Orioles News - 9/5/07 - 17-2 loss to the Devil Rays

What a difference a day makes. One day the Orioles pick up a late inning win, the next night they get whupped 17-2 by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. And they have a 4 game series with Boston coming up. This just keeps getting better. The D-Rays had a 8 run 4th inning, hitting 3 homers during this inning. Delmon Young hit a 3 run shot, Brendan Harris hit a solo shot, and Carlos Pena hit a grand slam. ALL IN ONE INNING!!! Pena also smacked a 2 run shot in 6th inning to bring his grand total to 7 RBI's on the night. Jonny Gomes hit a home run in the 7th inning to score the game's final run. Radhames Liz looked terrible, giving up 4 runs while retiring only 5 batters. He did take a line drive off his leg, to be fair, but he still stayed in the game. The O's are now 2-13 in their last 15 games. Pretty sad huh?

This offseason, the Orioles need 2 things: A better bullpen and Peter Angelos to sell the team. How many games has the bullpen lost us so far this year? How many times have we had the lead in late innings, only to have the bullpen blow the game? Too many. And since Angelos doesn't want to spend the money to overhaul this team, he should sell. With a new owner who is willing to spend money to get stars, instead of 2nd and 3rd rate players, the O's would be in a much better situation. More fans would come to the ballpark, and with reason because they know their team can compete. Now, hardly anyone comes out to games simply because they don't care. They always know the end result: A loss. Angelos needs to go! - John T.

Orioles News - 9/3/07 - O's lose again

The Orioles lost again last night, 9-7 to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Orioles have now lost 12 of their last 13 games. Kurt Birkins made his 1st career start last night and got a no-decision even though he blew a big lead. The O's provided him with a 4-0 lead in the 3rd inning on a collection of basehits, stolen bases, and errors. Birkins however, couldn't hold onto this lead. The Devil Rays made it close with a 3 run 3rd inning, and then tied up the game with a run in the 4th. In the 7th inning, Carlos Pena hit a 2 run homer off Jim Hoey as the D-Rays took the lead. This "home run" however, was debateable. It was hit off of the catwalk and outfielder Nick Markakis played it and threw the ball into the infield. The umpire called it a home run however. Tampa Bay got another run in the inning too. Then in the 8th inning, Brian Burres gave up a 2 run shot as the Rays extended their lead. Ramon Hernandez hit a 3 run homer in the 9th to make the score more respectable. It was an ugly loss as Tampa Bay moved within 3 games of 4th place in the AL East. - John T.