Orioles Humiliated, Lose 8-5

Todd Williams got the loss in this one, hes now at 1-3.

I don’t know where to begin on this travesty. The Orioles threw away a game that was played greatly until the 9th inning. Wasted a great start by Kris Benson, who threw 8 innings and only gave up one run to bring his ERA down to 4.06. Wasted a great game by Ramon Hernandez, who busted out of his 0-23 slump with 2 HRs and a walk in the game. Wasted a 5-1 lead going into the 9th inning.

LaTroy Hawkins was brought in to start the 9th. He was very unproductive and could only get 1 batter out, giving up a run (another was given to him after the next part). He left with a runner on first and Chris Ray was brought in to close the door. Only that didn’t happen. Ray gave up a pinch hit homerun to bring the game to 5-4. Thats ok right? I mean, we still have our closer in the game who is… er, was 18 for 18 in save opportunities. The next batter was another pinch hitter and he hit a homerun to tie the game at 5. Yep, back to back pinch hit homeruns. Somehow we managed to get out of the inning still tied.

In the bottom of the 9th we had a runner on second with 2 outs and Brian Roberts up. He hit a hard line drive towards the middle that looked like we would escape from the disastrous top half of the inning. But no, this is the Orioles, and the Florida second baseman made an amazing diving catch to save the game for them.

In the top of the 10th it just got comical. With Todd Williams pitching, the Marlins had a runner on second with 1 out. Perlozzo decided to walk Miguel Cabrera intentionally to set up the double play. Well Todd Williams couldn’t even get that done. He lobbed the ball a little too close to the plate and Cabrera smacked the ball up the middle to give his team the 6-5 lead. They eventually got the bases loaded and hit a routine ball to Miguel Tejada, who of course threw the ball wildly to first, causing 2 more runs to score. and that was the final score. 8-5.

This was a game that we had in our back pockets, but we had a hole in that pocket or something. Just an undefensible loss that would make even the most level-headed optimistic Orioles fan in the world upset. I give props to Kris Benson and Ramon Hernandez. It was hard to watch and I can only hope that it doesn’t destroy the team.

We face the Washington Nationals this weekend in the “battle of the beltway” or whatever they’re calling it. I wouldn’t even notice they’re was a second baseball team this close to where I live if it wasn’t for the media. I would like to say we should win this series, but after last night…I’m not so sure. Rodrigo Lopez vs. John Patterson. Go O’s…