Orioles' Arms Get Tattooed by Angels
Angels 11, Orioles 6

By Angels 11, Orioles 6 Zach Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 27, 2008

BALTIMORE, July 26 -- A declaration was made earlier this month, before losing became too frequent and poor pitching became too common, that a stretch of July games would determine the Baltimore Orioles' season.

Saturday night's 11-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels in front of 21,819 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards had much in common with the night before and the week before and too many games in a month that has come to sully the Orioles' season.

Sunday will mark the 20th game since July 4, when the Orioles opened a three-game series against the Texas Rangers. Including that game, which the Orioles entered two games above .500, they are 5-14.

"We blew ourselves out of the water," Orioles Manager Dave Trembley said before Saturday night's loss. "We've gone through the down period long enough and we've been patient long enough to give people ample opportunity to pull their socks up, button up their chin strap and just give us a little sense of encouragement. Let me see something that says, 'Okay, we're going to get out of it.' And to be honest with you, I'm still waiting. And I don't know how much longer I can wait."

Trembley did not have to wait long Saturday night to realize the culprit of the collapse -- starting pitching -- was not rectified. After using his relievers for 14 2/3 innings on Thursday and Friday, Trembley needed Radhamés Liz to pitch deep into Saturday's game.

Liz partially adhered to Trembley's hope, although early struggles -- Liz allowed two runs in the first inning and three more in the third -- forced the Orioles into a hole. Liz lasted into the sixth inning before Trembley removed him from a two-out, bases-loaded jam. The move worked when Lance Cormier struck out Chone Figgins, but the Orioles' bullpen -- Cormier was followed by Fernando Cabrera -- allowed five runs in addition to Liz's six.

"For the most part, we didn't make pitches when we had to," Trembley said. "I don't particularly want to say it was one guy or the other guy. I think you can collectively put that in the hat and say that about everything that you saw."

Liz struggled throwing strikes early in the count. He walked four, including the two that scored in the first. Of Liz's 102 pitches, 43 were balls.

"For me, the big deal was the first inning," Liz said. "When I go behind in the count, I try to hit the corner and I didn't."

Even though Liz had three 1-2-3 innings, the blemishes outweighed the bright spots. And as his ERA grew to 7.47, it is clear the problems are recurring.

"I see positive signs out of everybody, but the other things are apparent," Liz said. "The other things make you understand we don't quite have a finished product yet."

The bulk of the Orioles' offense came from Aubrey Huff and Luke Scott, who accounted for five of the Orioles' six runs. The final run came on a Brian Roberts sacrifice fly in the ninth, scoring Ramón Hernández. Huff became the first Oriole to reach 20 home runs this season.

Melvin Mora suffered a scare in the eighth inning when he was a hit by a pitch on his left knee. Trembley substituted for him when the Orioles took the field in the ninth. Mora said after the game he was sore and did not know whether he would play Sunday.

Whether Mora takes the field will be a side note to the more glaring problems. As has been the case too often this month, early runs crippled the Orioles. Besides Jeremy Guthrie, who has a 3.58 ERA, all of the Orioles' starting pitchers allow more than four runs per game. The starters rotated and the scores varied during the critical July stretch, but the story and the result have too often been the same.

"The last thing I want to do is accept it. And the last thing I want the players to do is accept it," Trembley said before the game. "I hope people are upset about it. I wish somebody would light a fire under somebody and say, 'Enough is enough.' . . . It's hard. It really is."