2nd and 3rd, nobody out; Jones, Markakis and Wieters all K

[Old#5fan]

As pointed out and ignored by you... before last night, Tejada was 5 for 18 against Burnett with a 628 OPS. His numbers were not very good going against Burnett.

Thorne or Flanagan (I believe Thorne) last nite during the game said he was 6/10. I didn't pull this out of my wazoo. So, sorry if they had it wrong. I just assumed they knew what they were talking about.:eektf:

Maybe they meant he was 6/10 this season against Burnett. I don't know but that is what was said.

[Burg]

I don't see anything in Old#5Fan's post that blamed Markakis more than Jones. Let's not get into bickering in this thread, enough of that already. There's tons of blame to go around for that inning.

Disagree. His post (and his entire agenda) is to criticize Nick unmercifully. It's a ridiculously uniformed agenda and he deserves to be called out on it. Especially considering his praise of Jones, who couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat and is now starting to deteriorate defensively as well.

[Sports Guy]

BTW, it occurs to me so many times that many of the "baseball people" on this board don't ever seem to understand that their is another team that we play against...and those teams have good players too...players that are paid to do the same thing our guys are paid to do.

I know this may come as a shock to many of you but guess what...sometimes the other player(s) are better than ours at that moment and time. It happens.

Last night, in that inning, Burnett got nasty and was better than our players.

In the same situation for us, the Yanks hitters were better than Matusz.

Those 2 situations were the game...The Yanks were better.

[Old#5fan]

BTW, it occurs to me so many times that many of the "baseball people" on this board don't ever seem to understand that their is another team that we play against...and those teams have good players too...players that are paid to do the same thing our guys are paid to do.

I know this may come as a shock to many of you but guess what...sometimes the other player(s) are better than ours at that moment and time. It happens.

Last night, in that inning, Burnett got nasty and was better than our players.

In the same situation for us, the Yanks hitters were better than Matusz.

Those 2 situations were the game...The Yanks were better.

Or our players are just stupid for swinging at pitches in the dirt that aren't even strikes. Which is it?

[Sports Guy]

Or our players are just stupid for swinging at pitches in the dirt that aren't even strikes. Which is it?

Every player does that...I didn't see any of the other pitches except the Nick pitch...That was a hard biting curve that looked like a fastball at first..Nick, trying to protect the zone, swung at a bad pitch...But it was a nasty pitch.

[AgentOrange]

Every player does that...I didn't see any of the other pitches except the Nick pitch...That was a hard biting curve that looked like a fastball at first..Nick, trying to protect the zone, swung at a bad pitch...But it was a nasty pitch.

No excuse for any of them there. 2 of them had to put the bat on the ball and more than likely would have scored a run. Wieters was in a tough spot with 2 outs, but come on. They have to get at least 1 there.

I know Burnett was pretty good last night, but there is no excuse to not get at least 1 more run home with the batters we had coming up.

[Old#5fan]

Every player does that...I didn't see any of the other pitches except the Nick pitch...That was a hard biting curve that looked like a fastball at first..Nick, trying to protect the zone, swung at a bad pitch...But it was a nasty pitch.

Jones struck out on the same pitch that was repeated. Markakis should have observed what Burnett was throwing. They were not strikes. Markakis did the exact same thing as Jones (swung at several of the same dirt balls). Wieters took two of these dirt balls but swung on the thrid. At least he was somewhat more observant, not that it made any difference in the end result.

[osfan83]

BTW, it occurs to me so many times that many of the "baseball people" on this board don't ever seem to understand that their is another team that we play against...and those teams have good players too...players that are paid to do the same thing our guys are paid to do.

I know this may come as a shock to many of you but guess what...sometimes the other player(s) are better than ours at that moment and time. It happens.

Last night, in that inning, Burnett got nasty and was better than our players.

In the same situation for us, the Yanks hitters were better than Matusz.

Those 2 situations were the game...The Yanks were better.

I completely understand this...and understand that for the better part of 13 years most of the time the "other team" has been better than ours at that moment in time.

[Moose Milligan]

Jones struck out on the same pitch that was repeated. Markakis should have observed what Burnett was throwing. They were not strikes. Markakis did the exact same thing as Jones (swung at several of the same dirt balls). Wieters took two of these dirt balls but swung on the thrid. At least he was somewhat more observant, not that it made any difference in the end result.

Easier said than done. Why, if it was THAT easy, your mancrush Jones should never be swinging at balls outside of the strikezone. Imagine how good he could be if did! His on base percentage might creep above .300.

[Hank Scorpio]

Here's a question: are they in the dugout, watching Burnett strike everyone out with a knuckle curve in the dirt, then going up there thinking he's going to throw them an 0-2 fastball?

I realize that it's not easy. I realize AJ Burnett has filthy stuff. But competent major league hitters can protect and just achieve contact most of the time. Choke up on the bat and make contact!!! You don't have to hit the ball 450 feet every single time you're up there. BUNT if you're that lost at the plate. Put the freakin' ball in play.

[Sports Guy]

No excuse for any of them there. 2 of them had to put the bat on the ball and more than likely would have scored a run. Wieters was in a tough spot with 2 outs, but come on. They have to get at least 1 there.

I know Burnett was pretty good last night, but there is no excuse to not get at least 1 more run home with the batters we had coming up.

I don't disagree with you...My only point is that sometimes you have to tip your cap to the other team.

[Hank Scorpio]

I don't disagree with you...My only point is that sometimes you have to tip your cap to the other team.

I agree, but it sure seems like we've been doing a lot of cap tipping lately.

[Mackus]

No excuse for any of them there. 2 of them had to put the bat on the ball and more than likely would have scored a run. Wieters was in a tough spot with 2 outs, but come on. They have to get at least 1 there.

I know Burnett was pretty good last night, but there is no excuse to not get at least 1 more run home with the batters we had coming up.

This is a common fallacy.

The act of Wieters or Markakis or Jones striking out against one of the better strikeout pitchers in baseball isn't an "inexcusable act". Even the Orioles not plating a run in that situation isn't "inexcusable". The thing that is inexcusable, is how often we fail in that situation. Its not the failure any one time that kills us or that is awful, but its the collective failures that add up over time.

Similar to the argument about Wieters' playing time. Its not a poor move to play him in any given game, but it is a poor move to play him in (nearly) every single game without rest.

The inexcusable part isn't that we didn't score last night. Crap can happen in those situations. The inexcusable part is how often we end up not scoring or only scoring one in those situations. If we were scoring in those situations like we should be, then failing once would be excusable. Its more of a global problem than an isolate failure, and unfortunately, that's a much more serious problem.

[Moose Milligan]

I agree, but it sure seems like we've been doing a lot of cap tipping lately.

12 years worth.

[AgentOrange]

I don't disagree with you...My only point is that sometimes you have to tip your cap to the other team.

I am tired of tipping my damn cap. It just feels like mounting excuses.

I mean I tip my cap to the teams we have played this year, we have had a touch schedule.

I tip my cap to the pitchers we have faced this year, about 80% of them were very good pitchers.

It just gets old after awhile. We need to get back to basics. That is how the twins win with their payroll and talent. They do every little thing right and it helps them win close games and stay in most games they play. I envy that team.