Opening Day Reactions

[Hank Scorpio]

Not having a clean up hitter.

Tejada hit that ball about as hard as a human being can hit one, just right at Crawford. I can't fault him for that.

[JTrea81]

Tejada 0-5, 7 LOB

You can say he smoked the ball in the 9th, but he had other opportunities and couldn't deliver.

The cleanup hitter has to deliver in that situation.

You saw them pitch around Markakis, and that is going to continue until Trembley puts an actual threat behind him.

[nevadaO]

I hope Guthrie comes out strong tomorrow, or else we'll have some major doom and gloom...

Don't hold your breath...

[shorty122dude]

Whatever happened to patience at the plate? I thought they swung at the first pitch too much. Make Tampa Bay pitch to them!

[riprulz8]

Yeah, I know it's only one game, but what was painful about this one, for me, was how I let myself get wooed into thinking I wouldn't be disappointed.

After Millwood left, I figured, Albers would blow it. He did fine.

Then I thought Ohman would give up the lead. Nope, still good.

When JJ came in, I figured his lousy spring may carry over and expected the worst pitching to the heart of the order. We still had the lead.

Then just when I get a little glimmer of hope and figure we may actually win, I get shot down.

That will teach me to be optimistic.

[Goop]

That was a tough loss for sure. The runners left on base and the blown save were aggravating as all get out. Oh well, we got a long ways to go.

[MemorialStadKid]

It was a crappy loss.

I am a bit angry with Gonzales for leaving so many pitches up in the strike zone. Maybe someone should have explained that the Rays have one of the best offenses in MLB.

Wasn't he hired specifically to NOT lose the game under those circumstances?

UGH.

MSK

[MemorialStadKid]

Yeah, I know it's only one game, but what was painful about this one, for me, was how I let myself get wooed into thinking I wouldn't be disappointed.

After Millwood left, I figured, Albers would blow it. He did fine.

Then I thought Ohman would give up the lead. Nope, still good.

When JJ came in, I figured his lousy spring may carry over and expected the worst pitching to the heart of the order. We still had the lead.

Then just when I get a little glimmer of hope and figure we may actually win, I get shot down.

That will teach me to be optimistic.

That about sums up my feelings of the last few seasons.

Excellent post.

MSK

[Orioles1954]

I watched the game intently until the end. I knew what was going to happen. Still, I surprised myself by standing up at the end of the game, throwing my shoe at the TV and saying "Yep, same old Orioles".

[EutawStreet]

That last inning was probably the most painful thing I have ever watched in my life. However, I hope Gonzo gets another chance tomorrow. (but we have to be ahead by 2...atleast)

[bbt8]

1st and 3rd with no out and you can't push an important insurance run across the the plate? Sweet.

[SrMeowMeow]

I'm just so...so incredibly disappointed that the new season starts with a game like this.

[BaltimoreTerp]

My reaction is that enough people care to crash the Hangout after a tough opening-night loss.

That tells me something about expectations, and how the fans may react if we hold leads more often than we blow them for a change.

I also think the home runs off of Shields, along with the pitch-count, were a good sign. He's always tough against the Orioles, and a lot of people seemed to think he'd just blow through our lineup.

[clapdiddy]

I enjoyed the game until the 9th inning. I just turned the TV off, muttered "same old Orioles" and calmly went about my business.

Nice to see Jones and Wieters get off to a good start.

I tend to agree with the general sentiment about Gonzo. He looks horrible...and I don't mean the pitches...I'm talking about his whole delivery.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Just an insanely frustrating loss -- between the awful job from Gonzalez and the inability to get a clutch it.

Blech...at least we play again tomorrow and if we win we'll forget about this.