NewsO's offense hits dry spell in opener
Pitching holds its end of the bargain against Blue Jays
By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com
07/10/09 11:55 PM ET
BALTIMORE -- One molar down, one to go. Baltimore manager Dave Trembley sat out the first act of a two-game suspension on Friday night and likened the spectator experience to having a root canal. Trembley got half of the procedure out of the way with a 2-0 loss to Toronto, and he will return on Saturday to finish the job."I'd rather go to the dentist," said Trembley, who was suspended for an on-field argument against Seattle and watched Friday night's game from a luxury box. "We've got one down. Now, I've got one more to go."
Trembley, who was replaced by bench coach Dave Jauss, said he didn't have much to second-guess from the elevated seats at Camden Yards. The Orioles were run just about exactly the way he expected them to be run, and according to Jauss, there was just one minor flaw in the team's operational plan.
"We didn't score," said Jauss of the series opener's most surprising element. "The form was that we were going to score three runs and win that game, 3-2. Our guys were going to keep them to two runs."
That part was easy. The scoring, however, was something else entirely. The Orioles (38-48) didn't have any inning with more than one hit and saw just two good scoring opportunities on Friday -- a bases-loaded situation with two outs in the second and first-and-second with one out in the seventh -- but they couldn't manage to convert either one.
Shortstop Cesar Izturis, who was activated from the disabled list on Friday, had a hand in both rallies. The infielder grounded out with the bases loaded in the second and drew a key walk with one out in the seventh. The Blue Jays (44-44) went to reliever Jesse Carlson, though, and he got a fly ball and a popup to end the threat.
"Obviously, I had a good view of it," said Trembley of Toronto's pitching. "[Brett Cecil] pitched a nice game. He had a good cutter down and in to the right-handed hitters. He expanded the strike zone and was effectively wild. Our scoring chances were limited. We needed to put some good at-bats back to back and didn't."
Cecil (3-1), a native of Dunkirk, Md., was rarely challenged. The southpaw worked six innings and held the Orioles to just three runners in scoring position. Two of those came in the bases-loaded second, and Cecil also allowed Luke Scott to single and reach second in the fourth. From there, Cecil retired eight of his last nine batters.
"What I saw in Cecil is that he had better fastball velocity and threw a hard cutter," said Jauss. "We saw it a little bit on film, but we hadn't seen him [in person]. It didn't look as hard as it was out there. Right away, you read the gun a little bit, and 94-96 [mph] was not what he was when we advance [scouted] him in New York."
O's starter Jason Berken shut the Blue Jays out through four innings, only to stumble in the fifth. Lyle Overbay started that rally with a single and moved to third on a double by Alex Rios. Overbay would come around to score on a groundout, and former Oriole Raul Chavez doubled to score Toronto's second run.
"I think that this club has shown a lot of resiliency," said bench coach Brian Butterfield, managing in place of Cito Gaston. "We were in a position against Tampa to win every game. ... And you feel good about the players in this clubhouse, you feel good about the leadership in the clubhouse, so it's definitely a great win in a tough division."
Berken (1-6) fell to his sixth straight loss, and the rookie hasn't earned a victory since his Major League debut. The right-hander has completed five innings in three of his past four straight starts, though, and may be beginning to turn a corner.
"We didn't score any runs," said Trembley. "He was on line toward the plate. His delivery was better, and he got us late in the game. He was in a position to win. We needed to put some hits together back-to-back."
"I've learned a ton," added Berken. "I think every time out there, I learn something new. This is a good start to build off. We'll have a couple days of rest here, and I'm looking forward to the second half after the way I threw tonight."
The Orioles got some sturdy relief work from Matt Albers and Kam Mickolio, who threw 3 1/3 one-hit innings. Baltimore went down quietly against southpaw closer Scott Downs, succumbing on two strikeouts and a soft ground ball, but had pinch-hitter Oscar Salazar primed to step in for Izturis in the ninth.
Some things, said Jauss, are elementary no matter who's running the team. Salazar would've pinch-hit for either Trembley or Jauss, and the man in the dugout can only make so much of a difference.
"It's not a big deal for me," said Jauss. "I've run a lot of games and managed a lot of games, and this team's run by a lot of guys, from Dave to [president of baseball operations] Andy [MacPhail] and [pitching coach Rick] Kranitz and those guys. What's exciting is if you get a chance to win a game in the ninth inning [by getting] Salazar up and a couple guys on base. That's what's exciting, and then it doesn't matter if you're the bench coach, the third-base coach or the guy stepping up to pinch-hit."
Spencer Fordin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
