Nobody's hitting much, and nobody's hitting for any power. Costanzo's K-rate is absolutely terrible. Torres came up because he hit a bunch of singles -- and also because Hernandez and Fahey are just as bad, and also because there are still maybe some problems in valuing talents within the system. There's really no reason for a veteran like Cintron to be farting around in AAA when he would be the best option for the O's at short. Moore has been horrendous since his demotion, and now he's not even getting the reps at short, with Cintron playing. So why is he down there while Fahey and Hernandez and Torres are all wasting time in Baltimore? Luis Terrero continues to be a fine minor league player, leading the Tides in OPS.

Olson has been a shining star, and the peripherals for Liz and Penn are encouraging, particularly Liz's. Leicester taking starts is a little weird, since he doesn't even average four innings per. McCrory and Cormier have anchored the bullpen, but McCrory still has his problems. If Cormier or even Alberto Castillo keep pitching well, they could wind up contributing this season when the inevitable injuries hit the 'pen. Or if not contributing, at least lending more hope than dead veterans Yan and Bukvich do.

copyright Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images

The Orioles are keeping Jose Contreras relevant.

Like, come on, you guys. Seriously.

But I'll let Sox fans worry about the 71-year old Contreras. I'm not all that concerned with him.

What does concern me is the turd brigade that the Orioles are running out there at shortstop. Not a single one of these guys is even good enough to be a major league utility player. In the last three games, Luis Hernandez, Eider Torres and Brandon Fahey have all been given starts.

None of them are really shortstops to begin with. Hernandez and Fahey do not have the arm for it. It's been very apparent. Fahey makes rainbow throws a lot of the time, and Hernandez's just have no zip and often come in really low. If Kevin Millar wasn't actually a pretty damn good first baseman, we'd have seen a lot more errors on throws from Hernandez. Having your arm compared to David Eckstein's is no praise.

I'm not telling anyone anything they don't already know, and I'm aware of that. But this is a serious issue. Even on a rebuilding club, even when you're talking stopgaps, these guys are completely unqualified for major league jobs. I'm sure they're all super dudes and work their asses off and are doing the best they can. But that's part of the problem. They aren't any good.

And please don't ask me or anyone else to wait on judging Eider Torres. He's 25 and wasn't even a footnote anywhere in this year's Baseball Prospectus. His career minor league line is .280/.325/.350. He's not a major league player. We said the same thing about Hernandez, and everyone said, "Oh but wait, oh but wait." Are you done waiting? He's terrible. When a guy hits as weakly as Hernandez or Torres (who is a better hitter than Hernandez, to be fair) in the minor leagues, they cannot contribute to a major league team in any real way.

You get 25 roster spots on a club. Three of them are being wasted on Hernandez, Fahey and Torres. It's bad math.

If you're going to ask me if I think Alex Cintron is better than these guys, then I'll answer: Yes. He's not any good, and certainly isn't a viable starting shortstop, but yes, he's a lot better than these guys. He IS a stopgap player, and not a good one. A lot of this is why I thought we should try to sign Adam Everett, who is a legit Gold Glove shortstop even though he can't hit. If we're going to have a guy who can't hit, let's get a guy who can pick it. That's been done before.

Of course, Everett's on the DL right now, but I still believe he would've been an effective one-year signing. Then you see where you're at after 2008, and maybe you give him another year, or whatever.

But let's move past that, too. The shortstop situation is a black hole of suck, and that's not going to change any time soon.

What killed us today, really, was LET'S GET GREG AQUINO OFF OF THIS TEAM FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. HE'S HORRIBLE. HIS ERA IS 14.21. I'D RATHER SEE FAHEY COME IN TO PITCH. HE'S JIM BROWER, THE DOMINICAN VERSION.

Also, the 5-through-9 hitters went 0-for-19 with one walk. You can't win like that.

We remain in first place. Thanks, Rays.

Guillermo Quiroz hit a two-run homer to break a 0-0 tie in the sixth inning, and Brian Burres had a magnificent start, leading the O's to a 5-1 win in the first game of today's double-header in Chicago.

Burres went eight shutout innings, striking out four and allowing three hits. He didn't walk anybody, which is the real stunner.

Luke Scott was 0-1 in a pinch-hit appearance, which extends his slump. If you haven't noticed, he's down to a .310 average and hasn't seen first base since April 19. Jay Payton got the start against John Danks, who took a perfect game into the sixth inning before Guillermo bombed him, and went 1-for-3. So if you can say anything about Payton, it's that he's doing his best when called upon.

The Birds sealed the deal in the top of the ninth against Octavio Dotel, with Eider Torres (pinch-running for Huff) scoring on a Paul Konerko error, and Brian Roberts doubling Quiroz and Adam Jones home to make it 5-0.

Matt Albers came in for the ninth and got his cage rattled a little bit. George Sherrill replaced him with the bases loaded and two out, and promptly drilled Carlos Quentin, but then got Joe Crede, so big whoop.

The O's are 14-9, y'all.

Game 2 starts at 7:05, and I'll get a new game thread up for that one. I leave you with a question: Why does Toby Hall have a landing strip on his face?

via l.yimg.com

Norfolk 8, Richmond 7 (14 innings - April 23)

The Tides were off on the 22nd, which essentially gave them three straight days off, although they probably had uniforms on the previous two before getting rained out against Durham.

This one went long, with Jon Leicester throwing 79 pitches in three innings of working before handing it over to Andy Mitchell for three. Craig Anderson threw an inning, followed by one from Roberto Novoa, two from Bob McCrory, three from Lance Cormier, and one from Ryan Bukvich, who got the W.

Alex Cintron singled Eider Torres home in the bottom of the 14th with one out and the bases loaded for the winning score. On the day, Cintron went 2-for-6 with 4 RBI. Mike Costanzo was 2-for-5 with a walk and a solo homer, his second on the season. Torres went 4-for-7 with an RBI. Scott Moore was 1-for-4.

Bowie 7, Connecticut 3 (April 22)
Bowie 3, Connecticut 2 (April 23)

In the first game, Jason Berken went 5 2/3 with eight strikeouts and a walk for the win. At the plate, Jonathan Tucker, Ben Davis and Sebastien Boucher all had two hits, and Nolan Reimold was 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Davis and Tucker each had two RBI.

On the 23rd, Chris Tillman put together a five-inning start for the win (4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), with Felix Romero, Gerardo Casadiego and Julio Manon shutting the Defenders down the rest of the night. Zach Dillon was 3-for-4 to pace the Bowie offense. Sebastien Boucher had two RBI.

Frederick 4, Wilmington 1 (April 22 - Game 1)
Frederick 2, Wilmington 1 (April 22 - Game 2)
Wilmington 4, Frederick 3 (April 23)

Wieters Watch! 1-for-7 over the three games. OH GOD.

Rowell Watch! He's back in the lineup. That's good. Rowell went 3-for-9 over the three games.

Brandon Erbe threw a complete game (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) in the double header. Nobody else did too much worth noting.

Lake County 7, Delmarva 1 (April 22 - Game 1)
Lake County 11, Delmarva 1 (April 22 - Game 2)
Delmarva 6, Lake County 3 (April 23)

Game one: Delmarva made seven errors.

Game two: Delmarva made four errors.

Game three: Delmarva made no errors! Matt Angle hit a homer.

I'm not doing a photo for any of the players today because there just aren't that many available, so enjoy this:

via sportsillustrated.cnn.com

[Note by SC, 04/24/08 10:07 AM EDT ]: He was never the toughest out in baseball.

Norfolk 10, Louisville 3

Big shots carried the Tides to a blowout win, as Luis Terrero hit a grand slam and Oscar Salazar launched a three-run shot to account for 70% of the Norfolk runs. The kicker? Terrero's salami came in the top of the ninth inning, a frame in which Norfolk dropped the seven runs that were the difference in the outcome.

Everyone in the starting lineup besides Scott Moore had a hit, and everyone got on base either via base hit or the free pass. Terrero, Eider Torres, Chris Heintz, Chris Roberson and Adam Stern had two hits each.

Hayden Penn turned in another good performance, going seven innings and striking out nine Bats batsmen, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks. Lance Cormier got the win in relief.

Bowie 5, Akron 4 (10 innings)

More late-game heroics in the O's system came from Bowie, as Luis Montanez hit a walk-off solo shot in the bottom of the tenth inning to give the Basox the win over the Aeros.

Struggling Nolan Reimold went 1-for-4 with a strikeout after being dropped to sixth in the order. Montanez was 2-for-5, and third baseman Jeff Nettles homered in his third straight game, a solo shot in the second inning. It was his fifth long ball on the young season. Jonathan Tucker was 2-for-2 with two walks.

On the hill, Chris Tillman struggled with his command, going four and a third innings and walking five while fanning four. He gave up two runs on two hits. Julio Manon blew a save when Akron tied it at four in the top of the ninth, but picked up the win.

Winston-Salem 9, Frederick 4

Wieters Watch! 1-for-5 with an RBI.

Rowell Watch! He still hasn't returned from injury after "tweaking" his ankle a couple weeks ago.

The Keys scattered ten hits, all singles, and made three errors in the loss. Everyone in the starting lineup did get a hit, so I hope they all got a Coke and a piece of pizza for trying hard. Chris Vinyard, with two hits, maybe gets a breadstick, too.

Lakewood 5, Delmarva 4

After tying it at four in the top of the eighth inning, Jeff Moore gave up a solo homer to Michael Durant to lead off the Lakewood half of the frame, and that wound up being all she wrote.

Tony Butler's line: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. The Shorebirds committed four errors.

At the plate, Matt Angle, Joseph Nowicki and Tyler Henson had two hits each, including Nowick and Henson homers.

Norfolk 7, Louisville 6 (11 innings)

Chris Roberson hit a three-run homer and had four RBis in the game, and Alex Cintron was 2-for-4 in his Tides debut, an 11-inning win for Norfolk in a game that both teams did their best to refuse to lose.

Norfolk jumped out to a 4-1 lead with a four-run fifth inning, but the Bats battled back and tied it up with two runs in the eighth and one more in the ninth. Norfolk took a 5-4 lead in the 10th, but Louisville tied it again. Two Tides runs scored in the top half of the 11th, but they fell short a run and left two men on in the bottom of the inning (after scoring once to cut the lead to 7-6).

Eider Torres and Oscar Salazar both went 2-for-5. Scott Moore (starting at DH) was 1-for-5, as was Mike Costanzo. Tike Redman 0-for-5'd his way another game closer to being released, probably. He's too old to be hitting .184 at Triple-A.

Craig Anderson had a good start for Norfolk, going six and giving up just one run, striking out five and walking no one. The Tides used six relievers after Anderson. Ryan Bukvich got the win and Roberto Novoa the save.

Akron 5, Bowie 1

Both teams had ten hits. Guess who took better advantage of their baserunners?

This Nolan Reimold business is starting to get a little bit bothersome. Like, really. He went 0-for-4 with another strikeout, and that brings his season line down to .167/.242/.259 with one homer and 12 whiffs in 14 games. He's been exceptionally terrible. It's not time to panic because a few good games and his numbers are turned around, but he's on the schneid in a big way (9-for-54, two extra-base hits, six walks).

Jeff Nettles was 3-for-4, and Ben Davis and Sebastien Boucher had a couple of hits each in the loss.

On the hill, Jason Berken had another good start (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) but took the loss. Reliever Ryan Keefer gave up a run in two innings, and his ERA is still over 15. Berken's is 2.81.

Awesomely named Aeros outfielder Nathan Panther was 3-for-4.

Frederick 7, Winston-Salem 2

Yes, the Carolina League has a Salem and a Winston-Salem, and the Keys have played them back-to-back.

Wieters Watch! Sweet Wiet ended his horrible 0-for-3 slump with a 2-for-5 day, including his fourth home run and ninth and tenth runs batted in. He's now hitting .438/.558/.844. He is massacring the Carolina League. Miguel Abreu and Chris Amador had two hits each, and leadoff man Daniel Figueroa rapped out three singles and also reached on a walk.

Pedro Beato went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits, with two walks and two Ks.

Delmarva 6, Hagerstown 4

The Shorebirds overcame a rough start by Luis Noel (4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K) to score a come-from-behind win in this one, getting two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth.

Tyler Henson went 2-for-5, and Joseph Nowicki had a couple of steaks for Delmarva. Nowicki, Matt Angle and Joseph "Balls" Mahoney all walked two times.

RECORDS

Indianapolis 3, Norfolk 2

Garrett Olson had another fine start, going 5 1/3 with six strikeouts and one walk, allowing two runs on five hits. Andy Mitchell gave up a run in the seventh, and it turned out to be the deciding score in the game.

Eider Torres was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Adam Stern had two hits. Chris Roberson and Sebastien Boucher both walked two times.

Bowie 10, Erie 3

Wham! The Baysox bats have come alive. Bowie was up 1-0 entering the sixth, then scored twice that inning, three runs in the eighth, and then four more in the ninth. Erie didn't get on the board until the bottom of the ninth.

Outfielder Luis Montanez was 3-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs, and Jeff Nettles also went yard. Mike Rodriguez, Ben Davis, Jonathan Tucker and Blake Davis all had two hits. The Baysox had 13 hits on the night as a team.

And despite all that, Nolan Reimold remained ice cold, going 0-for-5 with a strikeout. He's now hitting .143. Not a good start to the year.

All three Seawolves runs were given up Ryan Keefer. Chris Waters got the win with 5 2/3 shutout innings in the start.

Frederick 5, Salem 4

Wieters Watch! He got the day off.

Chris Amador was 3-for-4 and Daniel Figueroa was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Jake Arrieta went 5 2/3 and struck out seven, walking three and allowing one unearned run on two hits. Wilfredo Perez allowed three runs in 2 1/3 innings of relief, making the game a lot tighter than it needed to be. Hey, it happens.

Delmarva 7, Hagerstown 6

Four runs in the bottom of the ninth gave the Shorebirds this big-time come-from-behind win. Here's the recap from MiLB.com:

Pitcher Change: Clint Everts replaces Kyle Gunderson.

Joseph Mahoney singles on a line drive to left fielder Aaron Seuss.

Tyler Henson singles on a line drive to center fielder Stephen Englund. Joseph Mahoney to 2nd.

With Matthew Tucker batting, wild pitch by Clint Everts, Joseph Mahoney to 3rd. Tyler Henson to 2nd.

Matthew Tucker walks.

Kieron Pope reaches on force attempt, throwing error by third baseman Steven Souza. Joseph Mahoney scores. Tyler Henson to 3rd. Matthew Tucker to 2nd.

Wally Crancer pops out to third baseman Steven Souza in foul territory.

Pedro Florimon Jr. singles on a fly ball to center fielder Stephen Englund. Tyler Henson scores. Matthew Tucker scores. Kieron Pope to 2nd.

Matthew Angle doubles (1) on a line drive to right fielder Michael Burgess. Kieron Pope scores. Pedro Florimon Jr. to 3rd.

Indianapolis 2, Norfolk 1

The Tides dropped this one in the bottom of the ninth on a meltdown from closer Bob McCrory, following an outstanding start from Hayden Penn. Penn went seven innings, allowing just three hits and one run. McCrory took the ball in the eighth, and got through one and a third before allowing a single to Steve Pearce, beaning Craig Wilson, and eventually giving up the game-losing single to Kevin Thompson.

Catcher Omir Santos was 1-for -2 with a double and a walk, and Sebastien Boucher had two hits. Oscar Salazar, Chris Roberson and Eider Torres also got base knocks. Scott Moore started at shortstop and batted third, and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Bowie @ Akron, PPD/Rain

The Baysox start a three-game set in Erie tomorrow.

Frederick 7, Myrtle Beach 3

Wieters Watch! 0-for-2, but he walked three times.

The Keys offense exploded for 13 hits on the day, with Brandon Tripp leading the charge, going 3-for-5 with a couple of solo homers. Chris Amador also homered, and Daniel Figueroa had three hits. Chris Vinyard was 1-for-3 with two walks in a rare start at first base, as Brandon Snyder got the game off.

Jacob Renshaw improved to 2-0 on the season, going seven and two-thirds with six strikeouts. He allowed three earned on four hits.

Lakewood 7, Delmarva 4 (11 innings)

The BlueClaws dropped three in the top of the 11th and Delmarva was unable to answer.

Pinch-hitter/left fielder David Cash had an RBI walk and an RBI single in the game, and the keystone combo of Jonathan Tucker and Pedro Florimon, Jr., had two hits each, and Tyler Henson was 1-for-5 with two RBI.

Tony Butler pitched six innings, giving up two earned on five hits and a walk, striking out four. Cliff Flagello took the loss in the 11th, giving up the three Lakewood runs.

RECORDS
Norfolk 5-5
Frederick 5-3
Delmarva 3-5

Norfolk 3, Rochester 0

The Tides took three of four from the Red Wings with a shutout win last night, preparing to head out on an eight-game road trip to Indianapolis and Louisville. Jon Leicester pitched four innings of four-hit ball, and Andy Mitchell went to 2-0 with two innings of relief. Following Mitchell, Lance Cormier went two innings and Bob McCrory picked up his third save by working the ninth.

Mike McCoy was 2-for-3 with a double two runs scored, and Luis Terrero had a double. Tike Redman, Eider Torres and Sebastien Boucher had one RBI apiece. Norfolk is now 5-3 on the season.

Bowie 7, Akron 5

David Hernandez struck out six in five innings of work, allowing just one run, and only a meltdown by Rommie Lewis, Jr., in the ninth inning made this one close. Lewis allowed four runs in an inning and two-thirds, upping his early season ERA to 12.71. Julio Manon got the final out for his second save.

The Bowie bats finally came alive, as Nolan Reimold was 1-for-2 with a first inning, three-run homer, his first of the season. The blast plated all three of Bowie's first three hitters of the game. Jeff Nettles also went yard for the first time, connecting on a solo shot in the eighth.

Carlos Rojas was 2-for-5 with two RBI, Jonathan Tucker went 2-for-4, and Kennard Jones went 3-for-4 for Bowie. The Baysox are now 3-5 and riding a three-game winning streak.

Kinston 6, Frederick 5 (16 innings)

Wieters Watch! Matt got the day off initially, but did get a single in a pinch-hit appearance. The Keys made it a 5-4 game in the top of the sixteenth inning, but Kinston struck back with two runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning. To be fair, they got those hits off of Chris Amador, who started the game in left field and went 3-for-7. God bless minor league baseball. Amador also had the team's lone extra-base hit, a triple.

Brandon Snyder was 2-for-7 with three whiffs, and Chris Vinyard went 1-for-7 with five strikeouts. The Keys stand at 3-3.

Lake County 5, Delmarva 0

The Shorebirds fell to 2-4 after being blanked by the Captains. Matthew Angle, Joseph "Balls" Mahoney, Anthony Martinez and Pedro Florimon, Jr., had Delmarva's only hits, all singles except for a Martinez double.

On the mound, John Mariotti had a fine start (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) but just got literally no run support.

Norfolk 6, Rochester 5

The Tides faced recovering stud lefty Francisco Liriano in his second rehab start of the season, touching him up for three earned on five hits over four innings. Liriano struck out three and walked three. He'll be up with Minnesota again soon. These things aren't so much about the results as the arm strength and things of that nature.

Veteran Casey Daigle took the loss for the Red Wings. Hayden Penn got the win for Norfolk, going 5 2/3 and allowing four earned on eight scattered hits, with three strikeouts and a walk. Much better than his first disastrous start of the season. Bob McCrory got his second save, and Esteban Yan and Ryan Bukvich both pitched.

At the plate, Luis Terrero was 3-for-3 and fell a home run short of the cycle. He also walked twice and drove in three runs, but despite getting on base five times, did not score. Eider Torres scored twice. Mike Costanzo was 1-for-4 and Adam Stern went 2-for-3. Jon Knott went 3-for-4 with two RBI for Rochester.

Norfolk is now 3-3.

Bowie 8, Reading 3

The Baysox finally got their first win of the season thanks to two four-run innings and a nice start from Chris Waters. Waters went five scoreless, two-hit innings with four strikeouts and no walks. Gerardo Casadiego allowed all three Reading runs in the top of the ninth. Between them, Felix Romero threw two scoreless innings.

Second baseman Jonathan Tucker had a big game at the plate, going 2-for-4 with four RBI. Ryan Finan was 3-for-4 two doubles and an RBI. Nolan Reimold went 0-for-3 with a walk, making him 4-for-24 (.167) for the season.

Bowie is 1-5.

Frederick 8, Kinston 7

Wieters Watch! The future All-Star was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI.

Chris Amador and Chris Vinyard also had two hits for the Keys, and Vinyard hit his first homer of the season. Jacob Renshaw, who turns 22 on April 29, got the win with a sloppy but effective five inning start (1 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 2 ER). Jason Burch got his second save, a one-outer in the ninth.

The Keys jumped out to a 7-2 lead before having to hold off the Indians. Frederick is 3-1.

Lake County 5, Delmarva 3

The Shorebirds were able to rap out just four hits on the night, two of which came off the bat of Joseph "Balls" Mahoney. Both of Mahoney's hits were doubles. Joseph Nowicki had two RBI.

Tony Butler took the loss, but had a solid start. He went five innings, giving up three earned on three hits, with no walks and three strikeouts. He gave up a solo home run to Captains third baseman Karexon Sanchez -- great name. Delmarva is 1-3 on the year.