Orioles' Olson Isn't Right From the Start
Red Sox 6, Orioles 3

By Marc Carig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 12, 2008

BOSTON, June 11 -- The defining image beamed to living rooms across New England on Wednesday night starred Baltimore Orioles pitcher Garrett Olson and Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, the men responsible for the crucial moment in Boston's 6-3 victory.

Characteristic of his evening, Olson fell behind 3-1 against Varitek, who came up with two runners on base and two runs already in. Desperately needing to throw a strike, Olson grooved a 91 mph fastball over the inner half of the plate, the penalty for falling into a hitter's count.

Varitek uncorked a powerful swing, and TV cameras tracked the baseball as it sailed over the Green Monster, over the seats behind it, over a crowded Lansdowne Street and onto the hood of a blue Chrysler Sebring parked in a rooftop garage across from Fenway Park.

That was the kind of night it was for the Orioles, whose rally in the ninth inning fell short mostly because of Varitek's three-run homer, which punctuated Boston's five-run first inning off a shaky Olson.

"He just pitched very defensive in the first inning, which really we haven't seen out of him since he joined the club," Orioles Manager Dave Trembley said. "So it's a lesson to be learned from here."

Before most of the 38,130 on hand had even gotten comfortable in their seats, the left-handed Olson had botched a pickoff throw to first, allowed J.D. Drew's run-scoring double, then bounced a wild pitch past catcher Ramón Hernández.

Had the folly stopped there, perhaps the Orioles could say they at least had a chance.

"I started going to my secondary pitches, my curveball and change-up instead of just trying to establish the fastball early in the count," said Olson, who fell to 0-3 with a 7.36 ERA all-time against the Red Sox. "I fell behind and when I had to go to my fastball later in the count, they were just waiting for it. They did a good job of laying off my curveball and punished me."

Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis got back-to-back walks. That brought up Varitek, who despite feeling ill, ended the game before it could even get started.

"The first inning's the hardest, I think, because you have to see what you have that day," Olson said. "You've got to be able to establish the zone with whatever you have so if you don't have a pitch that inning, you've got to be able to find it as the game progresses. Clearly, I guess you could say I was a little tentative and not aggressive with the fastball."

Baltimore had scored 29 runs in its previous four games, the most runs they've churned out in any four-game stretch this year. They entered the game hitting .308 for June, all after failing to hit better than .252 in the first two months of the season.

But against Red Sox starter Bartolo Colón -- who has been surprisingly effective since being plucked from the scrap heap before the season -- the Orioles failed to advance a single base runner.

"Before he was a power guy that just tried to blow you away," Hernández said of Colón. "He has way more movement than he did before."

Luke Scott hit a solo shot in the fifth inning, the only sign of life by the Orioles' offense until a ninth-inning rally.

With Colón gone and reliever Mike Timlin on the mound, Kevin Millar bounced a double off the Monster to score Aubrey Huff. With two outs, Adam Jones hammered a hard grounder to second base, where Dustin Pedroia booted it and allowed Millar to score. Pinch hitter Oscar Salazar followed with a single through the hole. With the tying run at the plate, Red Sox Manager Terry Francona went for closer Jonathan Papelbon, who got Brian Roberts to ground out to end the game.

Still, the theatrics were hardly enough to climb out of the hole that Olson helped to dig.

"I think he was trying to be so perfect because the guys [he was facing] were big-name guys and they play pretty good baseball," Hernández said.

"I felt as the game went on I was feeling really good with everything," said Olson, whose six runs allowed were more than his three previous starts combined. "Unfortunately, that [stuff] happened in the first inning and I wasn't able to keep the team in the game the way I wanted to."