Angels 9, Orioles 6: New day, same ending

I didn’t see most of last night’s Saturday's Orioles - Angels game, at least not coherently. But I watched enough at my local watering hole to see the O’s cruise out to a 4-run lead, then go back into the clubhouse and watch "Matlock." I was a bit surprised at how completely the game got away from the Orioles and Jason Berken specifically, and quite frankly, I got a little depressed about whether this team will ever have enough pitching in the rotation and the bullpen simultaneously to win on a consistent basis. Maybe it was just the vodka.

Nope, it wasn’t the vodka. Today didn’t elevate my mood at all. Again, the O’s staked a 4-run lead, and again, the starter, in this case Rich "Why the" Hill "am I still here?", faltered early, and the game was lost in the later innings as the Orioles again failed to score after the first few innings.

There were a few bright spots today. Adam Jones, son! was named to his first All-Star Game, meaning so far the Erik Bedard trade has yielded 2 All-Stars. Also in that deal was Chris Tillman, whom we may see as soon as Tuesday, given the news concerning Chris Ray’s departure after today's game back to Baltimore to have his shoulder examined. Matt Wieters had his first 3-hit day – and don’t look now, but his average is creeping up to .280 rather quickly. Brian Roberts had a home run, and an apology for Dave Trembley about his recent play. Apparently, Brian reads the blogs and knows we are not pleased.

But again, the bullpen was brutal. Matt Albers gave up 3 runs in his 0.2 of an inning, with 4 walks doing most of the damage. Yes, 1 was intentional, but 4 walks are 4 free baserunners, no matter how you explain it away. Chris Ray looked like he had no idea where his release point was, and there may be a problem with his shoulder. Mark Hendrickson came on and looked like he’s found a role in the bullpen, again quenching the flames of his predecessors with 2.0 IP of scoreless and hitless pitching with 2 strike-outs. He may have found his home in the ‘pen, and it’s not as a lefty specialists, it’s as a 2 inning pitcher. Good teams need those, too.

I’ll offer some choices for Most Birdland Player, but honestly, even with The Deity’s offensive outburst, I’m not feeling too happy about this team right now. Three lefty starters in Seattle aren’t about to improve my mood this week, I’m guessing.

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