Maybe it was a good sign for Orioles manager Dave Trembley that I passed president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail at the bottom of the stairs on my way back up to the press box after the post-game media gathering.
MacPhail wasn't waiting for Trembley in the manager's office.
Reporters are at the point where they're looking for any clues into the organization's thought process regarding Trembley. And we still have how many games left?
Talk about the grind of the season. I didn't...
For most of us, it had to be manager Dave Trembley's decision to remove Jason Berken after one batter in the eighth inning.
Berken retired Rajai Davis on a fly ball with runners on first and second. Trembley played matchups by bringing in left-hander Mark Hendrickson to face Daric Barton and Ryan Sweeney.
You know what happened next.
Barton grounded out, but the next three batters reached on singles - though the last two were of the infield variety.
Cla Meredith serves up a three-run...
The A's have scored five runs in the top of the eighth inning, the last three on Kevin Kouzmanoff's bases-loaded double, to take a 7-5 lead and ruin a sensational outing for Brad Bergesen.
Bergesen will get a no-decision. The Orioles won't be that lucky.
Manager Dave Trembley pulled Bergesen after the first two batters singled. Jason Berken retired Rajai Davis on the fly ball, and Trembley went to Mark Hendrickson with two left-handers coming up.
Hendrickson retired the first one, but...
Garrett Atkins drove in another run tonight with a bases-loaded walk in the seventh that increased the Orioles' lead to 5-2.
Atkins hit his first home run last night. He hadn't recorded RBIs in consecutive games since April 7 and 8.
I'll give the guy credit for being patient tonight and finding ways to get on base.
Matt Wieters has been pretty resourceful, too. He's singled, been hit by a pitch and walked.
Looking ahead: The Orioles will face Shaun Marcom, Brett Cecil and Ricky Romero...
Tonight's attendance: 26,279.
Nick Markakis' wife, Christina, gave birth to Tucker Edward at 8:21 p.m. The baby weighs 7 pounds, 1 ounce.
No word whether he bats from the left or right side.
That's 14 batters in a row for Brad Bergesen, who induced three more ground balls in the top of the seventh. (And I actually used the word "induced" in this entry without linking it to Christina. Go figure.)
Bergesen has held Oakland to two runs and two hits in seven innings. He surrendered 10 runs...
Brad Bergesen has retired 11 batters in a row since walking two to open the third inning. That 4-3-6-2 double play must have done the trick.
Bergesen just cruised through the top of the sixth inning. It couldn't have been much easier. Two ground balls to Julio Lugo and a pop up to Ty Wigginton. Bergesen could have brought an umbrella drink to the mound, though the four umpires might have joined him for a sip.
Bergesen has thrown 74 pitches in six innings. He's allowed two hits, the last on...
The Orioles just completed one of your typical 4-3-6-2 double plays.
If you've seen one...
Brad Bergesen walked the first two batters in the third, including stolen base machine Rajai Davis. Catcher Matt Wieters went to the mound - alone this time - to settle him down.
Ryan Sweeney followed with a grounder to second baseman Julio Lugo, who wisely ran Daric Barton back toward first base before throwing there for the out. Ty Wigginton fired the ball to shortstop Cesar Izturis, who alertly...
We had the mother of all mound conferences in the top of the second inning after Oakland's Jack Cust grounded out.
The umpires stopped play and met with Brad Bergesen, apparently to point out that his foot hadn't made contact with the rubber. Bergesen was standing to the left of it, which A's first base coach Todd Steverson must have noticed.
It wasn't a five-man conference. The entire Orioles infield joined them, including catcher Matt Wieters. I was waiting for the bullpen to empty.
I...
Luke Scott took 25 swings in the indoor cage and completed three rounds of live batting practice. No longer confronted with pain in his left shoulder, he expects to play tomorrow night in Toronto.
"I didn't turn it loose, but I put some good effort into it and it felt pretty good, so I should be ready tomorrow," he said.
"I didn't go all out 100 percent. I just went nice and easy, but that was a good start."
Scott was able to pull the ball, something he couldn't do on...
Luke Scott had his left shoulder packed in ice when the clubhouse opened to the media. He isn't in tonight's lineup, but he could come off the bench if needed.
Scott is going to hit off a tee and take some cuts at soft tosses this afternoon.
"I'm going to go test it out and start building it up," he said. "It feels good right now. It feels much better than what it did, but when you swing the bat, of course, that will tell the tale. I haven't swung a bat in two days."
Manager Dave...
For the Orioles:
Corey Patterson LF
Julio Lugo 2B
Ty Wigginton 1B
Miguel Tejada 3B
Matt Wieters C
Adam Jones CF
Garrett Atkins DH
Lou Montanez RF
Cesar Izturis SS
Brad Bergesen RHP
For the Athletics:
Davis CF
Barton 1B
Sweeney RF
Suzuki C
Cust DH
Kouzmanoff 3B
Gross LF
Rosales SS
Ellis 2B
Gonzalez LHP
Brian Roberts is taking ground balls at second base and throwing to first. I know baseball activities when I see them.
Matt Wieters caught Adam Jones' throw in the sixth inning last night, made a sweeping tag of Oakland's Ryan Sweeney for the final out, grimaced and bent at the waist.
Wieters straightened up, took a few steps and bent at the waist again.
This would have been a good time for fans to slip into panic mode.
Wieters isn't tearing the cover off the ball, but the Orioles don't need him tearing a muscle or ligament.
Head athletic trainer Richie Bancells and manager Dave Trembley bolted from...
The idea would have seemed preposterous a month ago.
Send Brian Matusz to the minors?
Did someone leave the cap loose on the Elmers?
I noticed that a few readers were pondering the possibility last night, asking about the length of his leash.
I get the same question about Garrett Atkins and have fielded it, at various times, about Chris Tillman, Brad Bergesen, Jason Berken and David Hernandez. This team doesn't need a manager, it needs a dog walker.
As I noted last night, there didn't...
Manager Dave Trembley doesn't seem overly concerned about Brian Matusz, who's allowed four first-inning runs in back-to-back starts and fell to 2-5 with a 5.76 ERA.
"I think it's a combination of him pitching in the middle of the plate, the ball up, and he's not getting his two-seamer across," Trembley said. "He's throwing a lot of four-seamers and he likes to pitch in to right-handed hitters with his four-seamer. I think we saw that last year when he came up, especially the first time...
Frank Mata's major league debut lasted 1 1/3 innings. He allowed an infield hit and issued a walk to consecutive batters before Matt Albers replaced him in the seventh.
Mata would have been charged with two runs while sitting on the bench if Nick Markakis didn't make a spectacular diving catch to rob Kevin Kouzmanoff. The ball would still be rattling around the warning track.
Mata's fastball was clocked in the 93-96 mph range. He also mixed in a splitter.
The first two outs he recorded...
Frank Mata made his major league debut in the sixth inning after Brian Matusz failed to retire any of the three batters he faced and allowed another run.
Mata, 26, entered with runners on first and second, no outs and the Orioles behind, 6-1. He fell behind, 2-0, to Jake Fox, who swung at a 93 mph fastball and flied to the edge of the warning track in left. Mark Ellis, batting with runners on second and third, lined a 96 mph to center, and Adam Jones' throw cut down Ryan Sweeney at the...
Left-hander Rick Zagone, a sixth-round pick in the 2008 draft out of Missouri, went the distance today for Single-A Frederick in a 4-1 win over Wilmington.
Zagone (2-5, 3.59 ERA) allowed one run and five hits over nine innings, with two walks and five strikeouts.
Third baseman Buck Britton went 2-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBIs.
Double-A Bowie left-hander Zach Britton has shut out Harrisburg through five innings, and the Baysox lead, 1-0.
Britton has allowed four hits, walked one...
It happened tonight on a 1-2 pitch in the bottom of the third inning.
Garrett Atkins hit his first home run as an Oriole.
Atkins was one at-bat shy of tying his career-long homerless drought of 146 when he gave Oakland's Trevor Cahill a smackdown. He also collected his fifth hit in his last 37 at-bats over 14 games.
I'm sure Atkins won't request that the Orioles retrieve the ball, which traveled 374 feet, but he should have pimped it at the plate.
Flip the bat like Reggie. Strike a pose...
What's going on with Brian Matusz?
Matusz has fallen behind, 4-0, in the first inning, the last three runs scoring on Adam Rosales' homer. Rosales crushed a 92 mph fastball that hung over the plate and begged to be hit.
The inning finally ended when shortstop Cesar Izturis made a diving stop and throw to rob Jake Fox. Matusz retreated to the dugout after allowing three hits, walking one and throwing 26 pitches. His ERA's grown to 5.86.
That's 11 runs, 11 hits and three homers off Matusz...
Orioles reliever Mike Gonzalez hasn't been completely ruled out for a June 9 return, the date he's eligible to come off the 60-day disabled list, but he'll probably need to wait a little longer.
Gonzalez has been advised to gear himself toward a return the following week, when the Orioles play road interleague games in San Francisco and San Diego. The West Coast opener is June 14, and the Orioles don't return home until June 22.
The Giants and Padres lineups won't include a designated...