Trembley: "Eight innings of baseball, we pitched very well." (updated)

So, about that ninth... "We made real good pitches up until that point in time, but we didn't close it out," manager Dave Trembley said following tonight's 8-2 loss to the Indians, which is going to sting long after the lights are turned off at Camden Yards. "(Brian) Matusz made quality pitches in the seventh. Koji (Uehara) got a real big third out for us after a walk. (Alfredo) Simon hung a split and (Austin) Kearns hit a home run." That pretty much sums it up.

I asked Trembley whether he questioned Simon's pitch selection. The right-hander hung a splitter on an 0-2 count after pumping 97 mph fastballs at the Indians' hitters. "Publicly I would never say yes or no," Trembley said. "I don't think that's the way to go, to come out publicly and give an answer one way or the other. I don't think that's the way to do it. That's why I have a pitching coach and I'm the manager and we'll talk to Simon about that." If they're talking to Simon, they must not approve. That's how I'm reading it. Asked later about the amount of rope he gave Simon, Trembley said, "For me right there, he's the best guy for that situation, facing Kearns. He got himself in trouble, you get yourself out of it. I think you go power against power. It's worked. He made a bad pitch." I also asked whether Cesar Izturis was running on his own in the fifth. "That is something that needs to be discussed there," Trembley said. "I'd rather not say anything bad about Izzy there. That's not the game. The game was in the ninth inning." I'll read that to mean Izturis ran on his own. With Rhyne Hughes going back down to Norfolk, you can speculate that the Orioles are calling up Michael Aubrey, who has raised his average to .256. He's hitting .379 with three doubles and a home run in his last 10 games. However, he's not on the 40-man roster. I don't know for sure at the moment. Maybe they bring up another reliever. We'll find out in the morning. Updated: It doesn't appear to be Aubrey unless something changes overnight. A reliever is starting to sound like the strongest possibility, though it seemed like forever since Albers pitched. I'll just remain in the dark on this one for a while.