Vote of confidence for Pedro
By Roch Kubatko
The Orioles trusted Pedro Viola with a nine-run lead with a runner on first base and two outs in the eighth inning.
That must make him feel pretty good.
Making his Orioles' debut, Viola walked Lyle Overbay on a full count and served up a three-run homer to Aaron Hill.
A fan sitting in the left field seats threw the ball back onto the field. Nobody retrieved it for Viola.
The home run came on a 92 mph fastball. Viola dug into his bag of tricks and struck out Adam Lind on an 80 mph slider.
Alfredo Simon was warming in the bullpen. He sat down, but now he's back up. Someone will have a bigger cushion to work with following Adam Jones' two-run shot off Casey Janssen in the bottom of the eighth.
Meanwhile, Troy Patton must be thinking, "What the heck do I have to do to get in a game?"
The Diamondbacks won tonight, so the Orioles will remain a game behind them if they hold this lead. The Indians also won, and the Royals are winning big.
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