2.1 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 ER - pulled due to a strained right calf. O's lose 9-3 because Williams, Byrdak and Julio all get beaten on, too. Gary Matthews Jr. strikes again.
Ponson is probably going to be waived and dealt this month, or at least I would think so. I don't think we'll be seeing Kline much longer, either, and I wouldn't be stunned to see Sammy waived.
BJ Surhoff hitting cleanup with his .669 OPS is a joke. Surhoff has been positively horrible this year. Are you telling me it wouldn't be at least interesting for the club to bring up Walter Young instead of never-was Midre Cummings? Young could've at least gotten a tryout during Palmeiro's absence; instead, Cummings sits around on the bench and we trot Surhoff out there every day.
Young is not lighting AAA up (.290/.337/.452), but so what? Surhoff is 41 and beyond finished. The season is over. They had an opening, and unlike say, Atlanta, a team which uses openings to give young kids serious looks in the majors, the Orioles instead use it to give BJ Surhoff a final first name, when he has been one of the worst hitters on this team, which is saying a lot because a bunch of these guys have been pretty damn bad.
And Perlozzo batting him fourth today - yeah, that raised my eyebrow toward Perlozzo in a big way. Lineup order is overrated, yada yada, but look, there is a way a lineup is built, and it's generally accepted, and it's not going away, and of course the rest of the argument is, "...as long as you don't do something incredibly stupid." I think this qualifies.
We're coming home to play the Devil Rays starting Tuesday, after an off-day tomorrow. Should be truly exciting.