That's why Pie is in the lineup (Showalter ejected)

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

August 09, 2011, 4:38pm

Comments

I pointed out this morning that Felix Pie was 7-for-12 lifetime against White Sox starter Gavin Floyd. Make it 8-for-13. Pie has walked and singled tonight, and he helped to fuel a three-run fifth inning that reduced Chicago's lead to 4-3. Matt Wieters, Pie and Robert Andino strung together hits to load the bases with no outs. Station-to-station worked in this case. Wieters scored on J.J. Hardy's fielders choice grounder, Nick Markakis followed with an RBI single and another run scored on shortstop Alexei Ramirez's first error in 35 games. Third base umpire Phil Cuzzi helped to douse the rest of the rally by blowing the call on Markakis' attempted steal. Replays showed that Markakis' hand hit the bag before the tag, but Cuzzi called him out. Manager Buck Showalter argued until earning his second ejection this season. He kicked at the dirt on his way back to the dugout, bringing one of the loudest ovations I've heard here in a long time. Fans have been waiting for Showalter to blow his stack. May as well happen after Cuzzi blew a call. Showalter's other ejection came July 10, but that's after both benches were warned and Michael Gonzalez threw behind David Ortiz. I'm not counting that one. It's automatic.