Game Time: 7:05 | TV: MASN, MASN2 | Radio: WHFS
Dustin McGowan, RH Steve Traschel, RH
(0-1, 8.22) (2-3) 3.86
TORONTO BALTMORE
Rios - RF Brian Roberts - 2B
Overbay - 1B Melvin Mora - 3B
Wells - CF Nick Markakis - RF
Glaus - 3B Miguel Tejada - SS
Thomas - DH Aubrey Huff - 1B
Hill - 2B Ramon Hernandez - C
Lind - LF Jay Gibbons - LF
Clayton - SS Kevin Millar - DH
Phillips - C Corey Patterson - CF
Here's the thing: HTML and I are not friends.
Here's the other thing: If you had told me a month ago that in the month of May, our starting rotation would post A 3.44 ERA, Brian Roberts would be hitting .359/.438/.500 and Nick Markickass .306/.366/.486...and we'd still be losing games to crap teams and generally be in an Orioles Style Shame Spiral? I'd have told you to lay off the pessimism pipe. But, that is indeed the situation we find ourselves in. We all know what shenanigans our $42 million bullpen has been up to (although, thanks to some rest, the parts of it not named Danys/Denise/Joan/Asshole Baez seem to be rebounding) and the lineup has been uneven at best and ice cold at worst. For reasons beyond my understanding, Kevin Millar is still not the manager and Jay Gibbons is still allowed to call himself a major league baseball player. What a douche.
Some good things happen almost every night, but more often than not, are negated by the suck. Bedard strikes out 12? Baez/Perlozzo stink the joint up. Power hitting from the top of the lineup and the bullpen shuts it down? Cabrera gets a case of the crazies. So it goes.
Anyway, we're playing Team Canada again tonight. Some chump named Dustin McGowan is pitching for the Jays, and we're going with The Trashman. Dustin is no prize, to be sure. In 3 starts, he's only pitched a total of 15.3 innings and his ERA is positively Baez-esque. He also throws the baseball with his right hand - so, normally I'd say our chances of success are high. But who knows with this lineup. Also, whenever Steve Traschel pitches I get the Beatles song "Taxman" stuck in my head, but the words changed up to be about the "Trashman". Every time. Thought you should know that.
[editor's note, by 2632] P.S. - I had a dream last night that Perlozzo benched his entire coaching staff. No lie. With the team left unsupervised, there was anarchy on the basepaths and guys forgot how to hit and throw strikes and...actually, that sounds pretty familiar. Go O's.