Fighting back in the fifth

Oakland left-hander Dallas Braden retired the first 10 batters before Nick Markakis doubled down the right field line in the fourth inning. Whew. As if we needed a perfect game on top of everything else. Ty Wigginton just hit a two-run bomb into the upper deck in left field to reduce Oakland's lead to 4-2 in the fifth. It looks like he'll continue to receive the starts at second base. Kevin Millwood has allowed four runs in four innings, and his pitch count is skyrocketing. It's already in the 80s. Did you see Troy Patton's line tonight at Triple-A Norfolk? Six runs (five earned) and six hits in one-third of an inning. Robert Andino went 3-for-4 with a double, homer, two RBIs and three runs scored. Joey Gathright and Rhyne Hughes each had a triple. Wilfrido Perez picked up his third save for Double-A Bowie and still hasn't allowed a run, though he gave up two hits tonight. Finally, I saw Ken Rosenthal's story on FoxSports.com about Cal Ripken supposedly approaching owner Peter Angelos and offering to assist president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail in the front office. I don't need anymore links to it. I don't expect to learn much more at this hour, but I'd like to find out exactly what Ripken wanted to do. The article says he offered to work with young players like Matt Wieters and help them "finish off" their development at the major-league level. I don't even know what that means. Was he seeking a specific title in the front office, or just volunteering his services? I'll try to give you something tomorrow from Ocean Pines. These mini-vacations never pan out.