Thank You Orioles...Once Again
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by Romiezzo
After losing to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in a very exciting game (6-5), the only thing the Boston Red Sox could do was watch their rival's game, and just hope that the New York Yankees would lose to the Baltimore Orioles in order to keep their five game lead for the division of the AL East. It seemed like the Yankees weren't going to catch up due to an RBI single by Nick Markakis, and an error by Phil Hughes to bring in two more. With a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning and Danys Baez pitching (0-5, 6.02 ERA), nothing could go wrong, right?
As soon as he took the mound, on the second pitch, Alex Rodriguez got on base with a single up the middle. The next batter, Hideki Matsui, on the next pitch, hit another one to center field. Baez seemed like he would get the job done, as he struck out the good offensive catcher, Jorge Posada, but pinch hitter, Bobby Abreu was up and the Orioles' manager believed that southpaw Jamie Walker could seal the deal instead. Walker was able to get Bobby Abreu out on a ground ball to first base for the second out. With runners on second and third, and two outs, Shelley Duncan was up. Derek Jeter told him something that "pumped him up" I guess. With an 0-1 count, Duncan tatered a pitch, and sent it over the left field wall, and the game was tied 3-3, sending the game to extra innings. I'm sure many Red Sox fans, like myself were anxious to find out if the red hot Orioles could outdo the Yankees' offense in extras.
Joe Torre decided to change pitchers in extras and bring in the closer, since this game could decide whether the Yankees would be four behind, or stay five behind. What Torre didn't realize was that Mariano, just like every year, has his ups and downs. He did have the numbers right, as Mariano had an ERA close to 1.00 since the all-star break, but during this week, especially against the O's, he has not done well. In the last three games he's played, he's pitched 2 1/3, with a blown save, a 13.50 ERA, and a .500 opponent average.
Mariano first gave up a double to Nick Markakis, and then gave up another one to Miguel Tejada, giving the Orioles a 4-3 lead. Two batters later, Aubrey Huff jacked up into the right center field seats. In his last 3 outings, including this one, he has given up 9 hits and 5 runs, which is not like Mo at all, especially after the all-star break. He currently has a 3.46 ERA, and he's NEVER pitched a full season where his ERA was over 3.00.
I think that Mariano, like every single season, has that mini-slump, and he'll get out of it. But the question is, when? The Yankees can't afford to lose many more games, especially ones like these, at this stage of the season. This might be a factor as to whether the Yanks will make the playoffs or not. I was listening to Tim Kurkjian on ESPN and he believes that both the Yankees and the Mets won't make the playoffs due to their lack of pitching and because they are going to cool down eventually as other teams will heat up. We'll see what happens as they take on the Tigers in a four game series. Will the Red Sox get hot again and stop playing mediocre baseball? Will the Yankees ever lose to any team but the Orioles? We'll find out soon.
Sleeper fact: Erik Bedard became the first Oriole since (now Yankee) Mike Mussina did it in 2000. Mussina struck out 210 that year, and Bedard is now on 207, and will pass him (probably) in his next outing.
