masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgHey, look, the Orioles are off again today.
Open dates and heavy rains have punched a lot of holes in the schedule, but it comes with a heavy price. If the union allowed it, Major League Baseball probably would force the Orioles to play all 31 days in August.
I’ll join the team Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Have to get my Tropicana Field fix.
I make fun of the place, but most media types love the working environment. Good press box, climate controlled, convenient parking, easy access to the…

Hey, look, the Orioles are off again today.

Open dates and heavy rains have punched a lot of holes in the schedule, but it comes with a heavy price. If the union allowed it, Major League Baseball probably would force the Orioles to play all 31 days in August.

I’ll join the team Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Have to get my Tropicana Field fix.

I make fun of the place, but most media types love the working environment. Good press box, climate controlled, convenient parking, easy access to the field, clubhouse and media dining room. All the important stuff.

I’ve seen some crazy games at The Trop over the years, dating back to Aubrey Huff’s days with the Devil Rays and Jorge Julio’s tenure as closer.

Slowly I turned, step by step …

Manny Machado may have some disturbing flashbacks from Sept. 23, when he collapsed at first base and writhed in pain with a gruesome knee injury.

The concerned looks on the faces of his teammates in the visiting dugout, including Matt Wieters, J.J. Hardy, Brian Roberts and Jason Hammel, are forever etched in my memory. Same with the vision of Machado screaming in pain as he held the knee and first base coach Wayne Kirby knelt beside him.

Rays physician Dr. Koko Eaton rushed onto the field. You know the rest.

I’m going to post the video at the bottom of this entry, but don’t watch if you find it too disturbing. It just provides another reminder of how fortunate the Orioles are to have Machado back at third base in early May. I feared for the kid’s career when he hit the dirt.

Machado had his first multi-hit game of the season in yesterday’s 5-2 loss to the Twins. He’s played in only four games. It wasn’t much of a wait.

Any chance Grant Balfour has a save situation in this series?

Balfour is 0-1 with a 5.11 ERA and six saves in 12 appearances for the Rays, who signed him to a two-year, $12 million contract after he failed the Orioles’ physical. He’s allowed seven runs and eight hits in 13 1/3 innings, with 11 walks, 10 strikeouts, three wild pitches, a hit batter and two home runs.

Nelson Cruz is 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts against Balfour. Nick Markakis is 0-for-9 and Adam Jones is 1-for-10 with three strikeouts.

Wieters, who feasts on Tampa Bay pitching, is 3-for-6 with a double and three RBIs.

Cruz won’t have a third deck to aim for at The Trop. Five bucks says he hits the catwalk. Yeah, the catwalk. Five bucks says he hits the catwalk.

(Hat tip to Right Said Fred and my ability to dust off an old joke)

Jonathan Schoop had drawn only two walks in 97 plate appearances this season, the second coming yesterday to load the bases with two outs in the seventh inning. He laid off a pitch that barely missed low. One of his best at-bats of the season.

How long until the Orioles go back to a 13-man pitching staff? Today’s break helps the bullpen, but do they need an eighth reliever more than a fourth bench player, especially with Machado now playing every day?

I’d vote yes.