Birds Up, O's Down

Birds Up, O's Down for July 12- 18

By Bad Pseudonym Jul 19, 2010, 2:37pm EDT

Brian Matusz is removed from the game by Interim Manager Juan Samuel. But he won't be removed from O's Down. Not this week. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Here’s a weekly look at players making an impact, for good and bad, for the Orioles this week:

Birds Up

	Brian Roberts (2B) - He may be activated in time for the weekend's series, a full week ahead of schedule. Asuming he feels OK after games in Bowie, the sparkplug to the O's offense may finally be back. And since Scott Moore and Ty Wigginton both play second base, we won't be needing a certain back-up second baseman anymore, either. Bonus!
	Nick Markakis (RF) - Another three game series, another +.300 AVG for Markakis with three of his four hits being doubles. Just another weekend at the office for Ol' Reliable.
	Josh Bell (3B) - He only got into one game, but it was with his mom in attendance and he chalked up his first multi-hit game as a MLB player. Aww....
	Cesar Izturis (SS) - Cesar went 5-for-11 on the weekend, one of the lone bright spots in the offense.
	Jeremy Guthrie (RHP) - It wasn't the prettiest performance, and that first pitch he threw went out pretty quickly, but Guts cam back to throw 6.2 IP surrendering just the one run. And if Jason Berken had been the 2010 Jason Berken instead of the 2009 Jason Berken, the O's probably pick up a win for Guthrie. But Guts did his part.

O's down

	Ty Wigginton (1B/2B) - Any trade value Ty had is diminishing by the minute, and he picked a bad time to go 2-for 12 with no walks this weekend. You're really not helping us, Ty.
	Jason Berken (RHP) - Jason picked the wrong game to have a bad game. After Jeremy Guthrie had fought through 6.2 IP of holding the Blue Jays at bay, Jason gave up the tying and winning runs on a homerun. He's been solid all year, but that was some horrendously bad timing to have a bad outing.
	Brian Matusz (LHP) - Ugh, that was a stinker of an outing on Saturday. Five hits, six earned runs, two walks, one home run and, inexplicably, three strikeouts in just 50 pitches and 1.2 IP. Yuck.
	Felix Pie (LF) - So, anyone got an extra GPS unit handy? 'Cause Felix needs one to find fly balls in the outfield these days. What a brutal display of defensive incompetence by Pie this weekend. He may have gone 4-for-12, but it won't make up for bad routes, poor ball tracking and poor decisions in the field.
	Corey Patterson (DH/LF) - Jeff Zrebiec said it best: "I never, ever thought I’d say this but Luke Scott, right now, maybe the Orioles’ best defensive option in left field." Corey went 0-for-7 for the weekend, too.