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09-01-2006, 04:11 PM
Dang. I leave town and he comes up after a stay in the minors and goes 3-1 with a 2.67 ERA. I come back into town and he returns to his previous form. What's up with that?! :notme:
Also, dang that disputed homerun call. :Pissed: It seems Perlozzo had a good case against it being a homerun. :(
Rangers 7, Orioles 5
Cabrera of old returns in loss
Scoreless string ends at 16 innings; O's rally falls short
By Jeff Zrebiec
Sun reporter
Originally published September 1, 2006
ARLINGTON, TEXAS // It's never easy predicting which Daniel Cabrera the Orioles are going to get - the wild one who can't throw strikes consistently or the dominating one who commands his pitches and often looks unhittable.
Trying to pitch the Orioles to a series win last night and continue his late-season momentum, Cabrera didn't keep his teammates in suspense for long. He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, walked the next two and then surrendered an RBI double. He never found his command, pitching five spotty innings in the Orioles' 7-5 loss to the Texas Rangers before 21,446 at Ameriquest Field.
"I lost a little of my mechanics the first two innings and I tried to get them back," Cabrera said. "When I found my mechanics after the second inning, you saw what happened. I started throwing strikes."
Gary Matthews ended Cabrera's 16-inning scoreless streak with a disputed first-inning home run, one of three first-inning runs the Rangers scored off Cabrera. The right-hander allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits, including two homers, and four walks, needing 112 pitches just to make it through five innings.
"He obviously didn't have command of the strike zone," Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo said. "He was in and out for five innings. The one good thing I can say was ... he didn't sacrifice his best stuff.:confused: {HUH?}If there was something good to come out of that, that was it. He kept letting it fly."
The Orioles (60-73) got almost all their offense from rookie Nick Markakis , who was 3-for-5 last night with a home run and three RBIs. He finished August with a .354 average, a club rookie record 10 home runs in a month and 26 RBIs. :cheer:
Led by Markakis' homer, the Orioles started to dig out of a four-run hole with two runs in the fourth, but they squandered a chance to pull closer when Jay Gibbons flied out with the bases loaded in the fifth.
Markakis hit a two-run single in the ninth off Texas closer Akinori Otsuka, bringing shortstop Miguel Tejada up as the potential tying run. However, Tejada grounded out to shortstop Michael Young, ending the game.
Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer against Orioles reliever Bruce Chen in the sixth, giving the Rangers a 7-2 lead. For his career against Chen, Teixeira is 7-for-11 with six home runs and 12 RBIs. The Severna Park native has hit seven of his 24 home runs this season against the Orioles.
Cabrera came in off two of his finest starts of the season. He had pitched a five-hit shutout, striking out 10 and walking just two in a victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 19. He followed that six days later by pitching seven shutout innings and allowing five hits in beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Since returning to the Orioles after a three-plus week stay in the minor leagues, Cabrera was 3-1 with a 2.67 ERA entering last night's start. Perlozzo has said that Cabrera's more focused and calm demeanor has enabled the pitcher, who leads the American League in walks and is second in wild pitches, to throw strikes more consistently.
But the young right-hander clearly didn't have it from the outset last night, as proved by Matthews' home run to center field. The ball hit the top of the wall, clipping off the yellow line and bouncing back down to the field.
Second base umpire Paul Nauert gave the home run signal immediately. He then met Perlozzo around second base to explain why he made the call. Eventually, Nauert called the whole umpiring crew together for a conference to discuss the disputed homer, but the call remained the same.
"The ground rules are if it hits the yellow, it has to go out of the ballpark. I thought I saw it hit the yellow line and bounce back in," said Perlozzo, whose claim appeared to be supported by replays. "His answer to me was that they all decided it left the park."
After Matthews' homer, Cabrera handed out back-to-back walks to Young and Teixeira and an RBI double to Carlos Lee. He struck out Hank Blalock and Mark DeRosa and seemed on the verge of getting out of it before throwing a pitch in the dirt that Ardoin couldn't handle. Teixeira broke home on the passed ball and would have been out, but Cabrera dropped Ardoin's throw.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun
Also, dang that disputed homerun call. :Pissed: It seems Perlozzo had a good case against it being a homerun. :(
Rangers 7, Orioles 5
Cabrera of old returns in loss
Scoreless string ends at 16 innings; O's rally falls short
By Jeff Zrebiec
Sun reporter
Originally published September 1, 2006
ARLINGTON, TEXAS // It's never easy predicting which Daniel Cabrera the Orioles are going to get - the wild one who can't throw strikes consistently or the dominating one who commands his pitches and often looks unhittable.
Trying to pitch the Orioles to a series win last night and continue his late-season momentum, Cabrera didn't keep his teammates in suspense for long. He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, walked the next two and then surrendered an RBI double. He never found his command, pitching five spotty innings in the Orioles' 7-5 loss to the Texas Rangers before 21,446 at Ameriquest Field.
"I lost a little of my mechanics the first two innings and I tried to get them back," Cabrera said. "When I found my mechanics after the second inning, you saw what happened. I started throwing strikes."
Gary Matthews ended Cabrera's 16-inning scoreless streak with a disputed first-inning home run, one of three first-inning runs the Rangers scored off Cabrera. The right-hander allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits, including two homers, and four walks, needing 112 pitches just to make it through five innings.
"He obviously didn't have command of the strike zone," Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo said. "He was in and out for five innings. The one good thing I can say was ... he didn't sacrifice his best stuff.:confused: {HUH?}If there was something good to come out of that, that was it. He kept letting it fly."
The Orioles (60-73) got almost all their offense from rookie Nick Markakis , who was 3-for-5 last night with a home run and three RBIs. He finished August with a .354 average, a club rookie record 10 home runs in a month and 26 RBIs. :cheer:
Led by Markakis' homer, the Orioles started to dig out of a four-run hole with two runs in the fourth, but they squandered a chance to pull closer when Jay Gibbons flied out with the bases loaded in the fifth.
Markakis hit a two-run single in the ninth off Texas closer Akinori Otsuka, bringing shortstop Miguel Tejada up as the potential tying run. However, Tejada grounded out to shortstop Michael Young, ending the game.
Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer against Orioles reliever Bruce Chen in the sixth, giving the Rangers a 7-2 lead. For his career against Chen, Teixeira is 7-for-11 with six home runs and 12 RBIs. The Severna Park native has hit seven of his 24 home runs this season against the Orioles.
Cabrera came in off two of his finest starts of the season. He had pitched a five-hit shutout, striking out 10 and walking just two in a victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 19. He followed that six days later by pitching seven shutout innings and allowing five hits in beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Since returning to the Orioles after a three-plus week stay in the minor leagues, Cabrera was 3-1 with a 2.67 ERA entering last night's start. Perlozzo has said that Cabrera's more focused and calm demeanor has enabled the pitcher, who leads the American League in walks and is second in wild pitches, to throw strikes more consistently.
But the young right-hander clearly didn't have it from the outset last night, as proved by Matthews' home run to center field. The ball hit the top of the wall, clipping off the yellow line and bouncing back down to the field.
Second base umpire Paul Nauert gave the home run signal immediately. He then met Perlozzo around second base to explain why he made the call. Eventually, Nauert called the whole umpiring crew together for a conference to discuss the disputed homer, but the call remained the same.
"The ground rules are if it hits the yellow, it has to go out of the ballpark. I thought I saw it hit the yellow line and bounce back in," said Perlozzo, whose claim appeared to be supported by replays. "His answer to me was that they all decided it left the park."
After Matthews' homer, Cabrera handed out back-to-back walks to Young and Teixeira and an RBI double to Carlos Lee. He struck out Hank Blalock and Mark DeRosa and seemed on the verge of getting out of it before throwing a pitch in the dirt that Ardoin couldn't handle. Teixeira broke home on the passed ball and would have been out, but Cabrera dropped Ardoin's throw.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun