Sat. gamethread

[Gizmo]

O's lineup

Avery LF
Hardy SS
Markakis RF
Jones CF
Wieters C
Davis 1B
Betemit 3B
Johnson DH
Andino 2B
Chen P

[Gizmo]

O's lead 3-0 after 3.

Solo HR's by Davis and Hardy.

[boulderterp]

Gizmo, you and me. Great catch by Dyson saved 2 runs. Hope the heat doesn't create a pitching meltdown by Chen at some point. But looking good.

[Gizmo]

boulder, I was looking at Chen in the second inning and thought the same thing about the heat. He definitley looked a little uncomfortable to me. That was a nice catch by Dyson.

[Joy in Mudville]

Another quality start, please!!!!!

Chen on an extra day's rest

[18-87-44-29]

Ah yes.....just as I presumed. Here comes the comeback!

[Gizmo]

O's melting down in the 8th.

[Gizmo]

O's fortunate to get out of that only giving up 1 run.

Trailing now 4-3 though.

[catatonia]

Wieters starts arguing the call, Showalter comes out to take over the argument, Wieters turns his head to spit on the ground. Umpire, who's involved with Showalter at the moment, doesn't take umbrage; he may not have even noticed.

Was Wieters' hocking the typical kind of spitting baseball players have done since time immemorial, or was that a loogie with meaning? One of the things I like about Matt is that he seems to have a flair for the dramatic; the well-known pictures of him holding the glove open to show he's held onto the ball after plays at the plate. Was this another example?

He knows the umpire's not noticing him, but he ticked at the missed call. And it was a mythical loogie, too, take my word for it. But I doubt there'll be a replay of that on mlb.com. Now if Matt had been tossed ...

But the point was, he didn't want to be tossed, but he was pissed about the call. Justifiably so. So he waited until Buck came out and then let it go ...

I used to write plays and I like all kinds of drama, so that may be influencing my analysis (overanalysis?) of this admittedly insignificant waystation of an incident on the great promenade of the 2012 season. But in a game that has seen a drag-bunt double, thus reminding us of the infinite complexity that any baseball game represents, then Wieters' delayed-reaction spitting seems to be worth at least a passing mention.

[Rob]

We need a rally.

[Rob]

Base-hit Andino. Way to get it started!

[Gizmo]

Tough loss for the O's after being up 3-0. This game was very winnable.

[Rob]

Bullpen let us down. Strop should have been removed before blowing it. You could tell he just didn't have it today and Buck left him in there. He let a .220 and a .190 hitter beat him. Walks always kill.

[Softbank Orioles]

Bullpen let us down. Strop should have been removed before blowing it. You could tell he just didn't have it today and Buck left him in there. He let a .220 and a .190 hitter beat him. Walks always kill.

I can't be too mad about the pen giving up 2 runs.

Offense didn't come through at all.

[Rob]

I can't be too mad about the pen giving up 2 runs.

Offense didn't come through at all.

Me either. Can still get the series win tomorrow.

[18-87-44-29]

2 conscutive series Ls?

[AntiMoon]

Terrible 9th inning. #9 hitter gets on, can't get bunt down or ever get him to 2nd base against pitcher who kept falling behind.

[Softbank Orioles]

Wieters needs to start hitting, and if he's hurt take a DL stint.

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Terrible 9th inning. #9 hitter gets on, can't get bunt down or ever get him to 2nd base against pitcher who kept falling behind.

That was troubling. Not a lot of creativity shown there.

Avery's kinda come back to reality.

[pitbull]

Terrible 9th inning. #9 hitter gets on, can't get bunt down or ever get him to 2nd base against pitcher who kept falling behind.

This team hasn't advanced runners all season. They rely too much on the long-ball.