Orioles' Taxed Bullpen Comes Undone in Boston
Another Short Start Leads to Long Day: Red Sox 13, Orioles 4

By Adam Kilgore
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 13, 2007

BOSTON, May 12 -- Without question, the game was difficult to endure for the Baltimore Orioles, who slogged through 4 hours 4 minutes, 209 pitches and 23 base runners Saturday in a 13-4 whipping at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. But it will be easy to forget, in part because they saw it coming.

"We knew this game was going to happen," Manager Sam Perlozzo said. "I knew this was going to happen sooner or later."

Baltimore's taxed relievers have pitched more innings (121) than any other American League bullpen aside from the New York Yankees', so Perlozzo hoped that Steve Trachsel could provide a deep start.

But Baltimore's starters have averaged less than 5 2/3 innings per outing this season (third worst in the AL), and Trachsel couldn't reverse the trend. He ratcheted up his pitch count with three walks in the fourth, then got hammered in the fifth, allowing three runs while recording one out. Manny Ramirez roped Trachsel's 102nd pitch off the Green Monster for a two-run double, and Perlozzo decided it would be his last.

"Too many pitches, that's for sure," Trachsel said. "They worked a lot of good counts. It's just who they are. They are not real aggressive."

The game was getting out of hand, but the Orioles still had to get through 14 outs. Mindful of another game Sunday against the mashing Red Sox, Perlozzo needed not quality, but quantity. "Sometimes, you've got to sit out there," Perlozzo said. "Someone has to suck it up once in a while if the 'pen needs the rest."

And so Perlozzo called on Jon Leicester, who had not pitched since May 2 with Class AAA Norfolk. He hadn't pitched in the majors since May 9, 2005. He had been summoned Monday to eat innings, no matter the cost.

"That's my job," Leicester said. "It's a tough one to do."

He performed admirably, wriggling out of Trachsel's jam and then pitching a one-run sixth inning. While Leicester was playing the role of sacrificial lamb, the Orioles tied the score, slamming three singles off Curt Schilling to start the sixth.

But "once you've got your long guy in there," Perlozzo said, "if you plan on tying the ballgame, you're in trouble." The manager stuck with Leicester into the seventh, the score 5-4, because he felt he had little choice.

"Our bullpen has been throwing every day, so we didn't have no bullpen today," third baseman Melvin Mora said. "It was just one pitcher. It's frustrating, because we had to die with that guy."

As Leicester hurled his first pitches of the seventh, he felt a tightening in the back of his right shoulder. The ball wasn't coming out of his hand properly, but Leicester thought he just needed to get loose. Meantime, he walked the first three batters of the inning.

Pitching coach Leo Mazzone visited, and Leicester started Jason Varitek 2-0. After the second ball, Leicester grabbed his shoulder and waved the team trainer from the dugout. He had thrown 17 pitches in the seventh; 13 were balls. He exited with a posterior deltoid strain, and he planned to undergo an MRI exam on Sunday.

In came Todd Williams to face a no-out, bases-loaded situation. He struck out Varitek, but then the wheels came off. Eight runs scored while Williams pitched 1 2/3 innings -- five credited to him -- and he gave up seven hits.

"You can wash this game away," Perlozzo said. "We knew we were eventually going to get into a game like this. The guys battled strong until we couldn't do anything about it. Tomorrow we'll come out. These guys were pumped before the game, and they'll be pumped tomorrow. Trust me. It's just one game gone by. We'll pick it up, and we'll get back out there."

Said Trachsel: "It was ugly. It's easier to forget about those ones."