Props to Brad Bergesen, he pitched a great game today. In the first seven innings he gave up four hits, he walked none, and he struck out six. Two of the hits were solo home runs by J.D. Drew. The first Drew homer was very questionable, as a fan made contact with the ball, Samuel needed to ask for a replay, but I guess he wasn't paying attention. Other than those two mistakes, Bergesen was absolutely stellar. Entering the 8th inning, he had thrown 89 pitches. To start the 8th he struck out Darnell McDonald looking, and retired Kevin Cash on a ground out. Next up Marco Scutaro gets a double off a 1-0 fastball. That brings up Eric Patterson, 0-3, hitting .202. Now wheather or not Will Ohman comes in, it is likely that Daniel Nava would pinch hit for Patterson. That aside, up until the Scutaro double, Bergesen had retired 10 hitters in a row. But wait, says Juan Samuel, Bergesen has hit the magical 100 pitch mark, this must mean I have to take him out. So instead of letting Bergesen finish his great outing, he cuts him short at 7 and 2/3 innings.
Will Ohman comes into face pinch hitter Daniel Nava, who pops a single down the line, out of the reach of Ty Wigginton, Julio Lugo, and Nick Markakis. I'm not saying it was a great hit, but there is no doubt that Brad Bergesen should have stayed in to finish the 8th inning. His final line would contain 7 and 2/3's innings pitched, 5 hits, 3 earned runs, zero walks, a career high 7 strikeouts, and his 5th loss. He managed to lower his ERA by .39, a significant portion.
The offense consitsted of a Nick Markakis solo home run and a two out RBI single by Corey Patterson to score Josh Bell. The Orioles managed seven hits, all singles with the exception of the Markakis long ball. Everyone managed to reach base once, via hit or walk, except Ty Wigginton who took the lone 0-4. The O's just couldn't manage another clutch hit after the Patterson single. Nick Markakis made a great diving catch in right in addition to his homer.
The decision to take out Bergy has me pretty irate and I think rightfully so. But at some point the O's needed to put more runs up on the board and ultimately bad offense hurt them once again.
The homeboy Jeremy Guthrie takes the hill on Saturday.