A Troubling Win...

Any win is good, I'm happy the O's won the game and I will highlight positives later in this post but there are a few things that need to be addressed.

First, I am tired of watching botched double plays. All season there have been tailor-made double play opportunities that Miguel Tejada and Brian Roberts have screwed up. Sometimes they aren't hustling, sometimes they're rushing when there is no need, their footwork has been lousy and their throws have been erratic to second and first. They are not getting it done.

Remember the Cal and Billy or Cal and Roberto Alomar double plays? They looked like a waltz. They were consistent, they were beautiful. For a fresher example, look at Kansas City. They turned three last night, although they weren't always the classic 6-4-3. Our middle infielders have been sub-standard in the field this year, there's no way around it. Especially glaring is Miguel Tejada who botched another double play opportunity last night and also made a throwing error. He now has 4 errors on the season. Brian Roberts is not immune from this criticism either as one of his errors was the single biggest reason Baltimore dropped one to Detroit on Tuesday.

Time to get it together guys, you've been playing together for three full seasons now. It sad when Melvin Mora (who has looked pretty good at third this year) is outshining you with his glove.

The offense will come around but this is getting ridiculous. When Paul Bako (yes, Paul Bako) is you clutchiest hitter, you've got issues. The team hit .342 last night, they got on base at a .410 clip. No power though, only a couple of doubles and to use the old cliche, this team just doesn't get the big hit. Not yet anyway. I still believe this will work itself out but it is frustrating to get such great (and many times unexpected) pitching performances and have them wasted.

The pluses: Steve Trachsel pitched great again. Nice job Steve. Kris Benson couldn't have done any better. The bullpen continues to live up to and exceed expectations while leaving egg on the face of many a national commentator who derided the Baltimore front office for spending so much of relievers. So far it has paid off in spades.

Jaret Wright goes on the DL and Jeremy Guthrie will get the start on Sunday against KC. This was always my concern with Wright, the injuries and not his performance on the mound. Hopefully he only misses a couple starts.