I don't second guess Alfredo Simon, a pitcher who has recently thrown some nasty split-finger pitches, for going with that pitch on that 0-2 offering to Austin Kearns in the ninth Saturday. To me it was much more about pitch location rather than pitch selection there, although Dave Trembley would not offer an opinion on pitch selection there after the game. But you need to bury that splitter on 0-2 and Simon had been doing that for the most part while going 5 for 5 in save chances. This...

After the game, Dave Trembley said he did not want to say publicly if he agreed with Alfredo Simon throwing a split-finger pitch on that 0-2 count to Austin Kearns in the ninth inning. The pitch found the middle of the plate and was not low in the zone as you intend with the splitter and Kearns three-run homer gave Cleveland a 4-2 lead. Alfredo Simon talks with the media about his blown save in the O's 8-2 loss "It was a split ball that didn't do too much. It was up and they got a good...

In the quiet of the Orioles clubhouse, Rhyne Hughes was gracious enough to talk about the news he got after the game, that he has been optioned back to Triple-A. "I'm just going back down to Norfolk, I'll meet those guys I guess on Tuesday. "He told me to go down there and find my swing again. Hopefully I'll just go down there and do what I was doing before and get things going again. Just be ready when they are ready for me to come back, that's all." Hughes was batting .213-0-4 in...

So, about that ninth... "We made real good pitches up until that point in time, but we didn't close it out," manager Dave Trembley said following tonight's 8-2 loss to the Indians, which is going to sting long after the lights are turned off at Camden Yards. "(Brian) Matusz made quality pitches in the seventh. Koji (Uehara) got a real big third out for us after a walk. (Alfredo) Simon hung a split and (Austin) Kearns hit a home run." That pretty much sums it up. Dave Trembley talks...

The Orioles optioned first baseman Rhyne Hughes to Triple-A Norfolk after tonight's game. A corresponding move will be announced tomorrow. Hughes hit .213 (10-for-47) with four RBIs in 14 games. He was 5-for-31 with 14 strikeouts in his last 10 games.

Talk about a ninth-inning meltdown. After getting out of jam after jam for eight innings, the O's pitching staff, living on the edge, toppled over the edge in the top of the ninth. Alfredo Simon, who had been five for five in save chances, came on to try and preserve a 2-0 win for Brian Matusz. With one out, he gave up a single, walk and RBI single to Shin-Soo Choo to cut the O's lead to 2-1. Then he made a huge mistake, serving up a fat 0-2 pitch that Austin Kearns hit out to left for a...

Is it really going to take five pitchers to wrap up a 2-0 victory? If the Orioles hold on, it will be the first time they've allowed one run or fewer in back-to-back games since Aug. 8-9, 2008. They defeated the Texas Rangers 9-1 and 9-0. Alfredo Simon will need to get the last three outs and record the save to make it happen. Unfortunately for the Orioles, they'll turn over the Indians lineup after Cleveland sent five batters to the plate in the eighth. Simon will face the ninth, first...

The Orioles have runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Corey Patterson's at the plate. A fly ball delivers their second run and gives left-hander Brian Matusz a little more room to breathe. So why is Cesar Izturis trying to steal second? Indians catcher is Lou Marson is 2-for-2 in these challenges tonight after cutting down Izturis with a perfect throw. Naturally, Patterson lifted a fly ball to center field, but it resulted in the third out. Were the...

Ty Wigginton's 11th homer of the year, which came on a 414-foot shot to left in the second inning, has the O's up on Cleveland 1-0 through four and a half innings. Brian Matusz, touched for six runs in just 3 2/3 Sunday at Minnesota, has not been scored on through five tonight. Matusz has pitched out of the stretch in each frame and Cleveland has left seven on base through five. Matusz has thrown 79 pitches and stranded two runners each in the third and fourth. The O's tonight are...

Colorado Rockies swept a day-night doubleheader from the Washington Nationals on Saturday, 4-3. The Rockies got to Luis Atilano with a pair of homers in the third inning, and a costly error by Ian Desmond (that could have been charged to Adam Dunn for not handling the throw) in the seventh gave Colorado the 4-3 lead that would hold. Manager Jim Riggleman on Atilano's outing: "Luis did a good job. A couple of times he walked some guys. He was behind a lot of guys, whether he walked them...