Earl Weaver Rules

Alright, the Orioles are done at Camden Yards this year.  While the Orioles didn’t play great at home, fans at least had a 50/50 chance of coming to the ball park and seeing a win.  That’s not a bad thing for having such a bad team.

Brian Roberts put on a show for the home fans on Sunday.  He went three for five with a homerun, three RBIs and three runs in the 7-3 win.  Danny Cabrera struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings and Nick Markakis had two hits and two RBIs in the final home win of the season for the O’s.

Things got back to normal yesterday.  Erik Bedard was shelled and even though the Orioles put five runs on the board, they walked away with a loss.  Corey Patterson had three hits, a stolen base and two runs in the 8-5 loss.

The Twins doubled up the Orioles today.  Adam Loewen struck out eight but he gave up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk in six innings of work.  Miguel Tejada hit two solo homeruns and Corey Patterson went yard as well in the 6-3 loss.

The Orioles hit the road and play the Yankees at Yankee Stadium this week.  Man, it’d be nice to take a game or two against the might Yankees.

Alright, it’s never bad to go out a winner.  The Orioles took the finale against the Tigers this past weekend and then took the first two against the Devil Rays.  You can’t win them all though and the Devil Rays took the final game of the season against the Orioles.

On Monday, Erik Bedard was very good.  He gave up one unearned run on four hits and a walk with ten strikeouts over seven innings.  That’s five straight solid starts for Bedard and he hit the double figure strikeout mark for the second time this season.  Corey Patterson was pretty much the offense.  He drove in three of the Orioles four runs with hit fifteenth homerun.

Adam Loewen got off to a shaky start yesterday but recovered nicely to pick up the win.  He gave up three runs in the second inning but by the fifth inning, the Orioles had the lead for good.  Jay Gibbons went four for five with a run and an RBI in the 5-4 win.

Seth McClung held the Orioles in check today and Corey Patterson scored both of the Orioles runs in the 4-2 loss.  Hayden Penn finally put together his first decent start.  He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.

The rest of the Orioles schedule is pretty tough.  They play the Tigers for one game.  Then they have three game series against the Twins, Yankees and Red Sox.

Right now, the Orioles stand at 21st in attendance with four home games left.  If they keep up their pace of 26,874 a game, they’ll finish just short of 2,200,000.  The last time they had an attendance below even 2.4 million was 1988 and you all know what happened that year.  While some people blame the fact that the Orioles haven’t had a winning record since 1997 as a reason people aren’t coming out to the ball park, the affect that the Washington Nationals have had has also been signficant.

Now, it was announced that the Orioles are closing up shop in Washington, D.C.  Their outlet store, located in Farragut Square, is going to be closed when the lease expires in December.  It looks like Orioles merchandise or tickets are no longer in demand in Washington, D.C.  Heck, they’re no longer in demand in Baltimore.

Ironically, the Nationals are 20th in attendance, less then 100 fans per game more the the Orioles.  That’s a pretty sharp decline from last year when they were 11th in the league in their inaugural season.

The season drags on.  The Orioles had a chance to make an impact on the playoff picture, but as has been the par recently, they managed to lose another series.

Friday’s game was simply ugly.  Hayden Penn was shelled again and each of the four guys that relieved him gave up at least a run as well.  On offense, Nick Markakis and David Newhan hit solo homeruns in the 17-2 beatdown.

Saturday was the antithesis of Friday.  The Orioles were held to six hits and while Kris Benson threw a very nice game, he would have had to be near perfect to have won this one. 

Finally, the Orioles won on Sunday in a crazy game.  The Orioles jumped out to 5-1 lead only have it disappear in a three walk, five run fourth inning.  Chris Ray gave up a two run shot in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game, which went then went into extra innings.  The Orioles then tagged the Tigers for four runs in the tenth to win it.  Ramon Hernandez had a nice game.  He went four for four with four runs and an RBI.

It’s the battle of the bottom feeders this week.  Tampa Bay hosts the Orioles in a series which be unlikely to draw 30,000 fans over the three games.

Please let this season end.

The Orioles lost their 81st game on Monday.  Not that it comes as a huge surprise, but it’s another losing season for Baltimore. 

Erik Bedard finally won a game in the series opener on Friday.  It was the only game the Orioles won in the series and it was the first win for Bedard since July 23rd.  He gave up two runs on four hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in six innings.  Melvin Mora, Jay Gibbons and David Newhan all went yard in the 9-4 win and Gibbons drove in three runs.

It went down hill from there.  On Saturday, Adam Loewen was outdueled by Chien-Ming Wang.  Loewen gave up only two runs in seven innings of work but all the Orioles could manage was two runs and one of those came late.  Kevin Millar hit his twelth homerun in the 3-2 loss.

Hayden Penn was knocked around again on Sunday.  He gave up seven runs in only three innings and dropped to 0-2.  Ramon Hernandez had a big day at the plate.  He went three for four with two homeruns and two RBIs in the 9-4 loss.

The Orioles scored a couple of more runs yesterday but the Yankees put nine more on the board to finish up the series.  Rodrigo Lopez had a solid start but the pen, namely James Hoey, blew the game.  Hoey gave up six runs in 2/3 of an inning and took the loss.  Ramon Hernandez went yard again with number 19 and Melvin Mora drove in two runs in the 9-6 loss.

Next up is three against Boston.

It’s a good thing the Orioles aren’t really playing for anything.  They won’t lose a 100 games so there’s no need to avoid that.  The Devil Rays are six games back so the Orioles probably won’t finish in last place.  So the Orioles can be mediocre like they have all season and it won’t mean a darn thing.

Rodrigo Lopez was robbed by his own offense on Monday.  He gave up a single run on five hits in seven innings of work yet he took the loss because Jered Weaver and company combined for a shutout.  Kevin Millar and Miguel Tejada each had two hits in the game.

The Orioles actually made it close yesterday.  Kris Benson threw eight solid innings but the Orioles once again couldn’t get the bats going.  Then in the tenth, Julio Manon gave up three hits, including a homerun, and the game was done.  Brian Roberts went four for six in the game and Nick Markakis had two hits and an RBI.

Today, the Orioles got the hitting but no pitching.  Danny Cabrera was bounced around in five innings of work and three relievers also gave up runs in the 8-4 loss.  Brian Roberts went yard twice and Kevin Millar hit a homerun.  All three dingers were solo shots.

Next up is four against the Yankees.  Maybe that six game lead over the Devil Rays isn’t as safe as I thought.

At least it’ll be the final month for most teams.  And most teams means the Orioles at least in most years.  As always, there’s always next year.

Erik Bedard was a little more mediocre then Joe Blanton was on Friday.  Bedard did strike out six in six innings but he gave up three runs on six hits and four walks.  Todd Williams ended up taking the loss because he gave up the game winner in the seventh.  Melvin Mora hit homerun number 14 and he finished with three hits and two RBIs.

The Orioles actually picked up a win on Saturday.  Chris Ray held off a late inning rally by the A’s and Chris Gomez and Miguel Tejada each drove in two runs in the 6-5 win.  Adam Loewen picked up the win and he improved to 5-4 despite some pretty rough peripherals.

As has been the case this year, the Orioles couldn’t take that final game and lost another series.  Hayden pen was shelled in his 2006 debut and he was credited with eight earned runs despite getting only two outs the entire game.  Miguel Tejada went three for three and he drove in his 90th run of the season in the 10-1 loss.

Next up is three against the Angels as the Orioles head west.