Rich Hill got his 2nd loss of the season

Hill got battered around a little bit, giving up 8 hits and 6 runs in just over 4 innings. Two of those hits were 2-run homeruns by Cody Ross and Dan Uggla. The good news was he only walked 1 batter and struck out 6. Thats a good ratio, but I think he was a little too much around the plate last night. Mark Hendrickson came in for Hill and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings. Then the old Chris Ray came into the game, the one that started the season on the Orioles but got demoted. He got lit up for 7 hits and 5 runs in just 1.2 innings. Hanley Ramirez capped it off with another grand slam. Brian Bass came in and got the final out.

The Orioles just never seem to play good against the Marlins, especially at their place. The offense got blanked through the first 8 innings and it was 11-0. We scored 3 garbage time runs in the 9th on back to back Gregg Zaun and Nick Markakis doubles after Matt Wieters walked and Felix Pie singled. Adam Jones continued his massive slump by going 0-5. He’s batting .203 for the month of June with only 1 homerun. Maybe the day off on Monday ruined our hot streak.

Player of the game: Nick Markakis (4-4, RBI, BB, 2 doubles (22) (.297 AVG))

Home sweet home tonight for the O’s as they face off against their “interstate rivalry”. I’ll be at the game to watch Brad Bergesen (4-2, 3.94) pitch against Ross Detwiler (0-3, 4.76).

Jason Berken was given the loss, his 4th.

That was a tough game to watch. Where are the fundamentals? Trembley preaches solid fundamentals, yet we make more basic mental mistakes than any team I’ve ever seen. In the first inning, we get the first two batters on base with back to back singles. So Trembley tries a double steal and Felix Pie gets thrown out at second. We end up not scoring any runs. In the 7th inning Emilio Bonafacio gets a single, then attempts to steal second. Matt Wieters threw the ball into the outfield, so Bonafacio goes to third – but doesn’t stop there and scores because Pie inexplicably holds on to the ball before lazily throwing it in back to the infield. A Melvin Mora throwing error also led to two runs in the first inning. Berken didn’t pitch bad. He had a little bad luck and probably would’ve gone at least one more inning if he didn’t get pinch hit for in the 6th. Mark Hendrickson gave up 3 hits but no runs in one inning, while Matt Albers gave up two runs in two innings.

All seven of the Orioles hits came from four players. Our only runs came in the 6th inning when Brian Roberts hit his 25th double with one out. Pie grounded out for the second, then Nick Markakis reached on a throwing error allowing Roberts to score. Aubrey Huff would walk before Mora hit an RBI single. Mora and Roberts both had two hits, as did Felix Pie. Matt Wieters had the other hit with a single.

Player of the game: Brian Roberts (2-3, R, BB, double (25) (.294 AVG))

The O’s try to avoid a sweep tonight. They’ll send Rich Hill (3-1, 5.18) to the mound, countered by Sean West (2-2, 3.97) for the Marlins.

AAA Norfolk 4, Pawtucket 2

RHP David Hernandez: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 K (3.30 ERA) – I have no idea why Hernandez was pulled after only 4 innings. He only threw 40 pitches and theres no apparent injury. Perhaps hes getting called back up. Maybe Koji will be moving to the bullpen.
1B Brandon Snyder: 3-4, 2 RBI, 2 doubles (2) (.238 AVG)
3B Jolbert Cabrera: 2-4, solo HR (5) (.255 AVG)

AA Bowie 4, Binghamton 5

LHP Bobby Livingston: 6 IP, 10 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (3.88 ERA)
2B Miguel Abreu: 2-4, RBI (.298 AVG)
DH Ambiorix Concepcion: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR (4) (.258 AVG)

Short A Aberdeen 4, Staten Island 3

RHP Scott Mueller: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 K, W (1-0) (0.00 ERA)
1B Tom Baxter: 3-4, R, RBI, 2 doubles (2) (.286 AVG)
3B Garabez Rosa: 2-5, R, 2 RBI (.368 AVG)

Rookie Bluefield 1, Elizabethton 4

RHP Vito Frabizio: 6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 K (0.00 ERA)
LF Jose Kianes: 2-4, RBI (.286 AVG)
1B Mike Flacco: 1-4, triple (1) (.125 AVG)

GCL Orioles 0, Twins 5

RHP Angel Cespedes: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, L (0-1) (1.29 ERA)

Brian Bass got the loss, his 2nd.

That was a very gutsy attempt by the O’s last night. We took an early 1-0 lead on Brian Roberts 24th double of the season to lead off the game, which was followed by a wild pitch to advance Roberts to third, and a Nick Markakis sacrifice fly. That Roberts double was the only hit we would record until the 8th inning. At that point we were trailing 6-1 and it didn’t look good. Matt Wieters led off the inning by hitting his 2nd homerun, another opposite field shot from the left handed side. Robert Andino and Oscar Salazar had back to back singles, but Roberts would hit into a double play. Fortunately, Andino was able to take third on Salazar’s single, so he scored on the double play to make it 6-3. Heading into the 9th, the Marlins brought their closer in. Adam Jones and Aubrey Huff both went down quickly, so we were down to our last out. 5 consecutive singles by Melvin Mora, Luke Scott, Wieters, Ty Wiggington, and Salazar tied the game up, but Roberts grounded out to end the inning. In the top of the 11th the O’s had a chance to take the lead after Gregg Zaun walked, and Wiggington hit another single. Zaun went to third, but Wiggy inexplicatly tried to stretch it to a double and was thrown out easily. That left a runner on third with 2 outs and the pitcher up next. Rich Hill pinch hit for Jim Johnson and put the ball in play, but it was caught by the left fielder.

Koji Uehara had a nice start, although he showed more evidence that he should end up in the bullpen at some point. He cruised through the first 4 innings before finding some trouble in the 5th. Dan Uggla homered to lead off the inning, and two singles followed. Fortunately Koji was able to stop the damage there by getting a force out at third and a double play. He would end up going 6 innings only giving up that one run. Danys Baez came in for the 7th and got lit up for 5 runs. A grand slam by Hanley Ramirez capped it off. To be fair, he might’ve gotten out of the inning if it wasn’t for a mental mistake from Andino. He had a chance for a double play, but missed 2nd base with his foot and couldn’t get the out at first either. Jim Johnson pitched 2 scoreless innings before being pinch hit for. Then Brian Bass came in. His first inning went smoothly, but he walked the leadoff batter in the 12th, then threw a wild pitch to advance him. Ramirez was intentionally walked, then Jorge Cantu singled to score the game winning run. Zaun had a chance to tag him out but he dropped the ball.

Player of the game: Koji Uehara (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 K (4.05 ERA))

Tonight its Jason Berken (1-3, 6.84) against Ricky Nolasco (3-6, 7.15) in game 2.

Jeremy Guthrie wins his 5th game of the season. George Sherrill got his 15th save.

Guthrie pitched a great game in a very hitter friendly ballpark. It seemed his pitches weren’t as flat and he only made one mistake, which was a homerun delivered by Greg Dobbs. Jeremys had good games this season, but if he can get back to being consistent like the past 2 years it would be a big boost for the team. Not only on the field, but it would help his trade value as well. Again, Jim Johnson and George Sherrill dominated the 8th and 9th innings respectively. They’ve been fantastic lately. It feels like if we have the lead through 7 innings, its over.

Cole Hamels pitched a great game for the Phillies too, but the offense scraped and clawed and found a way to win. Down 1-0 after the 2nd inning, Brian Roberts doubled in the 6th after Guthrie struck out. Nolan Riemold couldn’t get the runner in as he struck out, but Adam Jones picked him up with an RBI single to tie the game. Then in the 8th Robert Andino led off the inning with his 4th double, Oscar Salazar grounded out to second base allowing Andino to advance to third, and Robert singled him in for the go ahead run. It turned out to be the game winning run, Roberts’ second in as many days. Ty Wiggington also had 2 hits. Hes been coming around lately after a miserable start.

Player of the game: Brian Roberts (2-4, R, RBI, double (23) (.291 AVG))

We have off Monday before going down to Florida to face the Marlins for a 3 game series starting Tuesday. Koji Uehara (2-4, 4.30) pitches for the Orioles, opposed to Andrew Miller (2-3, 4.56) for the Marlins.