For the first time since I’ve started this blog, the Orioles lost. Adam Loewen takes the L to fall to 0-2 on the season.

I only got to see bits and pieces of the game because I was running around doing some things for Father’s Day, but I did catch the seventh inning… And it was one of the worst half innings of baseball I have ever seen. We gave up 4 runs (2 earned), made 3 errors (2 on one play), had a ball roll up the sleeve of Ed Rogers and get stuck in the back of his jersey (what?), had the same Ed Rogers vastly overthrow homeplate on an attempt to throw someone out…the ball skirted around and we finally got the second runner trying to score out on a play at the plate. Or at least thats what we thought…until the 3rd base umpire ruled that Miguel Tejada obstructed the runner’s path on the way to the plate and ruled him safe.

Todd Williams continues to struggle on the mound… I’m not sure what we should do with him. Hes had success with us the past couple years and maybe his just being unlucky and his groundballs are finding holes, or maybe his luck has run out and we should be thankful we got as much out of him as we did. I couldn’t argue with them if they decided to drop him in favor of Ottawa relief pitcher Eddie Rodriguez who has simply been dominating AAA hitters so far.

I don’t understand why Sam Perlozzo keeps splitting up the top/heart of our order with weak hitters. In my opinion it would be better to have Roberts, Mora, Tejada, Gibbons (when healthy), Hernandez, and Javy bunched together. Hes been putting Fahey and (sunday) Conine in between Roberts and Mora. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t see the logic.

Loewen seemed to pitch pretty good for the first 3 innings before he gave up a grand slam to David Wright in the 4th. I’d let him start a couple more games to see how he does when he’s not facing some of the toughest matchups out there.

Minor league note: Garrett Olson was promoted from A+ Frederick to AA Bowie.

Olson was 4-4 with a 2.77 ERA for the Keys. He had 77 strikeouts in 81 innings and hitters hit to an average of .263 off of him. I’d say he deserved the promotion as he had been pitching better and better lately. I have high hopes for Olson who we selected between the 1st and 2nd rounds of last years draft. We got the pick for not being able to sign Wade Townsend.

The O’s return home to face another team coming off of an 8 game win streak starting tomorrow night, the Florida Marlins. I expect us to be able to win this series, just like the last time.

I’d also like to thank www.camdenchat.com and www.oriolesthinktank.wordpress.com for links to my site. Welcome to any viewers who may come from those sites or anywhere else for that matter.

Great game by Kris Benson to improve to 8-5, Chris Ray gets his 18th save.

I actually got to watch the game today. Heres my grades:

Brian Roberts: A – Was a major part in the O’s win. 3 hits against Pedro Martinez including an RBI double to give the O’s the lead for good. Also stole his 17th base of the season.

Brandon Fahey: B – 2 hits and an RBI in the game, but horribly misplayed a ball in the outfield to lead off the game for the Mets. I think that misplay is what lead to Benson giving up any runs at all. I don’t think Fahey belongs out there in left, he just looks lost to me. I would put him at shortstop like 3 days a week and play Tejada at DH if they feel they must get him in games. Good game overall though.

Melvin Mora: C minus – No hits and he left 4 men on base, but he did get on base with a HBP.

Miguel Tejada: C – 0 for 4, but drove in a run in the 1st inning to give the O’s a one run lead. Solid defence, but left 4 men on base.

Ramon Hernandez: C minus – Didn’t really do much of anything with the stick and left 3 men on base. He was behind the plate for the great pitching though.

Corey Patterson: D – No hits in four at bats with a strikeout. Also made an error out in centerfield

Kevin Millar: D – No production in four at bats with 2 strikeouts.

Nick Markakis: B – Got on base 3 times and made an outstanding diving catch out in right field. Hes had a nice 2 game stretch here in New York, hopefully this is a sign that he could be finally getting comfortable with Major League pitching.

Kris Benson: A plus – Pitched 8 very solid innings only giving up one run on 6 hits. Only rough spot was in the first inning when 2 runs crossed the plate. The first was because of a misplayed ball by Brandon Fahey in left field and the other was on a throwing error on Benson on a bunt play. And if that wasn’t enough, Benson hit a homerun to tie the game at 2. It was the first homerun of his career and the first hit for any Oriole pitcher this season.

Chris Ray: B – Pitched a scoreless 9th to get his 18th save. Struck out one and gave up a hit.

Overall it was a good game to watch. Finally something encouraging, already winning the series against the red hot Mets with a chance to sweep tomorrow. Hopefully we can get some momentum going and start doing some damage. We do have a pretty weak spot in our schedule coming up.

In case I don’t get a chance to post tomorrow, happy father’s day to anybody that happens to be a father.