5-1 O’s and it’s raining at The Yard. So far, Benson’s looking great.
And it seems all this media and fan scrutiny the past couple days has sparked Miggi to improve his play. He’s had quality ABs every time he’s appeared at the plate today and has had valuable support from the Robertses, Moras, and Hernandezezizzes…ezes…
More on this game later.
The O’s defeated the Phillies 7-4 in the first game of a day-night double-header.
Erik Bedard extended his scoreless inning streak to 16 today as he mowed through 7.0 innings, surrendering 5 hits, walking 2, and fanning 7.
Jeff Conine’s second inning triple followed by Corey Patterson’s sacrifice to send Niner home put the first run of the game on the board for the O’s.
Following that inning, the O’s put 6 runs on the board over the course of 3 consecutive innings. This surge of runs was marked by Ramon Hernandez’s two-run homer in the third inning, but more so, Brian Roberts’ first homer of 2006 in the fourth.
Kevin Millar and Miguel Tejada added RBIs in the game and Chris Ray collected his 20th save of the season as well as strikeouts 31 and 32.
Kurt Birkins imploded for the first time this year. He surrendered 2 two-run homers to bring his still very strong ERA up to 2.78.
The O’s and Phillies take the field again at 7:05 as Kris Benson goes for win number 9. I’ll be on my couch watching intently…
If you’ve been living under a rock the past week, not only are you most likely in a considerable amount of pain, you’ve probably missed all the muttering by the media saying the O’s are willing to trade Miguel Tejada, then the next day saying the O’s are not looking to trade him.
Okay, obviously the story got jumbled somewhere along the line.
Anyways, trade or no trade, here’s my take: The Orioles need to trade Miggi.
Baseball Blasphemy? Hardly. The All-Star shortstop has hit a paltry .236 since the Jason Grimsley affidavit surfaced on June 7, an issue that some (Did someone say The Washington Post?) are unfairly using as a sort of connection between Tejada and HGH.
Nevertheless, he leads the entire league in GIDPs (Ground into Double Plays) with 21 and has been criticized by writers and fans for his apparent lack of hustle and desire.
Manager Sam Perlozzo feels differently:
“He still gets work on his knee,” Perlozzo said to the Washington Post. “There’s times when what people perceive as lack of hustle is protection of his knee. I doubt that it’s 100 percent yet.”
If that’s the case, he needs to sit. No longer does he deserve to continue his consecutive game streak. He’s showing up late to pre-game warmups and seems to be disconnected from games at times. If his knee is hurting and his head isn’t entirely in each and every moment of each and every game, he needs to be benched for a night.
I don’t care if he’s Miguel Tejada. You sit players when they’re beat-up and mentally strained.
Personally, I think he needs to be on a plane headed for Anaheim. As much as I love the guy, I’d rather have Ervin Santana and/or Jered Weaver. Brandon Wood would also be a fine replacement.
Hell, if Earl Weaver was still the skipper, Miggi would be on a Greyhound straight to Bowie.
