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06-25-2006, 11:17 AM
Yup! :rock:
Orioles 3, Nationals 2
Good things to O's who wait
After missed chances, 2-plus hours of rain delays, Matos scores on Hernandez's walk-off single in 9th
By Childs Walker
Sun reporter
Originally published June 25, 2006
As catcher Ramon Hernandez lay on the couches in the Orioles' clubhouse last night, passing 2 hours, 18 minutes of a second rain delay, he had but one thought.
He didn't want to go out and catch another inning.
So when Hernandez stepped to the plate nearly six hours after the first pitch was thrown, he prayed for a hit, any hit to bring in Luis Matos from second base. He didn't make the kind of contact he had when he homered in the second inning, but as he watched the ball shoot past two Washington Nationals infielders, he knew it was good enough.
Hernandez's hit gave the Orioles a 3-2 win over the Nationals before the remnants of a crowd of 36,290 at Camden Yards. The win was their second straight and moved them to 3-2 this season against their new Beltway rivals.
"I was really tired," Hernandez said. "So I was just trying to get a good at-bat, trying to get a single somehow, trying to end the game. And I got lucky. I hit it where nobody was playing."
Manager Sam Perlozzo was just as relieved after watching his team blow two bases-loaded scoring opportunities before the long delay.
"Well worth the wait, it really was," Perlozzo said. "Fortunately, things worked out. We had our opportunities all throughout the game. Thank goodness we got it done."
Rookie Adam Loewen kept the Orioles (35-41) in the game with a solid start and three relievers combined to hold the Nationals (32-44) scoreless for four innings.
Loewen entered the game 0-2 with a 7.82 ERA. He had pitched well at times in each of his four previous starts but had put too many runners on base and made mistakes at critical junctures. With the Orioles close to a deal with free-agent starter Russ Ortiz, Loewen knew he had to pitch well or face a return to the minor leagues.
The rookie showed the same mix of promise and inefficiency yesterday. He used a heavy fastball and dipping changeup to strike out five and hold the Nationals to two runs in five innings. But he put 10 runners on base, six of those on walks.
"Again, it was the hard-to-read thing where he does the same thing - put too many men on base but somehow pitches out of it," Perlozzo said. "Same thing, you know. He's good enough to get hitters out but not consistent enough to stay in deeper in the game yet."
Loewen allowed two singles in the first inning but then struck out the Nationals' leading hitter, Nick Johnson, and induced a weak groundout by Ryan Zimmerman to escape undamaged.
In the second, he surrendered two walks but again emerged unharmed after catcher Ramon Hernandez threw out two runners at second base.
"That was the big thing today, minimizing the damage," Loewen said. "As frustrating as it was, I had to adapt to the situation. It felt like sometimes, I couldn't even throw it near the strike zone. My mechanics felt off. But I think I made some adjustments to get back in the groove at times."
In the third, he walked Alfonso Soriano, surrendered a line-drive double to Jose Vidro on a letter-high fastball and allowed a run on Royce Clayton's groundout. The inning turned worse when he walked Johnson and gave up an RBI double to the right-field corner by Zimmerman.
Loewen actually had an easier time in the fourth and fifth innings, but by the end of the fifth, he had thrown 104 pitches, a testament to his control problems.
He left with the game tied at 2. Perlozzo said it was too early to say if Loewen will start Friday.
Loewen faced fellow rookie left-hander Mike O'Connor, a Mount St. Joseph graduate who was starting in Baltimore for the first time as a professional.
The Orioles scored first when Hernandez slammed a 3-1 pitch into the right-field bleachers in the second for his 13th homer of the season.
The Orioles tied the game off O'Connor in the fifth when Jeff Conine singled, Matos doubled and Brian Roberts singled up the middle. But neither Mora nor Miguel Tejada could get the go-ahead run home from third.
A 26-minute rain delay in the top of the seventh ended O'Connor's night. The Nationals rookie finished with a more-than-respectable outing - six innings, six hits and two earned runs - but like Loewen, didn't figure in the decision.
The Orioles loaded the bases in the seventh against Nationals reliever Jon Rauch but Tejada failed to come through with a big hit, grounding out to first to end the inning. They loaded the bases again in the eighth off another reliever, Gary Majewski. But Conine, who has struggled for most of the season, hit into a double play to end that threat.
After the rain delay, Matos led off the ninth with a walk against Nationals closer Chad Cordero. He had spent the delay swinging in an indoor batting cage. "I was going to swing. I was going to swing at the first pitch," Matos said. "But he didn't throw me a strike. I think he was a little cold, too."
A bunt moved him to second and three batters later, Hernandez ended the long night.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun
Orioles 3, Nationals 2
Good things to O's who wait
After missed chances, 2-plus hours of rain delays, Matos scores on Hernandez's walk-off single in 9th
By Childs Walker
Sun reporter
Originally published June 25, 2006
As catcher Ramon Hernandez lay on the couches in the Orioles' clubhouse last night, passing 2 hours, 18 minutes of a second rain delay, he had but one thought.
He didn't want to go out and catch another inning.
So when Hernandez stepped to the plate nearly six hours after the first pitch was thrown, he prayed for a hit, any hit to bring in Luis Matos from second base. He didn't make the kind of contact he had when he homered in the second inning, but as he watched the ball shoot past two Washington Nationals infielders, he knew it was good enough.
Hernandez's hit gave the Orioles a 3-2 win over the Nationals before the remnants of a crowd of 36,290 at Camden Yards. The win was their second straight and moved them to 3-2 this season against their new Beltway rivals.
"I was really tired," Hernandez said. "So I was just trying to get a good at-bat, trying to get a single somehow, trying to end the game. And I got lucky. I hit it where nobody was playing."
Manager Sam Perlozzo was just as relieved after watching his team blow two bases-loaded scoring opportunities before the long delay.
"Well worth the wait, it really was," Perlozzo said. "Fortunately, things worked out. We had our opportunities all throughout the game. Thank goodness we got it done."
Rookie Adam Loewen kept the Orioles (35-41) in the game with a solid start and three relievers combined to hold the Nationals (32-44) scoreless for four innings.
Loewen entered the game 0-2 with a 7.82 ERA. He had pitched well at times in each of his four previous starts but had put too many runners on base and made mistakes at critical junctures. With the Orioles close to a deal with free-agent starter Russ Ortiz, Loewen knew he had to pitch well or face a return to the minor leagues.
The rookie showed the same mix of promise and inefficiency yesterday. He used a heavy fastball and dipping changeup to strike out five and hold the Nationals to two runs in five innings. But he put 10 runners on base, six of those on walks.
"Again, it was the hard-to-read thing where he does the same thing - put too many men on base but somehow pitches out of it," Perlozzo said. "Same thing, you know. He's good enough to get hitters out but not consistent enough to stay in deeper in the game yet."
Loewen allowed two singles in the first inning but then struck out the Nationals' leading hitter, Nick Johnson, and induced a weak groundout by Ryan Zimmerman to escape undamaged.
In the second, he surrendered two walks but again emerged unharmed after catcher Ramon Hernandez threw out two runners at second base.
"That was the big thing today, minimizing the damage," Loewen said. "As frustrating as it was, I had to adapt to the situation. It felt like sometimes, I couldn't even throw it near the strike zone. My mechanics felt off. But I think I made some adjustments to get back in the groove at times."
In the third, he walked Alfonso Soriano, surrendered a line-drive double to Jose Vidro on a letter-high fastball and allowed a run on Royce Clayton's groundout. The inning turned worse when he walked Johnson and gave up an RBI double to the right-field corner by Zimmerman.
Loewen actually had an easier time in the fourth and fifth innings, but by the end of the fifth, he had thrown 104 pitches, a testament to his control problems.
He left with the game tied at 2. Perlozzo said it was too early to say if Loewen will start Friday.
Loewen faced fellow rookie left-hander Mike O'Connor, a Mount St. Joseph graduate who was starting in Baltimore for the first time as a professional.
The Orioles scored first when Hernandez slammed a 3-1 pitch into the right-field bleachers in the second for his 13th homer of the season.
The Orioles tied the game off O'Connor in the fifth when Jeff Conine singled, Matos doubled and Brian Roberts singled up the middle. But neither Mora nor Miguel Tejada could get the go-ahead run home from third.
A 26-minute rain delay in the top of the seventh ended O'Connor's night. The Nationals rookie finished with a more-than-respectable outing - six innings, six hits and two earned runs - but like Loewen, didn't figure in the decision.
The Orioles loaded the bases in the seventh against Nationals reliever Jon Rauch but Tejada failed to come through with a big hit, grounding out to first to end the inning. They loaded the bases again in the eighth off another reliever, Gary Majewski. But Conine, who has struggled for most of the season, hit into a double play to end that threat.
After the rain delay, Matos led off the ninth with a walk against Nationals closer Chad Cordero. He had spent the delay swinging in an indoor batting cage. "I was going to swing. I was going to swing at the first pitch," Matos said. "But he didn't throw me a strike. I think he was a little cold, too."
A bunt moved him to second and three batters later, Hernandez ended the long night.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun