Reimold Rocks Blue Jays World

Normally leading eight to three against the Orioles is a sure thing win. After all, the Birds had never won a game this season when trailing into the eighth inning........until today.

The O's rallied back to tie the game at eight, and despite a home run by Aaron Hill in the 11th to give the Jays a 10-8 lead, Nolan Reimold capped off a second rally with a three run blast to win it for the O's 12-10, giving them their first three-game sweep of the season, coming against Cito Gaston's Blue Jays. Dave Trembley said this is a win he will remember for a long time.

Before this season started, Reimold was not expected to be a big part of the Orioles this season. The left field options were between returning Luke Scott, new acquisition Felix Pie, and Lou Montanez, who was the big contact hitter in Norfolk. But with injuries and/or lack of production from the above three, up comes Reimold after tearing up the Tides. He has not been a dominant player, but in just 13 games played he has hitting .265 with four home runs, including one dinger off Mariano Rivera.

It just goes to show that no matter what the situation, there is a place for those people that play well. Reimold in no way was expected to be an important part of the Orioles this season, but has likely earned a roster spot for a good while.

Another Baby Bird, David Hernandez, will take to the mound on Thursday. He'll be the second player from Norfolk to have their premiere this week, and third will be Matt Wieters on Friday. Should be a fun couple of days for Orioles fans.

(Photo credit: Baltimore Sun)

Adam Loewen signs Minor League deal with the Blue Jays

Former Orioles first round pick Adam Loewen has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Loyalty. That is what the Orioles gave Adam Loewen. When they signed him in 2002 they handed him a $4.02 million contract and extended him an annointed place in the franchise. Injury after injury the team showed patience in his recovery, particularly this season. Every trip to the disabled list was joined with hopes for a recorvery again and a rise to the top of the O's rotation. He was the man of the future for the city of Baltimore. When his arm finally gave out for the last time, there was disappointment, but no complaints. The fan base understood, and rallied behind Adam once again wishing for a possible return to the majors some day, this time as a position player. I will spare you the rest of the mournful backstory, but the fact of the matter is that his history in Baltimore was long and marked with setbacks but constant patience and consideration.

The Orioles released Loewen earlier this week with full expectations of resigning him to a minor league deal. In fact, Adam even cleared waivers on his way to signing on to a minor league team in the O's system. As a free agent Loewen was allowed to sign with any team, but it appeared to be a formality that he would sign with Baltimore again. Instead his home country allegiance to Canada drew him north to sign with Toronto.

It is hard to be angry at Adam, but I am. I don't care what his childhood dream was. I don't care whether money was an issue or not. This is a unique case- Loewen as a starter gave this city nothing due to his injuries, but the organization gave him every ounce of consideration and care throughout his stay in Baltimore. They greeted his decision to give up pitching with a hopeful attitude, setting up meetings with hitting coach Terry Crowley and putting him in the instructional league to work on his hitting. The city of Baltimore and the Orioles fan base were optimistic that they would one day have their own Rick Ankiel...

...and after all that, at the first chance he gets, he bolts for north of the border without leaving so much as a thank you note.

You're welcome, Adam.

Blue Jaywalking

I saw a characteristic O’s game last night. A pitcher had retired 6 straight and was cruising going into the 7th inning. The opposition had just padded their lead and the other team was burning through relievers and looked to be going under. Then suddenly, a single. Then a walk. Then the wheels completely came off as a thunderous comeback brought the game to a tie, to be finished off in the bottom of the 9th as yet another mistake was exploited for runs, ending the game 7-6. There was one problem with this vision, however.

The Orioles weren’t making the comeback, they were the ones giving up the win.

With 26 of 44 wins being come from behind, I am almost more nervous when the Orioles are ahead in the late innings than I am when they are behind. Recently however, the bullpen has been allowing more and more games to slip away after playing lights-out for the first two months of the season. Not that anyone can blame them or their exhausted arms- we have already focused heavily on relief pitching worries here on Around the Harbor, but last night’s loss was just not at all characteristic of this team. Against the Expos (they call themselves the Nationals, but we know they’re the Expos), the Royals, and the Rangers, the Orioles let go of games they should have won. This team cannot afford to do so and still finish with a respectable record.

There will be many questions about this game, in addition to understandable shock and outrage. I will do my best to answer them:

Should Daniel Cabrera have been left in the game in the 7th inning after allowing the first two base runners? While Cabrera had played well over the previous few innings, he had walked 4 batters already and had a pitch out of 101. I understand that when Cabrera is starting you know you can afford to pitch him a bit longer than you would a standard starter, but when he loses his control it is difficult to get it back. Dave Trembley was looking to stop the bleeding before a rally got started. Had Dennis Sarfate performed as he is expected to, it would have.

Is Alberto Castillo that bad? No. The moment he came in the game I knew it would not end well. He may be 33 years old, but he was making his first major league appearance, and unlike a young pitcher, he knows that if he blows this opportunity he might never pitch in the majors again. That much pressure, particularly as he entered the game with runners in scoring position with the task of keeping Toronto from tying or taking the lead, cannot lead to an accurate picture of whether he can be a solid relief pitcher while others get healthy.

How long until Alex Cintron comes back? I never thought I would long for Cintron’s defense until I watched Freddie Bynum play shortstop over the last week. Two critical errors over that stretch have caused two Orioles losses. His second stint in Baltimore is going even worse than his first, and it is unlikely we will ever see him in Baltimore again once Alex comes off the DL.