Pete--Loved the way Melvin blocked the ball with his body and was able throw out Barajas.

And the slide into home plate was a Little League enthusiasm delight. Did you see how seriously DiMuro registered that Melvin hit home plate with his slide?

Has this guy gotten over his dad's notorious run ins with Earl Weaver? His strike zone got pretty precarious later in the game for Oriole pitchers looking for the punch out.

DAve Jauss now 1-1 in this MLB managing career.

Nice win tonight, but it covers up the facts that the other team had the better starting pitcher and was able to execute a bunt late while again we were unable/unwilling to lay down a sacrifice to put pressure on the other team. Instead we talk about hitting a home run with a hitter (Adam Jones) who hasn't hit one in 22 games. The Orioles need to wake up - they are 10th in the AL in home runs, not 1st.

Teach your young hitters how to bunt before they reach the playoffs and are facing the best pitchers in the game. This isn't fundamental baseball, it is wishful thinking. It is going to be a sad occasion if Joe Maddon asks AJ to lay down a bunt in the All-Star game and he tells him he doesn't do that.

Also, let Tillman finish the year in AAA, win the league MVP, pitch in the playoffs, and don't give the Yankees and Red Sox a late season preview. If he continues on his progression he will be able to challenge for a rotation spot in Spring Training next year.

I'm gonna go off topic here, but this season, I cannot help but notice Adam Jones' suspect defense. How many balls has he misjudged in the outfield that have cost use games, arguably of course.

Why is Luke Scott not an Allstar this season is beyond me. Could it be because McPhail wants to tute his own horn by nominating Jones?

Don't get me wrong, Jones is a good baseball player, but not the best player on our team. This season, Luke is, hands down.

"Wow Melvin's really got some power!"
Lou Brown: "Yeah of a guy who'll be bagging groceries next week!"

JK - Nice shot Melvin, you've been due.

Melvin's HR and slide into home, might have been for me, the best moment of the O's season so far. I, also loved see Andy with a huge grin and high fiving the guys in his suite, as I know he gets the tag as stoic, but this guy wants to put a winning team in Baltimore. It was awesome to see the team so psyched because they really played like a team tonight, as the BP was amazing except for JJ, and I think he is hurt, but just my take because he hasn't looked good for a few weeks now.

Pete, since the O's only have one bite of the apple with Rich Hill, would you let him be the starter for the rest of 09 unless he completely messes up since his stuff is so good or do you go with Tillman? I agree with Cameron, let Chris dominate AAA sort of like Nolan did through the minors last year, and let him have a crack at the job in Florida, but I am sure you must hear from scouts and those close to the O's that Tillman is ready? I honestly believe that the 09 season for Rich Hill, is about getting him both mentally and psychically healthy. His stuff is so different from the other O's starters that if he could put it together, he could be a valuable SP for years to come.

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Pete's reply: Interesting question. If the fans were clamoring for him to get a full season, I would say, yes, the Orioles can afford to gut it out with him and see if he turns into a consistent pitcher. But I don't think the fans have that kind of patience and there are a lot of jobs that depend on the team doing as well as it can, even in a rebuilding year. I can't imagine Dave Trembley wants to concede possibly 15 chances to win with his career on the line, and fans already are at the end of their collective rope.

Where are all the Melvin blasters today? Good defense and game walk off home run, not bad for a guy that everyone wants to run out of town. Funny someone mentioned starting pitching, both starters from the O's and Blue Jays kept their teams in it today and when Hill left the O's were in the lead. Geez, you cannot keep anyone happy these days. .

Hey Slugger,

Just to make sure you know the deal that brought Jones here was done by the same guy that traded for Scott. I am sure AM would have been thrilled if both made the All Star team, along with about 7 other position players Do you actually believe that the GM of a major league team does not want success for everyone on the team? This ain't little league, this is the real thing.

"Mora leads the Orioles to victory"!
Now that's a headline we haven't seen in a while! Way to go Melvin. Good luck the rest of the season.

Hey Peter, You gonna have a yard sale soon, I need a couple more shirts for my vacation to Tom's River. The last ones I got from you at the winter garage clearance were a big hit, gotta a lotta smiles at the Belagio. Runnin' outa time, let us know soon, wilya.

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Pete's reply: I've got a million on of them. Do you want the one the turtle peed on in Fort Lauderdale?

I'm still here CB I was trying to give Mora a feel good ending to his day.

But as you wish:

- You want to start with getting picked off 1st base 4 steps from the bag?

- Or how about 2 balls that got by his glove that anyone that can take 3 steps to their left or right could get.

- How about how lucky he was to have a catcher running on the ball that bounced off him.

- How he didn't score on Wieters double. You know Wieters isn't fast when he has been pinch run for by a pitcher. So if he could get a double ...

This is the SECOND TIME in three games that Mora has come up huge in the final inning. What hardly gets talked about is Mora's lead-off double in the top of the ninth against The Mariners that started the 5-run rally that propelled us to win that game. When a team is down 3-0 in the last inning, a lead-off hit is big... when a team is down 3-0 in the last inning, a lead-off EXTRA BASE-HIT is HUGE. Without Mora's lead-off double, we very well may not have made that big comeback against The Mariners.

I am glad Melvin Mora hit the home run that won the game. With his stats, he certainly needed a boost. However, facts are facts, he will be 38 in Feb. and this is the second season in a row his lack of production in the middle of the lineup has helped put the Orioles out of contention by the all-star break. There are many other reasons of course but the fact is the middle of this lineup has not been pulling its weight this season and most disturbing is it comes from players who the organization is counting on for the future.

Cbcoach,

Let's not get carried away with one walk off home run. Look at the season as a whole. Melvin has been awful so far. If it were not for the home run we would be talking about how Mora gets caught sleeping off first base. That was little-leage-ish!

Melvin is a good second half player. Let's see what he does.

Cbcoach,

Let's not get carried away with one walk off home run. Look at the season as a whole. Melvin has been awful so far. If it were not for the home run we would be talking about how Mora gets caught sleeping off first base. That was little-league-ish!

Melvin is a good second half player. Let's see what he does.

Pete,

In a totally unrelated noted, I figured it out, the O's are .500 withOUT DaveT! That said our next move is obviously letting Dave go immediately and we reach our next milestone! :) Ok, said in jest but numbers don't lie!

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Pete's reply: If you could the 12-4 game he got thrown out of last week, Jauss is 2-1. That's a .667 winning percentage. Can't argue with that.

Folks,

It was A nice timely hit for a change. I seem to recall the boneheaded pick-off where Melvin was being Melvin and just didn't have his head in the game AGAIN!

let's also celebrate the yankers coughing up a lead and getting blistered by the halos on nat'l TV yesterday

Break up the Orioles! No, seriously, break up the Orioles. The extended slumps of Roberts, Jones, Markakis, and Huff indicate to me that there should be at least a LITTLE playing time for Pie and Salazar. C'mon Trembley, be true to your words.

First time poster here. I was at the game last night, and was "managing" along with Joust, and I disagreed with him on three decisions. The first two may have resulted in the O's winning without the extra innings, but the third would have cost the O's the game.

1) Baez had good stuff in the 7th, and had only thrown 8 pitches, so I would have left him in for the 8th instead of going to Johnson. Joust was clearly just following Trembley's formula: Johnson in the 8th, Sherrill in the 9th. But why take a chance on going to a new pitcher who may or may not have his good stuff, when you already have a guy that you know is pitching well?

2) As others have pointed out, I would have had Jones bunt in the bottom of the 8th with no outs and Roberts on first. Maybe not right away since the corners were playing in. But on the 2-1 pitch that he hit for a double play, Rolen was playing back. A good bunt down the third base line would have been a hit probably.

3) I would have yanked Mora out of the game after he got picked off. That play was beyond unacceptable. He was not paying attention at all, not even looking at the pitcher. If you step off the base to take a lead, you HAVE to pay attention. Of course, like I said, had I been in charge and yanked Mora, the O's would have lost.

One more note on Mora - the defensive play on Barajas in the 11th was an excellent play. That ball was smoked, but he kept it in front of him kept his cool, and threw him out pretty easily. I commend him for that, not criticize him.

I forgot one more decision I disagreed with - in the bottom of the 9th after Wigginton singled with one out, I would have pinch run. But I looked over at the bench, and I saw Pie sitting there by himself with his head down, barely even watching, much less stretching. So I guess maybe that wasn't an option.

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Pete's reply: Thanks for chiming in. Don't be a stranger.

Don't know if this has been brought up a lot, but I have not seen it, so I will mention it: Why, oh why, is Luke Scott NOT batting clean up at this point?

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Pete's reply: Maybe because he's doing so well where he is and Huff is among the top 12 RBI guys. Maybe Luke would have more, but why mess with it.

SMBaublitz , Bashing Melvin again, after he had the game winning hit? Couldn't play nice even for one game?

Figures.

Well, some of your carping is valid, but even then there are asterisks to be applied. The merit of your arguments weakens as we go down the list:

- You want to start with getting picked off 1st base 4 steps from the bag?

* Okay, no excuse for not paying attention when he steps off of first. (I could see a fine being in order for that gaff, but don't expect one.) Still, that was an extraordinarily good pickoff move by Romero; an ordinary move doesn't get him. The move was so quick that for a moment both Joe Angel and Dave Johnson thought Millar had pulled the hidden ball trick on Mora. It was that good.

- Or how about 2 balls that got by his glove that anyone that can take 3 steps to their left or right could get.

* Which two balls? I can think of maybe one like that, but on the double down the line Melvin was shading towards the hole. No one (not "anyone") gets to that ball. Even Brooks wouldn't have gotten to that ball.

- How about how lucky he was to have a catcher running on the ball that bounced off him.

* By "lucky" you suggest that Mora butchered the play, but this simply is your bias coming out. The ball was scorched and no third baseman was going to field that cleanly, unless he was really lucky and the ball happened to stick in his glove. This argument doesn't hold up at all.

- How he didn't score on Wieters double. You know Wieters isn't fast when he has been pinch run for by a pitcher. So if he could get a double ...

* This is also without the slightest merit. If if was a gapper, sure, he should make it easily from first, but this ball was a bloop to center that was nearly caught and was quickly retrieved by the second baseman. Even had Adam Jones been running the Jays would have had a play at the plate. As for "if (Wieters) could get a double ...," that's only going two bases, while Melvin, to go from first to home, would have needed to run three bases. (Remember, although there were two outs, the count was 1-2, not 3-2, so neither Wigginton or Mora was running with the pitch.)

peter this is a bit off topic too.i have notieced adam jones swinging at a lot of balls that are low and off the plate.i would hope the crow can get him out of that habit glad to hear that mora got out of his home run slump

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Pete's reply: Yes, he has been very vulnerable lately to that pitch and opposing advance scouts picked up on it quickly. Crowley undoubtedly is working with him on that, but it's part of the adjustment process that begins after opposing teams first figure out a young player.

Ken Francis,

Thank you. You are 100% correct. SMBaublitz had to be shut down. I'd like to see him do better than Mora out there. Im sure if he was our third baseman we'd be winning the Al East.

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Pete's reply: Now, c'mon. It's never a logical argument to counter a criticism by saying that the poster couldn't do as well as the player. There's a reason why players play and others pay to watch them play, and the paying customers have every right to rate their performance. I once had a player ask me how why I thought I was qualified to analyze his performance if I had never played major league baseball. I said, I don't know, but I used to be a crime reporter even though I never murdered anyone. I was lying, because I had never been a crime reporter, but I thought it was a pretty good spontaneous reply.

Melvin Mora did it again, he always comes when you need him. It is the quiet player that just sits and wait for his time and steps up to the plate and plow it in. You go Melvin! I am always a fan of yours. Make your children proud Melvin and Gisel just smiles.

Pete, While I've been defending Mora lately, I'm nonetheless dismayed at what seems to be his occasional lack of hustle. Just a few moments ago, he struck out to end the second inning with Salazar at second.

The problem was that Chavez dropped the ball and Melvin just stood at the plate and let himself be tagged out. Both Joe Angel and Dave Johnson commented on the need to force a throw, arguing that, however unlikely, Chavez could have airmailed the throw to right field, allowing Oscar to score.

As I'm only listening to the game, I only going on what they tell me. Did you see the play that way or did Melvin simply realize that he would be tagged before he even got out of the batter's box?

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Pete's reply: I didn't notice that, but I agree with the broadcasters that it should have been run out. I'll give Melvin this much, he has taken a beating at third base the past couple of days, but just made another real nice play over there to save the tying run. I think it's fair to be very critical of a lack of effort, but I don't want to nitpick too much.

I'm glad that Mora got to be the hero last night. I don't know how he can fit into the long term plan, but I hope if this is his last season, that he goes out with a bang.
I'll join the crowd that thinks Berken should be sent down to make room for Tillman and let Hill finish the season.

"First homer since the deadball era"

Per Joe Angel

No I doubt I could do as well as Mora. Baseball is not my job. I don't get to paid $8 mil to play a game. I don't have trainers or nutritionists to keep me in playing shape. But its what I watch after my job.

But I do play a pretty good 1B in softball :D

Slugger,

I was referring to your mention of Jones getting preference over Scott, and of course that is just not true. Mora totally different issue, but you have to admit he is playing with a lot of heart. And I hope he has a good second half. People seem to just want to run him out of town, without a thought of the future.

SMB,

A lot of people batted in the game. Sometimes it just works that way. Everybody can type what they want on the site, Melvin just needed to swing to prove his point. Melvin is not the reason they are 40-48, really doing better than expected. It would be a mistake to replace him with someone else at this point, and remember he has a no trade clause, this has only come up about 3 times since he had the contract. When the O's started the season with Guthrie, Koji, Hendrickon, Simon and Eaton it was an awful excuse for a rotation. Heck I admit I thought it wa a bad joke, and really the team has had several bad years so it made it worse. But now they have four new guys and Koji on the DL. Pie experiment as a everyday starter has ended (at least for now) and you have two rookies in the lineup everyday that look to be impact players. To me people are bashing everyone still because they cannot get through that negative energy that surrounded the first 40 games. But it seems that people want to bash people now, instead of embrace the team of the future that we have now. Trembley is being fired at by bloggers also, in reality he could not have made them win more and probably if it was someone else at the helm, it could have been worse. Now why do you think Jones got preference? And how did it happen?

Mora struck out on a curveball that he didn't even realized had bounced. By the time he noticed he also saw that the catcher had it in his hand. Oh and in dissecting his not scoring on a Weiters double, point out that the only reason Weiters had a double in the first place was because no one covered second on the shallow pop to center. If inclined to nitpick, perhaps point out that Roberts should have had a triple on the double he hit that split the defenders and rolled slowly all the way to right center field wall. With one out that is precisely the time to take a chance going into third. Game situations should dictate aggression. Again this falls on the coaching.

Really the fact is that the Orioles do not have anyone in their system that can replace him and why would you at this stage. That is what I am saying. You never know one of the guys down in the minors can step in and play in a year or two, but not now. Cannot trade for anyone, no free agents right now and there is a no trade in his contract. So Mora will be here, playing third like he has done the last few years.

You can never make everyone happy sometimes you have to just live with it.

No Trade doesn't stop someone from being released. Who would want to trade for him anyway. I am not saying you have to release Mora. But I'd rather see them release Mora then Pie.

I'd also like to see Wigginton and Salazar get more time at 3B the 2nd half. We know one of them will be here next year.

It is great watching Oscar hit right now. I would not get too excited by Salazar yet, give him some time, but in reality players generally do not start making star impact out of the minors at that age, he is not a good fielding third baseman in any way. Wigginton is fine in the role he is in. Next year is a long way off, and I do not think that Melvin will be released in favor of Pie right now, it would be someone different. Maybe the Orioles will just keep bouncing pitchers up and down until Sept 1 when they expand. The Orioles also have two relievers that will come off of the DL later this month they have to make some kind of move.