Tatum redeems himself, too

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

May 26, 2011, 11:05am

Comments

I mentioned earlier that Nolan Reimold redeemed himself for the poor throw in the top of the second inning by homering in the bottom half. He took it to the extreme by hitting a three-run shot the following inning and adding a single a walk. Now it's Craig Tatum's turn. Tatum was called for catcher's interference in the second, and he's lucky that his mitt didn't land in the home bullpen. But Tatum, in his first game after being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk, singled in the seventh and made a sensational diving catch in foul territory on Mike Aviles' bunt. Aviles was trying to advance Wilson Betemit, who singled off Koji Uehara to lead off the ninth and took second base when Adam Jones misplayed the ball in right-center field. Tatum raced toward the Royals' dugout and extended his body as far as it would go to make the grab. That's about as good as it gets for a catcher. Robert Andino tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt after Tatum's single in the seventh, but he popped up another one. Manager Buck Showalter just shook his head, and Andino walked back to the dugout and headed straight down the tunnel.