News
Orioles lose heartbreaker on walk-off
By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com
07/31/10 2:08 AM ET
KANSAS CITY -- To the casual observer, the Orioles' Major League-leading 71st loss on Friday night will go down as another casualty in an essentially lost season. But make no mistake: This one hurt.One out away from guaranteeing that popular interim manager Juan Samuel wouldn't be tagged with a series loss in his final weekend, Baltimore closer Alfredo Simon surrendered a three-run, walk-off homer to Alex Gordon, to bring a slumping Royals squad -- that snapped a five-game losing streak -- out of the home dugout in jubilant celebration.
Across the field, the rain-soaked Orioles walked dejectedly to the visitors' dugout, victims of a 7-5 loss -- in front of a crowd of 21,537 at Kauffman Stadium -- that stung more than Samuel let on.
"You get these games that close and you have to put them away," said Samuel, who has made it no secret how important this weekend's series is to him. "We got to win the games we were supposed to win, and that was one of those."
After a quick pair of ground outs, Simon -- on for the third time in four games -- issued a full-count walk to Rick Ankiel to keep the Royals' hopes alive. Wilson Betemit's right-field single put runners on the corners and brought Gordon to the plate with the game on the line.
"I think I left five guys on before that [at-bat]," said Gordon, who was just 4-for-28 since being recalled from Triple-A Omaha. "So, I was definitely more excited to be in that situation than nervous."
Instead it was Simon who had the jitters, as the clearly uncomfortable closer fidgeted with the rosin bag and kept walking to the back of the mound. Samuel said he thought Simon was trying to stay dry, noting his frequent brushes against his uniform, but Simon said the ball just felt sticky.
"My last pitch that I threw, I didn't put a lot of the power in there, I just tried to throw strikes," said Simon, who suffered his third blown save in 18 attempts.
"It's a lot of frustration, [the team] played all eight innings and they give me the [ball in the] last inning just to make three outs."
Prior to Simon's meltdown, the Orioles appeared to have the game in hand. Led by Ty Wigginton, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored to up his trade stock, the O's overcame another abbreviated outing from their starter -- this time rookie Jake Arrieta -- to get the ball to Simon.
"You have to tip your hat to the bullpen," Wigginton said of an Orioles relief corps that has thrown 65 innings in 15 second-half games. "They are coming in and picking up innings. When they're doing their jobs like that, they are the sole reason we got back into the game tonight. It's just unfortunate the way it had to end."
The beginning was equally unfortunate, as Arrieta became the latest Orioles arm to lose focus and the strike zone. The 24-year-old right-hander exited, having allowed three earned runs in the first inning and got himself in three-ball counts to seven of the first 18 hitters he faced in a career-high five-walk outing.
"Everybody comes up to me and they're like, 'You got to throw your fastball more, you got a plus fastball and you got to challenge these guys with it,'" said Arrieta. "At times, I get away from that for whatever reason. I just got to tell myself, 'I have a good fastball and I need to use it more.' I need to use it to get ahead."
Unable to overcome a 35-pitch first inning, Arrieta exited after 4 1/3 innings and -- after winning his first two career starts -- is winless with a 8.56 ERA in the three outings since the All-Star break.
"It just really comes down to a couple of pitches and if I execute, it's a different game," said Arrieta, who threw just 56 of his 102 pitches for strikes. "Pitching deep in games is something I have to do. I have to take some pressure off the guys in the 'pen, and in time, it will be that way."
While it wasn't a pretty line, it could have been worse. Arrieta was aided by a diving grab by Adam Jones in the second inning and reliever Jason Berken induced an inning-ending double play in the fifth to strand a pair of Arrieta's baserunners. Berken yielded a run in the sixth off of a bloop single and a misplayed ball from left fielder Felix Pie, which allowed Yuniesky Betancourt to come around and score.
Brittany Ghiroli is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
