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April 24, 2009

Postgame laments

Manager Dave Trembley took the loss relatively philosophically, though he'll probably toss and turn some tonight wondering how many things had to go wrong to waste that great outing by Koji Uehara.

"It would have been a good one to win and a tough one to lose,'' Trembley said. "They got the hits at the end. We needed one more out. We needed one more pitch. We had chances to score more runs and we didn't."

Uehara had little to say afterward, other than the obvious. He was pleased with his outing. The difference between tonight's performance and his previous appearance against the Rangers came down to pitching ahead in the count more. He showed little emotion or regret about the victory getting away.

"That was our closer,'' he said through translator Jiwon Bang. "He gave up the runs, so you forget about it and come back tomorrow."

Catcher Gregg Zaun said George Sherrill's decisive pitch to Michael Young was on the outside part of the plate but up. He preferred to give some credit to Young for powering it over the right field fence.

"In that situation, you're trying not to let one of those guys beat us to the pull side with a homer,'' Zaun said. "He (Sherrill) got one up and he (Young) did what he does. It's an impressive swing for the guy to go over there. if you're going to get beat, you want to get beat the hard way."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:32 PM | | Comments (16)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Comments

He was looking fast ball away and he got it,that'sthe only way you get that kind of swing on aball like that.What happened to the breakingball in on the hands to either of the last two hitters.Set it on a plate to any legitimate homerun hitter who can get his arms extended and he'll hit it out.This team makes too many excuses for inexcusable mistakes.You called the wrong pitch to the wrong batter in the wrong location.We've seen it over and over again for 12 years.0-2 pitches right down the plate.And then we get up in the ninth and swing at the first two pitches.Another reason why we are not a good team.

Burt from Essex--You are correct. Young is right there with Jeter as one of the better hitters in baseball driving the ball the other way.

Actually, we hacked at the first three pitches in the bottom of the 9th.

these guys need to win every game they can now, becasue they wont be winning many in august or september. trembley needs to break away from managing by the book - sherrill isn't worth it. why did we see johnson when he just pitched last night? lots of bad performances, but Trembley's was the worst.

Pete--Who do I want to see the Ravens draft in the first round?

Kenny Britt.

...............................................................................................
Pete's reply: If they don't trade for a WR sooner.

OK..it's time to switch Ray and Johnson in the 7th/8th. Chris seems to be back and Johnson gives up too many hits since midsummer last year. If he doesn't give up 4 hits we'd still be playing.

How much confidence do we really have in Sherrill? Good swing by Young but we need to drop Sherrill from a spot that is so vital. The guy is gasoline to the fire. Put him on the DL for having sukitis.

George Sherrill sucks as a closer. Yes, I was pleased at the beginning of last season when he was doing well, but I still wasn't sold on him, and his second half numbers showed why.

He blew like 11 saves last year and hasn't been all that great this year. He throws soft stuff and isn't the least bit intimidating.

He's got a great curve which would be good against lefties if he was a specialist, but as a closer, he's garbage and I hope they move on to JJ or Ray SOON. We can't have the bullpen blowing games when our starter gives us a performance like that.

Stuff happens. There will be losses like this, hopefully you win 90 percent of these types. I do not think you have any right to say that it was a pitch location problem or a bad call, Young is a hitter, he has hit a few of these in his career. Wish we had em, .

I don't think anyone is expecting Sherrill to be Brad Lidge this year. He's not. The guy had like a 4.something ERA last year. I would put most of this one on Jim Johnson...if he gets his guys out, Sherrill faces the bottom of the order instead of the top.

But, I also think the O's should score more runs off guys like Vincente Padilla. Sometimes the offense gets a little overconfident and then they don't score enough runs. Gotta view it as always being down by 1 run, even if you're up by 5 or 6.

Hi Pete: Did you notice who is playing first for the Durham Bulls?

Also I saw Hill, fast ball was between 83 and 86 on the gun. Hit the number nine batter. Do you know what kind of speed he had before the injuries?

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Pete's reply: No, I really don't know that.

Pete,

An unfortunate loss considering we got a plus performance out of Koji pitching 6+. One of those things that hopefully we learned something from. I'm satisfied in the fact that we played very respectfully just need to close the door in the end.

To all the Sherrill bashers...compare the two pitching lines from last night:

IP H R ER
M Rivera (B, 1) 1.1 3 2 2
W SO HR
0 3 1

G Sherrill (B, 1) 1.1 2 2 2

0 2 1

Stuff happens even to the best...get over it.

The off-season pickups are looking pretty bad right now. Wiggington is leaving more guys on base than Carter had liver pills. Zaun is hitting half his weight. Izturis and his vaunted defense are proving to be vastly overrated (anyone who thinks he's good with the glove never saw Bordick play). No one even knows why Freel is here, including Freel himself. Pie looks totally lost.

On a positive note, Koji looks like a good one and could turn out to be one of the better pitchers in the AL.

Another masterful job of mishandling the bullpen by Trembley. Sherrill is not a closer. He should be the situational lefty to come in and get lefthanded hitters out. Johnson and Ray should split closing duties, with neither of them being used more than two days in a row. Also, if someone is pitching effectively, leave him in instead of robotically giving different relievers predesignated innings to pitch. Trembley should go back and watch one of the 1970 World Series wins over the Reds (frequently replayed on MASN). Earl Weaver let Dick Hall pitch the final 3 innings because he was pitching well and there was no reason to make a change. That would never happen in today's overspecialized game.

Just the first of many blown saves by Sherrill. Doesn't have the stuff to be a closer.

Ron,
How many 1-2-3 ninth innings does Sherrill have compared to Mariano? You are an idiot to even put those 2 into the same sentence. One is a great all-time closer and the other is a fluke who should have been traded last year.

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About Peter Schmuck
Peter Schmuck wants you to know that, contrary to popular belief, he is more than just a bon vivant, raconteur and collector of blousy flowered shirts. He is a semi-respected journalist who has covered virtually every sport -- except luge, of course – and tackled issues that transcend the mere games people play. If that isn’t enough to qualify him to provide witty, wide-ranging commentary on the sports world ... and the rest of the world, for that matter ... he is an avid reader of history, biography and the classics, as well as a charming blowhard who pops off on both sports and politics on WBAL Radio. That means you can expect a little of everything in The Schmuck Stops Here, but the major focus will be keeping you up to the minute on Baltimore’s major sports teams and themes, whether it’s throwing up the Orioles lineup the minute it’s announced or updating you on the latest sprained ankle in Owings Mills. Oh, and by the way, that’s Mr. Schmuck to you.

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