I had this crazy dream last night that the Orioles rallied to win a game in 13 innings after almost being arrested for littering the bases.
The Orioles were 8-for-21 with runners in scoring position, and they stranded 16 runners. They ran into outs. They fought back to take leads and gave them up.
They should have won, they should have lost, they should have won, they should have lost...
Keep plucking the petals off that daisy.
The Orioles were 0-17 before last night when trailing after seven innings, but all bad things must come to an end.
So what does tonight bring? Well, you can start with Felix Hernandez.
That's never fun.
The Orioles went back to 12 pitchers yesterday and now they're running short. Darn the luck. They might have to bring up a fresh arm from the minors.
Jason Berken is available as the long man. Clay Rapada also can pitch if needed. Koji Uehara is now able to work back-to-back nights, but he had two "ups" last night while going 1 1/3 innings.
Michael Gonzalez threw 15 pitches in two-thirds of an inning. No reason why he can't go back out there tonight.
If you see Matt Wieters today, say hello to the club's new RBI leader. He's got 20 of them after last night's game-winning single.
Mark Reynolds went 0-for-6, stranded seven runners and watched his average tumble to .177. Would this be a good time to start Jake Fox or Robert Andino at third base?
Reynolds is 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs against Hernandez. Andino is 0-for-3. Fox has never faced him.
So I'll ask again: Would this be a good time?
Nick Markakis is a career .464 (13-for-28) hitter against Hernandez, with two doubles, five RBIs and five walks. Brian Roberts is batting .387 (12-for-31) with five doubles and five walks. Wieters is 3-for-8 with a double and RBI.
Here's an interesting one: Cesar Izturis is 4-for-7.
Roberts is mired in a 1-for-31 slump. He had two sacrifice bunts last night...but he's 1-for-31.
Does J.J. Hardy move up in the order after going 4-for-5 with a home run last night? Does Derrek Lee move down after going 0-for-4, walking three times (twice intentional) and striking out three times? Does Reynolds sit? Does Roberts keep playing every day with the assumption that he'll heat up again?
Can Chris Tillman pitch deep into tonight's game, outdueling King Felix in the process, and spare the bullpen?
Does anyone remember the comedy "Soap," which ended each episode with the announcer asking a bunch of questions like I'm doing?
Too bad I don't have catchy theme music to take us out of this entry.
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