WillyM

Erich Bacchus was the plate ump yesterday..

In order to make room for trade acquisition Jeimer Candelario, the Cubs have designated Trey Mancini for assignment. I don't see the Orioles having a place for Mancini, but I hope he finds a home somewhere.

Amazing to see so many pitches so far out of the strike zone and have the pitcher get out of it without allowing a run.

4. They should have retired # 35 for Mike Cuellar. Then they could have given some other number to Mussina and we could argue whether that number should have been retired.

Years ago, the Orioles said that no matter what time a game ended, light rail transportation would be available as much as 30 minutes after the end of the game. Of course, that was years ago, and things may have changed. I wish I could tell you that that comforting reassurance appears on the Orioles' website today, but I can't find it.

I guess if Ryan O'Hearn is to produce a game-winning RBI for a third day in a row, he'll have to do it coming off the bench. Come to think about it, that's how he got the first one.

Mike Baumann ran his won-lost record to 7-0 for the season today. For me, that brought back memories of Wes Stock, who pitched for the Orioles in the early '60's. Wes was almost exclusively a relief pitcher. While he was rarely called on to close a game, he had a knack for picking up wins in relief. He went 5-0 in 1961 and 7-0 in 1963. (He also went undefeated in 1964 with a 2-0 record, but only pitched in 14 games that year.) Oddly enough, Wes won his seventh game in 1963 before the end of July, just as Baumann has. Though he continued to pitch through the end of the season, he didn't get another decision. After 1964, he was traded to the Kansas City A's. He pitched in 1964-66, then was named a coach of the A's in 1967. He was activated as a player for one game, giving up two runs in the ninth inning of an 8-3 loss to the Yankees, in his final pitching appearance. His lifetime won-lost record was 27-13, with a very respectable ERA of 3.60. Stock was active as a pitching coach from 1970-81 and then again from 1984-86 with the Brewers, A's, and Mariners. He has the distinction of being the modern Brewers' first pitching coach (they moved to Milwaukee in 1970 after one season as the Seattle Pilots), as well as being a two-time World Series champion pitching coach with Oakland in 1973-74.

After every inning, the umps check the pitcher's glove and hand and anything they can think of, just to make sure he didn't have a chance of sneaking an illegal pitch in there. Then I watch Vesia lick his fingers, and lick his fingers again (not that he's the only one who does this), and then strike Rutschman out. Wonder how long it's been since any pitcher was called for throwing a spitball?

Very sportsmanlike of Soler to pull up instead of blasting Santander into right field.

Kremer looked pretty bad in the third inning, but he winds up as the first Oriole pitcher to reach double figures in wins this year.

Thank the ump for not calling that 3-1 pitch ball four.

That was strike five.

No. Catcher can throw to first as many times as he wants.

Rockies increased their lead over the Yankees to 4-2 on a home run by Grichuk. It was his fifth of the year. There was a year when he was playing with the Blue Jays and it seemed like he hit five home runs every series against the Orioles.

He got out of it with only one run allowed. The pitch efficiency took a major downgrade, though.

I've always enjoyed watching for the Oriole players to be introduced prior to the All-Star Game. I was ticked off that after Fox had announced, over and over again throughout the day, that the game telecast would start at 8:00, I tuned in precisely at 8:00 to find that the entire National League roster and all the American League reserves, including Bautista, Cano, and Rutschman, had already been introduced, as well as half the American League's starting lineup. Fortunately, Hays was low enough in the batting order that I was able to see him run onto the field, albeit in a uniform that made him unidentifiable as an Oriole. Didn't like the in-game interviews, especially not of players in the field, and particularly not of pitchers on the mound. Aren't pitchers supposed to receive their signals from the catcher via an audio receiver in their caps? How is a pitcher supposed to concentrate on the signal from the catcher while the TV announcers are asking him questions at the same time? Apparently, if the game had been tied at the end of the ninth inning, they wouldn't have played extra innings. They would have gone to some sort of home run derby thingy to decide the winner of the game. The Fox announcers were practically drooling over the prospect. Me - I would have turned the TV off. I've never had any interest in watching the Home Run Derby the day before the All-Star Game, and I wouldn't have had any interest in watching one after the ninth inning.

Five days ago, the Yankees could envision being tied for first place in the wild card race if they could just win two more from the Orioles. Now they've lost four of five, they're six games behind the Orioles, out of a playoff position altogether, and probably leaving the field with the boos of the Yankee Stadium crowd raining down on them. Gotta love it.

Hicks heard you.

Solid line drive single by Hays brings home Santander with the fourth run of the inning. And there's still two guys on base with only one out.

Two walks and Ryan is done. They're bringing in a lefthander with O'Hearn scheduled to bat. Is this when we will see Mountcastle?

Takes a lot of pitches to get ten strikeouts. Ryan's thrown 76 through four innings. I wouldn't expect him to last more than six innings today, and maybe not more than five.

Doesn't want to hurt his hands clapping.

See Post #1.

Bad luck. O'Hearn ripped that one.

The Orioles lose by seven. It's their third loss in a row. Monday evening, the Reds lost by seven and it was their third loss in a row. Since then, the Reds have won three in a row. Certainly not impossible that the Orioles could do likewise.