Tony-OH

Well, we don't know how they will handle the pressure of a playoff stretch drive. If the last two games is any indication, not good. We'll find out in this next series. The hitters look very tight.

Adley's high leverage numbers are why he seems like a disappointment this year: .215 .388 .354 .743 He just seems to freeze up when the team really needs him.

Sometimes you just have to know when you are owned. It is what it is. Not the way you want to go into a big 4-game series with the Rays. Maybe the pressure is getting to them? We'll find out because Tampa can pitch and if the Orioles come out looking like they have the last two games it will not be fun at Camden Yards this weekend.

Not a big fan of them looking into the dugout and seeing guys yucking it up while they a sucking it up in the batter's box.

Nice job Adley!!! Sucky at bat from the get go.

The Cardinals know to just keep running soft tossing pitchers at this team. Crazy how bad they are at hitting them.

They have two hits tonight. That's an awful, awful performance no matter when they've done it. I don't expect the team to win every game, but I think they need to make some internal adjustments on how they approach soft tossing pitchers. It clearly has not worked this year.

The Cardinals could probably re-sign 74-year old Al Hrbosky and he could throw a shutout inning against them right now. Apparently they have decided to not hit Cardinal pitching. Hell, they were dominated by a AAA soft tossing lefty and now are making these run of the mill relievers look like shutdown guys.

Mountcastle was in one of his typical ice cold streaks after his white hot streaks. He's was 0-for-14 with five Ks in his last 17 PAs. His injury might actually help the team since he tends to have these long cold streaks and we know the Orioles will keep running him out there even when he's not doing anything.

Baseball is really, really hard to watch when your team decides it won't even have competitive at bats over a few games. I know it's just two games, but it's enough to get my blood pressure up a bit. These are not the kind of pitchers that should dominate you at the plate.

Good Lord McCann looks awful at the plate. At least he only made one out though. Last night he didn;t see a DP he didn't want to hit into.

Credit to Gibson to having a great game tonight. Too bad the hitters have taken the last few nights off.

Look, if we're facing some tough pitching and can't hit, you tip the cap. But c'mon.

Bwahaha.. A no hitter for Rom? Every Oriole in the lineup should be forced to give their paychecks to charity. Rom couldn't get AAA hitters out but he's no hitting the Orioles thru 4? I mean, good for Rom to stick it to the Orioles for trading him, but good Lord, this is kind of a joke after getting embarrassed yesterday. Hell If I was playing the Orioles I'd just pitch soft tossing AAA pitchers at them.

I do have to laugh how a pitcher like Rom will dominate this team. It's like they have no way to actually hit soft tossers. I mean seriously Westburg. 89 MPH fastball you let go? Lol.. Gut check on these guys.

Whoever prescouted Palacios for this series should be fired! lol How do you let that gnat hit 3 home runs in two games?

I'm a little surprised Irvin was sent down because he can't come back unless an injury occurs on the pitching staff for at least 15 days. I get that he won't be available for a few days, but that 15 day rule seems like we're losing a guy who has useful in a relief role for a decent amount of the rest of the season.

One, we don't talk politics here. I don't care about his politics and even if he wants to discuss them openly, we don't discuss them here. Here's his interview after he was traded. Doesn't seem like a headcase. As you know, people come with all different kinds of personality and Flaherty certainly does not seem like a very outgoing guy. i have no idea how he's fitting in within the clubhouse but no whispers have come out against him. At the end of the day, he needs to pitch better. He knows that, the Orioles know that, and we the fans know that. A good start Friday night against Tampa can go a long way towards making him seem like less of headcase to some of you I bet.

I don't have an update, but I think he's behind Baumann, Baker and even Krehbiel to come back this season. I would not be surprised if he's done for the year. Either way, he was a big part of the Orioles great 1st half and hopefully he'll come back next year and compete for a rotation spot.

No records should be shared with pre 1900 baseball. I know you are our resident expert and I do love some aspects of that era, totally different game.

Imagine throwing a no-hitter with that defense? He should get a gold star next to that no-hitter.

Since he came back up to the majors in August, Irvin has a 2.59 ERA and has held batters to a .216/.264/.388/.652 slash line. As a reliever he's yet to give up an earned run since coming back.

Hernaiz has been hitting well in hitter's leagues. I think Hernaiz is comparable to Richie Martin, but with less speed. As for Irvin, I think he can be valuable for this team. Last night he actually quietly did something few noticed. He came back one days rest after throwing 39 pitches over 2.2 IP and tossed 32 more pitches over two innings. That's actually a valuable skill. Needing only one days rest after going multiple innings is something that not a lot of guys can do.

I'm not "shocked" by any loss. This is baseball. I never understand people that expect sweeps. Sweeps are nice, but not common for a reason.

Just a crap game. Hopefully they can win the series tomorrow night!