BLOG: Capital Punishment
With no pop in the lineup, injuries mounting and no reliable reinforcements to turn to- the O's are dead men walking. There's nothing manager Dave Trembley can do to improve the situation and as is baseball custom, he'll be fired before long. Losing 2 of 3 to the Nationals in D.C. isn't surprising because the Nats are a better team. The O's put together an impressive 2-run rally off Washington closer Matt Capps to force extra innings in Sunday's finale (it was Capp's first blown save of the year after he converted 15 straight chances) and there was a spark of hope for the O's when Julio Lugo came through with a clutch at-bat to tie it up.
Alfredo Simon was cruising in relief, retiring 4 straight Nats hitters (without a ball being hit out of the infield) when Simon was forced to leave the game with an injury with an out in the 10th. Simon is now added to a growing injury list that likely has Koji Uehara out for the year. So many ways to pick apart the problems that have befallen the O's, but the most glaring is their inability to score runs- again on Sunday failing to make good on another strong start by Kevin Millwood who allowed 3 runs (all in the first inning on a bases loaded triple that appeared could've been caught by Adam Jones in center field). No excuses, the losses have mounted and so have the injuries and it's a dire situation in May. The drum beat will no doubt pick up to fire the manager.
To me, that's an empty solution to a full-on problem but it has to be done to appease what's left of a once-loyal fan base. We could soon see the call-up of pitchers Chris Tillman and/or Jake Arrieta to help the rotation while David Hernandez is a candidate to help in the bullpen. But, until the lineup (still without Brian Roberts for probably another month) picks up its production, this team will continue to find victories hard to come by. Despite their efforts in D.C., including an impressive 9th inning comeback when down 2 runs in the finale, it's become increasingly difficult to find a silver lining amidst the clouds hovering over the O's. What would you do? What can anyone do?
