masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgI expect the losses to pile up, but can we please limit the number of blowouts?

The offense managed only two runs tonight, though Ty Wigginton should have been credited with a home run instead of a double. That was one of three blown calls against the Orioles.

They didn’t influence the outcome, not with the Giants scoring 10 runs, but they still were infuriating. It’s bad enough to rub salt in the wound. You don’t have to empty the entire canister.

Interim manager Juan Samuel came out to…I expect the losses to pile up, but can we please limit the number of blowouts?

The offense managed only two runs tonight, though Ty Wigginton should have been credited with a home run instead of a double. That was one of three blown calls against the Orioles.

They didn’t influence the outcome, not with the Giants scoring 10 runs, but they still were infuriating. It’s bad enough to rub salt in the wound. You don’t have to empty the entire canister.

Interim manager Juan Samuel came out to argue again in the ninth after Cesar Izturis was called out at first base despite clearly beating the throw. His foot hit the bag, he crossed it and he high-fived some fans above the right field fence.

I guess he would have gotten the call if he had been signing autographs in the parking lot.

Give Izturis credit for hustling.

Gary and Jim ask Juan Samuel about the O’s 10-2 loss to San Francisco

“That’s the way the game has to be played,” Samuel said during the MASN post-game interview. “The guys are playing hard, and that’s all we can ask of them.”

The starting pitching was the one area where we could find relief, so to speak, but not anymore. You saw what happened to Kevin Millwood yesterday. You saw what happened to Chris Tillman tonight, though you missed it if you blinked.

Tillman’s decreased velocity was a curiosity, if not a concern. Something wasn’t right.

“He needs to pitch down in the zone,” Samuel said. “His fastball is up a little bit, his breaking ball is not consistent and guys are just going after the fastball. He just needs to locate, and we did not see a whole lot of velocity.”

With tonight’s loss, the Orioles have caught the 1988 team after 64 games. Don’t bother covering the lockers in plastic. No one is popping champagne corks.