boneheaded baserunning is jus another hallmark of this team. Trying to use anyone other than BRob or Izturis to steal in ludicrous,The rest of the gys just can't steal business. It's one thing to be agressive,it's another to be downright stupid. Nick and Jones got thrown out at 3rd the last week trying to take an extra base.I think it's time to take a look at replacing rembley and Kranny. There's been no improvement in the pitching or the overall play of the postion players.hey quit during games. They lose on Sundays the third game of series and don't score runs after the 3rd inning.Last year's team was better than this year because MCPhail got rid of productive players like Millar and Hernandez.Pie has been nothing but a drag on this team from the beginning and him and Zaun are rally killing machines.Management rationalizes that this is all acceptbale because we're not going to compete until 2011 anyway.

Pete -

The offense's problems are a concern. We strike early, and then fade.

Similarly, what is the problem with Guthrie? It seems he falls apart after 1st time through the order. Are teams picking up on him this year, or is his arm strength not that good?

In fact, it seems like most O's pitchers cannot go past 5, 6 innings. Is there an issue with our strength conditioning, or are the pitchers just that bad?

Maye we just shorten O's games to 3 innings - attendance might actually pick up....

Man, this is getting rough. I knew the winning wasn't going to continue forever, but what a crash and burn!
The things that disturb me the most are 1) Guthrie, who has been pegged as the first piece of our new improved rotation to be, has not looked good at all in half of his starts.
2) the supposedly much improved defense isn't.
and 3) the bullpen, which was also expected to be a bright spot this season, (at least until all the 4 inning starts began taking their toll) has been mediocre at best.
It's hard to be optimistic about the future when even the small handfull of problems that are presented to us as having been fixed still seem just as broken as they always were.

it seems that the orioles have capitulated before the the all star break this year instead of after it. care to take bets as to who gets fired first dave trembley or manny acta. neither one deserves to get fired. we are told that koji is ok,but where do we go if he winds up on the dl. how close is rich hill to coming back. too many mental errors going on presently.

No blog today? You still in shock about Rick Maese and David Steele? How tacky was that to call them in the press box & tell them they were fired? I never cared for their writing or opinions, but I wouldn't wish that kind of treatment on them. I see their names, columns, etc are GONE too. I'm glad you are still gainfully employed.

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I had to write a column off the game, which took me away from the blog. But yes, it was a very bad day all around.

Trust me, it takes a lot of understanding to keep coming back to The Sun's website. A whole lot of understanding.

"f' is for...well, I think we all know what it's for.

I know a lot of people --- A LOT! --- who continue to get The Sun because of the once-great Sports Section. What is left is a faint shadow of what it once was. You continue to be a bright light, but many others are now dark. Seems to me that, if they really want to get readership back, the powers-to-be should take a shot at cutting all the fluff that no one reads anyway (i.e., Style/celeb junk), and NOT Sports which most of the readership likes.

Orioles are catching bjays at the right time.....we will win 2 of 3.....