Red Sox 2 Orioles 1

There will be no 4th straight series win for the Orioles as they lost their 4th straight game and 3rd in a row to the Boston Red Sox.

This time around, the O's actually got a very good outing from Koji Uehara but couldn't get anything off Sox starter Jon Lester and when they did have chances, they couldn't deliver the big hit.

Uehara deserved better today as he held the Red Sox at bay over 7 strong innings. The only runs he gave up were a Paul O'Neill/Jorge Posada Memorial Bloop RBI Single (Posada and O'Neill were/are the masters of "excuse me" hits) to Mike Lowell and an RBI single to Dustin Pedroia. For most of the game, the O's couldn't touch Lester, who struck out 9. And when they did get some guys on base, the couldn't get them in, as witnessed by getting two on with none out in the sixth. Robert Andino had singled and Brian Roberts walked, and for the first time all day, Lester looked vunerable. But Felix Pie and Nick Markakis struck out and Aubrey Huff grounded out to end the O's rally. The O's only run came off Takashi Saito and even then, they squandered an opportunity for a big inning. Nick Markakis and Huff hit back-to-back singles but then Ty Wigginton hit into a fielder's choice (scoring Markakis but giving the Sox an out), Luke Scott flied out and Gregg Zaun, pinch-hitting for Ryan Freel, struck out to end the game. All told, the Orioles left 6 more men on base today.

Some Hangar Observations:

- Adam Jones left the game in the first inning after pulling up lame running out a ground ball. The postgame report says it was a sore hamstring. Not good.

- Felix Pie replaced Jones and turned several of the balls hit to him in center field into an advensture. At the plate, Pie came to the O's with a reputation as a big whiffer and so far he hasn't disappointed in the season's first two weeks. He's struck out 6 times in his last 12 at-bats. Somebody on the Orioles coaching staff needs to channel his inner Lou Brown and somehow convince Pie that with his speed he should be hitting the ball on the ground and legging them out. Perhaps make him do 50 pushups for everytime he hits the ball in the air? Pie is a guy with the skill-set to be another Al Bumbry/Omar Moreno type but goes to the plate with the mentality of Rob Deer. He's a slasher who thinks he's a home run hitter.

- It's not good for your offense when the light-hitting Andino is your best hitter.

- Ryan Freel has already begun complaining about playing time. Um, Ryan, when you're 1-for-14 it's hard to complain about PT. Here's a hint: Stop chasing balls up in your eyes like you did today. And when you do get in, get on base and rack up steals. It's the only way you're getting to get at-bats. If you're not doing that you're pretty much useless to this club.

- Chad Moeller did make a nice catch in the stands. Unlike Freel, Moeller at least does something when he gets in there. The shame is, he's likely to be out of a job the minute Matt Wieters shows up.

- Does David Ortiz look like he aged in dog years or what? He looks like the guy that got released by Minnesota back in the day, not the feared Big Papi. Injuries and not having Manny Ramirez around can do that but still, it's odd watching Ortiz struggle to hit pitches he either would have taken or mashed into the bleachers just 3 years ago. He's looked awful in a series where, most of the time, the Sox have been feasting on Orioles pitching.

- Brad Bergeson, who was the O's minor league pitcher of the year last year, will be getting the call on Tuesday against Chicago.

So one more O's loss in the bank. I knew I should have taken a picture of that 6-2 record, it would have lasted longer. One more game in Boston tomorrow at 11 a.m. for Patriots Day up there before coming home. With Mark Hendrickson on the mound, the potential for ugliness is at Defcon 4. But until then, one last time, let's get Otto von Bismarck's thoughts on the game.

"Scheisse"

Orioles 10 Rangers 9

Ah, Texas. Like John Wayne Gacy's crawlspace, whatever-the-Rangers-Stadium-is-called-these-days is a place where things get buried, in this case, the ERAs and WHIPs of pitchers. The victims this day were Texas' Vincente Padilla and the O's Koji Uehara. Padilla got the hook first, after being blasted for 7 earned runs on 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings. Koji fared a little bit better but was clearly laboring by the 6th inning and his stat line looked just as ugly: 5 innings, 7 hits and 7 earned runs. Danys Baez, who looked sharp the first two games, morphed back into the hittable pitcher we all remembered from 2007. He did inherit a mess from Uehara, bases loaded with none out, but he helped turn a 10-4 rout into a 10-9 nailbiter. However, some solid holds by Jamie Walker and Jim Johnson kept the Rangers at bay. George Sherrill came on, and of course, put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. But Nick Markakis bailed Sherrill out with a brilliant catch of a long flyball by Michael Young and Flat Breezy struck out Marlon Byrd to end the game. Just another day at the office for Sherrill, who Jim Palmer fittingly nicknamed "Mr. Excitement."

But with the bad pitching came hitting. Lots and lots of hitting. Aubrey Huff had the biggest night, going 4 for 5 with 3 RBIs. Markakis and Brian Roberts kept up their hot starts by going a combined 5 for 10 with 3 RBIs and 5 runs scored. But the biggest shot came off the bat of Felix Pie, who hit his first home run as an Oriole and then punctuated it with the fastest home run trot since Pete Rose. Seriously, dude looked like Usain Bolt flying around the bases. And oh by the way, how nice were those new Orioles road unis with "Baltimore" written across the chest...

...Sweet.

So let's just call this one another typical night in Texas. The O's can assure a third straight series win tomorrow night with Alfredo Simon going against Brandon McCarthy. But for now, if you like an O's win, give me a Domo Arigato!

Orioles 7 Yankees 5 - Magic Number: 160

Konichiwa Koji Uehara! Welcome aboard, as the O's guaranteed themselves an opening series win over the dreaded New York Yankees.

The bullpen was shaky again, a reversal from last year, but the O's hit the crap out of the ball for a second straight game, causing Yanks starter Chien-Ming Wang to come up limp. Right off the bat, you could tell the Oriole hitters were still in the groove from opening day, getting three extra base-hits in the 1st inning, then chasing a flaccid Wang after 3 2/3 innings when Nick Markakis hit a bomb to put the home team up 7-1. Up 7-2 after 5, for some reason O's manager Dave Trembley pulled Koji and put in Matt Albers, who proceeded to make things interesting. Dennis Sarfate did the same, giving up a 2-run homer to Derek Jeter. Trembley's explanation after the game was that he's trying to limit Koji's pitch count early on. Not a bad strategy, but through two games, its clear the bullpen is a little slow out of the gate.

Still, it was a nice follow-up to the stellar opening day, and the O's have now put some panic into New York early on. They've bombed two former 20-game winners in a row. The crowd was smaller than opening day, but the O's fans were once again into things from beginning to end. Let's try to keep this support up all year.

And now, comes the part where I rip Mark Teixeria again. First, let me uphold the new Baltimore tradition...

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

If Big Cash thought the worst was over, he was dead wrong. Again, the crowd wasn't as big as on opening day, but they still let Big Cash have it everytime he stepped up to the plate. As if we needed more fuel to boo this goof, he provided some. If Big Cash was thinking he was going to quiet the boobirds by playing the "I always rooted for the Orioles. Except for when Don Mattingly came to town" card, he's sadly mistaken. Got news for ya Big Cash, the boos aren't going to stop. You got 8 more years of this. It's the price you pay for signing a contract with the Yankees for roughly the GDP of Namibia and talking out of both sides of your mouth. All he had to do was say, "I'm going wherever the best deal is," and no one would have cared. We would have been disappointed, sure, but we would have understood. But instead, he wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted the big money contract but he wants everybody to like him. Doesn't work that way, especially not in Baltmo, where slights are seldom forgiven. Like I said yesterday, Big Cash could have been the King of Baltimore but he chose to be just another hired gun in New York. I just look forward to the day four years from now when Big Cash is introduced at Oriole Park...and is still showered with boos while he makes a face that says "Why are they still booing me?" The thought is priceless.

So, its 2-0 for the O's on the young season. Big sports day for the Good Guys tomorrow: Caps can clinch the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference and the O's can sweep the Yankees. Until then, in honor of our new Japanese pitcher, if you like an Orioles win, give me a Domo Arigato!

Saturday links...

Hello and good morning my humble readership. Today I am coming to you LIVE from my mother's house where I'm spending my weekend making sure these two little terrors...

...don't cause too much mischief. Of course, their real purpose in life is to keep me awake at all hours of the night. They say a dog can hear a tick yawn at 50 yards (not my words, Sports Illustrated's) and I really wish that were not the case. These two dogs will bark at anything. They'll hear a squirrel moving around outside and start yapping. They'll hear the neighbors dogs and start yapping. They'll see a bird at the bird feeder in the backyard and start barking. I know what you're thinking. How bad can two little Yorkshire Terriers be? Well, if you value your sleep, as the Sam the Drummer told Dewey Cox, "you don't want no part of this shit!"

Anyway, on with the links, if you can dig it, SUCKAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!


-I don't always agree with everything Mike Preston says, but in both of these cases, Big Mike is absolutely right on. First off, Preston lets Ray Lewis have it for his disastrous attempt to create a market for himself. Then he gives a blog post about maybe the happiest man in Baltimore when Albert Haynesworth signed a $100 million deal with the Redskins: Haloti Ngata.

-O's lost their second exhibition game to the Marlins, 3-2. Japanese import Koji Uehara had a very solid two innings of work, holding Florida to no runs and one hit while striking out three of eight batters. In other news, Mark Hendrickson still sucks. Believe me, I know, I got a regular look at Hendrickson during his stint with the Dodgers in 2006. The only difference between him and Danys Baez (who I also got a good look at with the Dodgers before he signed with the O's) is that Hendrickson, thankfully, is only on a one-year deal.

-THE Towson University hoops team closes out its season tonight in Fairfax against George Mason. The game in prime-time on MASN at 8 p.m.

-The Tank over at the WaPo has all your info regarding today's Caps-Bruins game. The big news from the Boston side, per Tarik, is that two members of the Bruins top line, Milan Lucic and Marc Savard are questionable. For those not familiar with Lucic, here's a sampling of his work...


...Poor Matt Bradley may not want to remember this one...


Non-Sporting links:

-Icon vs. Icon has a link to an absolute MUST READ interview with the one, the only W. Axl Rose. Pretty much kills Slash and the old Gunners from beginning to end. Classic musings from either a musical genius or a certifiable madman.

-Much thanks to my fellow blogger, movie critic and fellow Towson Tiger, Greg "Snake" Maki, for the shout-out.

-Roger Ebert blogs about snarking. Very well-written (as if anything written by Rog wouldn't be) and kinda puts the whole function of blogs like Perez Hilton and Kissing Suzy Kolber (although I like KSK) into a different perspective.

-One more from Rog. Nobody does a bad movie review quite like Roger Ebert and these are two of my favorites. The first is for 2005's "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" and the other is for 1991's "Dice Rules"

-Finally, today's YouTube clip to swing your heavy metal hair to is from the old school, "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" by Megadeth.