matusz mania

There's been a lot of buzz about the Orioles getting University of San Diego pitcher Brian Matusz. And now it seems like things are really coming true. The Sun's Jeff Zrebiec has been covering the situation extensively and found out that Matusz is scheduled to take a physical in Baltimore today, which is one of the final steps in reaching an agreement. According to a source, the two sides are closing in on a deal that could be done within 24 hours.

Let's hope so, because the Orioles have until midnight tomorrow to reach an agreement, or they'll forfeit their draft rights to the left-handed pitcher.

Orioles president Andy Macphail said, "The fact that it's not done yet and we thought it would get done earlier, that makes it a concern. We really don't have much in the way of progress to report at this present time." And O's director of scouting Joe Jordan said, "We're working on it as we speak, but there's no need for me to publicly comment."

Matusz himself wrote in an email: "Both the Orioles and myself have been working diligently on getting a deal done. I want to sign and will do so upon receiving a fair (not record-breaking) deal. While I am not at liberty to discuss any parameters or numbers of the deal, I am hopeful that a resolution can be reached."

I certainly hope that we hear more finalized news soon because we could use the skills of this 6-foot-5 left-hander with a 90-93 mph fastball. During the regular season, he went 11-2 with a 1.88 ERA and 131 strike outs in 96 innings. And as this season, especially, has shown us, pitching truly makes or breaks a team.

@ cleveland, tuesday and wednesday

Tuesday night's game against the Cleveland Indians was like deja vu all over again for the O's. Starter Garrett Olson allowed four first-inning runs, but he bounced back to work through the sixth without allowing anymore earn runs. The first was certainly rough for Olson, who hadn't pitched since July 11. He hit the first batter, then watched as the Tribe bunted the runner into scoring position. Then Asdrubal Cabrera and Ben Francisco both singled making it four-zip.

But The O's offense caught up in the seventh: Luke Scott doubled and scored the tying run on a single by Nick Markakis. The Orioles also scored twice in the first and once in the fifth. But on a rare double error charged to Melvin Mora, Cleveland scored in the fourth to add an insurance run. Final score was 7-5.

This game really felt like same old, same old. Though I give props to Olson for bouncing back from his horrible start, it seems like a shaky beginning is all the O's need to lose a game. Oh, and poor defensive moves in the infield. That'll do it, too. Our poor offense keeps catching up, but our mistakes cost us in the end.

---

Wednesday night's game, however, was a breath of fresh air. That is usually the case when the Orioles' ace, Jeremy Guthrie, is on the mound.

Guthrie ran up a high pitch count in the first four innings, but he held his former team to two runners in scoring position. The Indians finally broke through in the fifth with doubles from Andy Marte and Grady Sizemore.

But that measly pair of doubles didn't stand a chance to our O's offense. Aubrey Huff got a solo home run in the second and Kevin Millar scored on a groundout later in that rally. The O's also had an awesome ninth inning when Markakis got a two-run single and the O's used a Huff double and a wild pitch to score the final two runs. Closer George Sherrill worked the final three outs to seal the game with a score of 6-1.

Guthrie had pitched to his former team twice on relief stints, both unsuccessful. But last night he looked pretty flawless. With every one of his starts, it's becoming more and more apparent that Guthrie is our team's MVP for the season. No other player spurs that much confidence with the fans and, evidently, the players.

olympics break

Let's take a break from Orioles baseball (just for a post) to talk about the U.S. Olympic team and their incredible performances thus far. Of course there is local (and fellow Towson High '03 grad) Mike Phelps, whose performances, both individual and team, have been amazing to watch. He has already won three gold medals: 400-meter IM, 4 x 100-meeter freestyle relay (he can thank his teammate Jason Lezak for that amazing performance) and the 200-meeter freestyle. He set world-records in all three of the races, as well. Congrats so far!




We also have to recognize the U.S. Men's Gymnastic team, who were definitely underdogs because both their stars, Paul and Morgan Hamm, withdrew due to injuries. But the U.S. prevailed to earn a bronze medal, with special highlights including Jonathan Horton's near flawless floor exercise and Alexander Artemev's flare sequence on the pommel horse.

It figures that sports is one of the few things to really make me feel patriotic. Go USA!

frustrating loss to the tribe

A familiar Orioles game was played last night: shaky pitching start, but an incredible offense brought us back. Unfortunately, the Indians got the last word.

Starter Dennis Sarfate allowed seven runs (six earned) in four-plus innings. He surrendered five hits and walked five. But there was light at the end of the tunnel in the seventh, when Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona issued back-to-back walks and then a single to Alex Cintron. Then Brian Roberts hit an RBI single to right, making it 7-4. Nick Markakis got a triple to tie the game and Mora got a sac fly, bringing the O's to an 8-7 lead.

But reliever Rocky Cherry (which sounds more like a Ben & Jerry's flavor than a pitcher) allowed a leadoff double and a single. Then a pinch hitter followed with a ground ball to Melvin Mora, but Hernandez didn't play the ball correctly and nobody was out. The next hitter tied the game at 8 with a sac-fly.

Jamie Walker then got Asdurbal Cabrera to hit into a routine double play, but it hit off Mora's glove and trickled into shallow left field, and the Indians took the lead. One last mistake: Kevin Millar opted to take the out at first on Grady Sizemore's ground ball before throwing home. Final score: 13-8.

The embarrassing triple-threat of defensive mistakes towards the end cost us the game. Without a doubt. As Dave Trembley said: "Obviously, there was probably lapses in concentration."

It is certainly one thing when AAA players come up and look like they've been in the majors forever. It is quite another when MLB players make minor league mistakes.

weekend wrap-up

I know I've been slacking with posts. Let's just blame the Olympics. So we'll have to do a quick catch up session to get back on track. The Texas Rangers were in town this weekend and we ended up taking two out of three from the Lone Star team.

On Friday, the O's star pitcher Jeremy Guthrie gave up just five hits over seven innings and our offense was a total powerhouse. Kevin Millar hit his 17th and 18th home runs in consecutive at-bats. Other multi-RBI performances were delivered by Brian Roberts, Ramon Hernandez and Juan Castro. Final score was 9-1.

Saturday's game was eerily similar, with starting pitcher Daniel "DCab" Cabrera allowing only four hits over six innings. Melvin Mora homered and had four RBIs, Nick Markakis also connected and Roberts scored three runs. Final was 9-0, which is a combined 18-1 for the first two games, for those keeping score.

We didn't fair so well on the cursed Sunday at the Yard. Revered rookie Chris Waters allowed six runs, seven hits and three walks in four innings. Josh Hamilton hit a three-run homer, Marlon Byrd had a home and four RBI's and Ian scored three runs and had three RBI's. Our usual stars looked great: Aubrey Huff homered, Roberts was 4-for-4 and Mora had a homer and four RBI's. But without the backbone of strong pitching, we lost to the Rangers 15-7. Ouch.

payton's glove turns to gold!

Though the Angels took two out of three from the Birds this series, Jay Payton did make some amazingly impressive grabs from center field:


How about that thud after the second grab?

These make a nice trio with his end-of-the-game catch against Seattle last Saturday. Besides (obviously) robbing the opposing team of home runs, he displayed a very strong defensive game, showing that we could get a pretty decent trade out of him!

montanez's moment!

When left-fielder Lou Montanez (called up from Double-A) made his major league debut in the third inning last night, the O's were down by five runs. Ervin Santana pitched a fastball over the plate and Montanez shot it over the fence in left center-field, becoming only the second Oriole in history to hit a home run in his first majors at-bat. Watch for yourself:

Montanez was leading the Double-A Eastern League in all three Triple Crown Categories, including 26 home runs for Bowie. The left fielder had this to say about his major at-bat: "You never expect that, but you do envision this when you were a kid for your first at-bat," he said. "You want to go deep, and it actually came true, so it's real special."

Like I said before, the only other Oriole to ever get a home-run in his first majors at-bat was pitcher (that's right a pitcher) Les "Buster" Narum on May 3, 1963 in the top of the fourth in Detroit. But the O's ended up winning that game 8-5.

Montanez was very flattered to be in Narum's company: "That means a lot, It means my name's going to be in the record books for as long as baseball exists, so it's real neat."

His confidence was obviously boosted by that first home run because, in his next at-bat, he singled and scored. The hits should probably come as no surprise because of Montanez's numbers in the minor leagues. In one incredibly impressive week (July 27-August 2), he was 17-32, batting .530 with 12 runs and 17 RBI's. Not too shabby.

As Dave Trembley says, "When you're hot, it doesn't matter who's pitching or where you're playing. I told him that it's the same game, maybe a little bit faster. Do the same things that you were doing in Bowie."

And apparently, Lou listened.

o's fall in finale

The star of the O's third game against the Los Angeles Angels was, unfortunately, Vladimir Guerrero, who homered and drove in four runs as the Angels beat the Orioles 9-4.

The Angels were up 9-1 after four innings against Garrett Olson (8-6) and Lance Cormier. The Angels had a three-run first with Guerrero's two-run homer, and Garret Anderson's RBI double. Then Jeff Mathis made it 4-zip in the second with a homer. Teixeira led off the third with a triple (on Lou Montanez's error) and then scored on a wild pitch. Anderson had an RBI single later in the inning. The Angels got three more in the fourth on Guerrero's two-run single and Torii Hunter's sac-fly.

But it wasn't all bad news at Angels stadium! Montanez homered on the second pitch he ever saw in the major leagues. (The only other player in Orioles history to homer in his first big league at-bat was relief pitcher Les "Buster" Narum on May 3, 1963). Another Triple-A success story!! And recent powerhouse Nick Markakis hit a three-run shot in the fifth, which was his 16th homer of the season. Markakis was 5-for-12 with seven RBI's against the Halos this series.

But it was our dismal pitching, as usual, that cost us the game. Olson lasted only 2 2/3 innings, allowing six runs and seven hits. Then the Angels scored three runs off "reliever" Cormier in the fourth.

lou in left

Outfielder Lou Montanez (who did come in last night to make an out) will be starting in left field tonight. Maybe our luck with minor leaguers will continue!

contemplating chris

After last night's awesome pitching performance from Chris Waters, players and coaches had a lot to say:

Torii Hunter: "He was making adjustments and that’s what the game is all about. He didn’t throw off speed until the second time around. He threw all fastballs and one changeup the first time around. The third time around he brought the slider out. He knew what he was doing. He didn’t want us to see all his pitches. He’s kind of bright."


Kevin Millar: "He did a great job throwing strikes, man. From the first inning on, he was pounding the strike zone. He had great movement. He reminds you a lot of Kenny Rogers. He changed speeds, big sinker and he fielded his position. He was an athlete on the mound. He knew what he was doing. It’s a perfect example of if you can throw strikes and keep the ball down, you can have success in this league."


Melvin Mora: "I know you have to give credit to the guy, but you also have to give credit to the guy behind the plate, Ramon. He called a great game. He knows those guys. If Ramon called the best pitch and he threw it the way he wanted, I think he was going to be fine. That’s what this kid did. Whatever Ramon called for the spot, he hit the spot. No problem."


Dave Trembley: "I watched the body language is what I watched. I watched his body language, I watched his eyes. And I watched him on the bench in between innings and I watched his body language on the mound after he threw the ball. He just looked like he had tremendous poise. He was under control. He didn't walk around. He got in a rhythm and a tempo. He just kept throwing."


Aubrey Huff: "He just took out nine years of frustration on the best team in baseball. How great is that?"






Ramon Hernandez: "You have somebody's career in your hands. I was trying to make it a success so he can be in the big leagues for the rest of his career. He was throwing strikes no matter what. It didn't matter who was hitting. He wasn't scared to get hit. That's the main thing about young guys coming in like that."



Chris Waters: "It's been a bumpy road. I went through surgery in '04 and it's taken a while to get everything back. This year is probably the first year that I really felt like I was before I got hurt. I came in knowing that they were probably going to take on me because a rookie coming into a big stadium, I was just focusing in on really trying to find the zone."

effing sweet!

I stayed up until the very end of the game last night because I just had to see if it could really come true. Could we really bring a guy up from Triple-A Norfolk for his major league debut and have him pitch a one-hit shutout to the best team in baseball?

And, apparently, we can.

It was one of the most awesome games of this Orioles season. Chris Waters held the Los Angeles Angels to one hit over eight innings, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Angels 3-0 last night. All the league leaders could muster against Waters was a leadoff single in the second inning by Vladimir Guerrero.

Waters (who turns 28 in a couple of weeks) threw 104 pitches, struck out three, walked three, and hit a batter. He retired 14 of the last 15 halos. Closer George Sherrill came into pitch in the bottom of the ninth earning his 31st save, but not before scaring the crap out of us with a leadoff single -- thanks again for the mini-heart attack, George!

This was the Angels only shut out at home this season. The only time it was a little scary was in the third inning, when Erick Aybar grounded out to the shortstop with runners at second and third. But Torii Hunter's hitting streak ended at 15 games, as did Garret Anderson's 12-gamer.

The Orioles offense got started early with four consecutive hits, including an RBI double by Nick Markakis and a run-scoring single by Melvin Mora. Then Luke Scott hit his 19th home run of the season in the seventh to add a little extra cushion.

Gold without a doubt goes to starting pitcher Chris Waters who, after nine years of toiling in the minors, had an amazing major league debut. Gary Thorne said it all last night while introducing the "player of the game" poll: "Chris Waters, Chris Waters, or Chris Waters?"

Silver to Luke Scott, whose seventh inning home run felt really clutch when George Sherrill got sketchy in the ninth. If that was only a two-run ball game, my mini-heart attack might have been upgraded to actual. And bronze to Nick Markakis for another solid game.

Who knew the key to Orioles success is calling up a mediocre pitcher from the minors and putting him against the best team in the MLB?

pitcher profile: chris waters

name: Chris Waters
age: 27
height: 6'0"
weight: 170 lbs.
throws: left
season record: 8-6
season ERA: 4.65
on: Bowie Baysox and Norfolk Tides
mr. july: 3-1 with a 3.60 ERA in six games for the Tides in July
last outing: allowed one hit in 7 innings

It really is a shame that we can't start Hayden Penn because of his freakish broken-bat injury. Waters doesn't have the best career numbers and certainly isn't the youngest guy we can bring up from Triple-A, but his recent stats have been pretty good. I guess when it's your only option, you have to look at the bright side.

jones and pitching update

As many people expected, pitcher Chris Waters from Triple-A Norfolk will be tonight's starting pitcher (Brandon Fahey was optioned back to the Tides to make room). Also, Trembley said that Adam Jones would be sent back to Baltimore for further tests on his foot.

From the man himself:

trembley on regis and kelly!

Thanks to emily for this tip: If you happened to catch last Tuesday's (July 29) episode of Regis and Kelly, you would have seen our very own Dave Trembley in the audience, during our series up in the Bronx.

After Regis talked about the Florida Marlins for a while, he said "Speaking of baseball, you know who we have in the audience today? Dave Trembley, manager of the Baltimore Orioles!" Then they pan to the audience and Trembley stands up and waves.

Regis makes a joke about how they couldn't get him better seats, then asked Trembley how his team won over Moose and the Yanks the night before. The skipper said, "He threw it over the plate." Then Regis didn't miss an opportunity to remind us that the O's are the last place team. "Not for long," Trembley replied. Nice.

Besides that cut and Regis saying "Dave Guthrie," it's a pretty fun little clip, which you can view here. Just go to the July 29, 2008 host chat and fast-forward to about 13:54.

aaaaalmost

If you stayed up late enough to watch the Orioles' ninth-inning rally against major league saves leader Fracisco Rogriguez, you would have been pumped. If you stayed up past that? Not so much. Closer George Sherrill allowed a bases loaded walk to Chone Figgins, giving the Angels a 6-5 lead over the O's.

Angels starter Joe Saunders lasted six innings, only allowing a run and six hits. The O's only run came in the fifth when Saunders hit Luke Scott with a pitch, Jay Payton and Brian Roberts walked and Scott came home on a groundout by Nick Markakis.

Orioles starter Dennis Sarfate, demonstrating his rookie status, gave up five runs, six hits and three walks over three-plus innings in his second big league start.

But it seemed like we were going to salvage the damage in the ninth. Kevin Millar led off with a leadoff single against Scot Shields, who retired the next two batters. But pinch-hitter Alex Cintron kept the rally going with a single, bringing Rodriguez into the game. Then Roberts loaded the bases with a grounder to first that two-time Gold Glove winner Mark Teixeira misplayed. Then Markakis had a two-run single and Melvin Mora tied it with a two-run double. Yes!

Then George "Why Was He an All-Star" Sherrill blew it big time. He gave a leadoff double to Torii Hunter, who advanced on a groundout. Then Howie Kendrick was intentionally walked and Juan Rivera popped out. But Sherill walked Jeff Mathis and Figgins to bring in the winning run.

Another game with a powerhouse (albeit late) offense and unreliable pitching. If we can't get a confident beginning and end to these games, it's hard to stay focused in the middle.

PS: Scot and Torii? What is with the names on this Angels roster?

perplexing pitching

Tomorrow's hole in our starting rotation keeps getting bigger. On Friday, it was announced that the O's optioned starting pitcher Brian Burres to Triple-A Norfolk. Then on Saturday, Hayden Penn got hit in the leg by a scrap of broken bat.

So who does that leave to start for us tomorrow?

Well it appears the Orioles are bringing up Chris Waters from Triple-A Norfolk, but they haven't said if he would start Tuesday or not. And you can't forget about Brad Bergesen, who is 13-3 with a 2.68 ERA for Double-A Bowie.

Either one would be very scary considering we're going against the best team in baseball who, oh yeah, now have Mark Teixeira. I guess we'll see what Trembley decides to do.

adam's foot

On Saturday, Adam Jones fouled a ball off of his left foot and underwent an X-ray on Sunday that was inconclusive, requiring further testing. He is wearing a protective boot and is expected to undergo a CT scan today, but there is no word yet on the status of his injury. He's expected to sit out tonight's game against the Los Angeles Angels.

It's especially unpleasant for Jones who has had a sprained right ankle for a while now. "It's not comfortable," Jones said. "I'd be able to play if it was comfortable."

The center fielder has played in 108 of the O's 110 games, and is batting .279 with seven home runs. Though he's been pretty awesome lately, I definitely agree with Dave Trembley's decision not to play him until we know more about the injury, especially if both feet have had problems.

"My right ankle felt like this the other day," Jones said, "so hopefully I can bounce back as quick as I did the other time."

weekend recap

So I watched two out of the three Mariners games this weekend (maybe or maybe not in bars -- hey, they were on the West Coast) and apparently they were the right two to watch.

Friday's game was just a whole lot of fun. Starter Garrett Olson threw eight scoreless innings and the O's scored six early runs off Jarrod Washburn in a 10-5 victory over Seattle.

We scored a season-best eight runs in the fifth when 12 Orioles went to bat. After Roberts singled, Jones grounded into a double play. Then Markakis, Huff, and Mora all hit singles to bring in a run. Hernandez got an RBI double and Millar walked to load the bases. Ray Corcoran jogged out of the bullpen and Payton got a bases-clearing triple. Then Juan Castro singled him in, Roberts doubled, and Jones got a two-run single for a 9-0 lead. Whew, that was a mouthful!

As Payton said, "It was a good inning." You can say that again, Jay.

Olson was incredible until the ninth when Seattle loaded the bases and Trembley brought in Lance Cormier. Kenji Johjima and Jeremy Reed had RBI singles, Ichiro Suzuki drove in a run with a groundout and Willie Bloomquist and Bryan LaHair had RBI's before Adrian Beltre (finally!) flied out to end the game.

Still, gold to the Orioles offense for that incredible fifth inning and silver to Olson for going eight scoreless innings. Before this game he had never gone longer than seven. No bronze necessary.

---

Saturday's 3-1 victory was of a whole different caliber. I just love it when Jeremy Guthrie's on the mound because I know I don't have to be nervous for a while (if ever). While he had a rough start, Guthrie retired 26 of the final 28 batters and got his first career complete game! This is his sixth win in his last seven decisions.

But Guthrie gave up one-out doubles to Jeremy Reed and Raul Ibanez, as well as walked Adrian Beltre in the first. After that he was near perfect except he allowed an infield single to Jose Vidro in the fourth and he got an error in the eighth. But still, gold to him for an amazing performance.

The offense worked too: Huff got a pair of singles, Jones had three hits and scored twice, Mora had an RBI double, and Hernandez singled in a run. Huff gets the silver for extending his hit streak to 11 games. Keep 'em coming!

Bronze to Jay Payton, who finished the game with a leaping catch against the left-field wall to rob Jose Lopez of a home run. Was the number one web gem! Watch it here.

---

Another bad Sunday for the O's as the Mariners avoided being swept in an 8-4 victory over Baltimore. The Mariners can thank Daniel Cabrera in the seventh inning, as he allowed walks to Brian LaHair and Yuniesky Betancourt and an infield single to Jeff Clement. Then Jamie Walker came in and Ichiro Suzuki got a grounder that Roberts fielded well, but Alex Cintron at second never caught the ball and it hit him in the stomach. Pinch-runner Miguel Cairo scored to break the 4-4 tie. Then Raul Ibanez got a two-run single and Jeff Clement got an RBI in the eighth. Jose Lopez got a home run and Jeremy Reed got two RBI's.

Carlos Silva pitched well for Seattle, but Daniel Cabrera kept losing the lead every time an Orioles would get it back. He allowed six earned runs and struck out six.

o's vs. mariners, 8.01.08

The Orioles (51-56) had a very good April against the Seattle Mariners, playing them in two different series in the month. We swept them in the first four-game series (April 4-7) and took two out of three at Safeco Field (April 22-24). Also, we're coming off a pretty exciting series in the Bronx, where we took two out of three from the Yankees. Since the All-Star break, our hitting has been pretty awesome (.286 batting average and 5.8 runs per game). But we've gone 6-8 thanks to our 6.07 ERA, which is second worst in the American League.

The Mariners (41-67), however, had their sixth consecutive double-digit hit total in an 8-5 win over Texas last night. They also had eight walks, which is bad news for Orioles starter Garrett Olson (7-5), who played a great game against the Los Angels Angels on Sunday. But, in his previous four starts, he went 0-2 with a 10.53 ERA while walking 13 in 19 2/3 innings. Yikes.

On the mound for Seattle is Jarrod Washburn (5-9), who also had a great Sunday, giving up one run and four hits in eight innings of a 5-1 win over Toronto. Against the O's, he's 6-4 with a 4.46 ERA in 14 career games.

So, once again, it's all about ball control for Olson. Let's hope he has a start like last Sunday and our offense continues to slam base hits.

born to be wild

So the MLB suspended and fined Daniel Cabrera for six games two days after being ejected and accused of intentionally hitting Alex Rodriguez. His only scheduled start during the suspension is this Sunday against the Seattle Mariners. Also Yankees reliever Edwar Ramirez was fined and suspended for three games after he threw a pitch over Kevin Millar's head on Wednesday (presumably in response to the A-Rod incident). Last season, Cabrera was also given a six-game ban after throwing a pitch at Dustin Pedroia's head in September.

MacPhail says Cabrera's suspension was automatic once he was ejected by plate umpire Chad Fairchild. But MacPhail says that he's encouraging Cabrera to appeal the suspension and he's "confident that [the MLB] will look favorably on the appeal."

I would hope so, considering several Yankees (including Rodriguez himself) stated that they didn't think the pitch was intentional. Also something to consider: Fairchild is a minor league call-up umpire, which explains why he didn't understand Cabrera's wild track record and should also give more grounds for the appeal.

some talk, no action

So Andy MacPhail did speak up about the results (or lack thereof) at the trade deadline. In a press conference yesterday evening, he said: "We didn't have one of those situations where we had several conversations marching toward a conclusion.''

On moving some vets through waivers in August: "I hold out hope to the extent that it would be something that makes sense for us."

On Roberts: "It was not something that intrigued us unless we got something we really wanted. With Brian Roberts, that was a very high bar to clear."

In general: "We just didn't find an intersection of self-interest between ourselves and another club...You have to discipline yourself so you don't come out with something just to say you made a trade. You have to make sure you come out better than you were before."

In a season where the Orioles did do better than expectations, but still remain in last place, was no move really the best move? I've admired MacPhail and Trembley's bold and gutsy moves thus far, but it seems a little silly for the O's not to do anything yesterday. I guess we'll see what happens with our veteran players in mid-August.