After their brutal extra-inning loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday, the Orioles flew out to the left coast to face another tough customer -- the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Baltimore offense sputtered, and the pitching staff was victimized by Bobby Abreu -- who had two home runs and 4 RBI's -- along with a huge fifth inning, and they lost to Los Angeles, 5-2.

The Angels' John Lackey (3-3) went eight innings for the victory, and Brian Fuentes got his 23rd save.

Jeremy Guthrie (6-8) took the loss on Thursday as he lasted seven innings and gave up five runs. He gave up a solo home run to Bobby Abreu in the fourth inning, but the Angels got to him in the fifth inning as he allowed Macier Izturis to reach base on a triple, then walked Mike Napoli, thereafter, Chone Figgins plated Izturis and Los Angeles took the lead, 2-1. Moments later, Abreu stepped up to the plate and took Guthrie deep again to give the Angels a 5-2 lead.

Guthrie was not terrible in his outing, but it took a few bad pitches and a big inning to put the nail in the coffin for Baltimore. However, his offense didn't help him much out at all as they only mustered five hits, and the big three in the lineup -- Brian Roberts, Adam Jones & Nick Markakis -- went for 0-for-12.

Baltimore's offense came via Matt Wieters RBI-single in the fifth inning to tie the game, and a Luke Scott solo homer -- his 16th -- in the seventh.

Finally, during the past few days, Orioles manager Dave Trembley has taken a lot of flack on sports talk radio for his decision to not have Brad Bergesen start the ninth inning in the loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday. Well, hindsight is 20/20. As much as I have come to appreciate Bergesen and wish he could gotten a complete game, Johnson and Sherrill were pretty good in relief in the past month before the implosion yesterday.

Could Brad have gone into the ninth inning, yes; however, I don't begrudge Trembley at all for making the decision he did. Simply put, if our relievers had thrown strikes and Varitek didn't get lucky with a favorable call, we would not be lamenting the result.

Stuff happens; it was just a horrible loss for Baltimore yesterday.

It looks like Koji Uehara will be on the shelf for a while, as he's going on the disabled list with a partly torn elbow tendon. It's too bad what he's had to go through in his transition from the Japanese professional league to the majors, but he seems to have not been in the best of physical condition at all whatsoever.

Manager Dave Trembley announced Wednesday morning that Uehara will be shut down for up to five weeks, then embark on a throwing program that could extend his absence up to eight weeks or more. It's possible that Uehara won't return this season.

"Koji is going to be out for awhile," Trembley said. "He has a partial tear in his elbow and will rest for three to five weeks. Surgery is not required. ... It could be seven or eight weeks before he's in a game again. He's going to get a second opinion, which everyone does now, but Dr. [John] Wilckens and Dr. [Andrew] Cosgarea are confident that's what it is."

Uehara was thought to be suffering from tendinitis, but there was enough lingering soreness to convince the medical staff to look deeper. An arthrogram is an X-ray that is taken after dye is injected into the area to highlight any structural damage.

Hopefully, Uehara can get the injury bug out of him and contribute late in the year, but again I'll say, maybe he should go in the bullpen as it doesn't look like he's anything more than a five inning starter.

What a fun, draining and disappointing day. The Baltimore Orioles had the Red Sox where they wanted them -- down 5-1 in the top of the ninth inning; however, the Red Sox decided to flip the script and show that they could do a comeback as well.

Not only would the Orioles blow a four-run lead, thanks to four walks by the relief corps -- mainly, Jim Johnson and George Sherrill -- plus a two-run shot by Kevin Youkilis and giving up bases load single to ex-Ray Rocco Baldelli to the the game. The pesky Red Sox would decide the game in the 11th as Julio Lugo plated in the winning run off reliever Danys Baez, and they would steal one from the Orioles, 6-5.

Amazingly, Sherril struck out two Boston batters -- Jason Bay and David Ortiz -- for two outs in the frame; however, after giving up a single to Jacoby Ellsbury and a walk to Jeff Bailey, Jason Varitek earned a contoversial walk and then the flood gates opened thanks to Baldelli's single.

It was a warm day, and after the amazing come-from-behind-historic-victory last night at the Yard, it looked for about eight innings that the Orioles would get a rare series win over their rival.

What can one say about Brad Bergesen -- who is now easily the best pitcher on the staff. He threw eight innings of four-hit ball and struck out six and walked none. Once again, Bergesen threw strikes and was efficient on the mound, throwing only 103 pitches in his outing.

The Orioles jumped all over a shaky Josh Beckett -- who started for Boston. Baltimore's offense came through in the first four innings as Felix Pie had an RBI-single in the first, then they took a 2-0 lead as Luke Scott homered. They scored twice third to take a 4-0 lead as Nick Markakis had a two-RBI double and Baltimore's final run came as Ty Wigginton homered to put them up, 5-0.

However, after the Wigginton homer, the Orioles would have a hell of a time producing any offense, Crazy enough, the Orioles are only 6-15 in day games this season, and only 1-6 versus the Red Sox this season. Well, I don't know if this loss compares to the Mother's Day Massacre of several years ago when former Oriole manager Sam Perlozzo yanked Jeremy Guthrie in the ninth inning with a 5-0 lead, but to have seen the way that Baltimore lost this game was galling.

It's simple, if the Oriole pitchers had thrown strikes in the ninth -- we would have won. However, the umpiring was very, very questionable in this series -- to the point where there were several discussions from Oriole players/management to the respective umpires -- but Red Sox fought, executed and when they smelled blood, they attacked.

I was so busy this morning with car repairs and other stuff, that I didn't even get to the amazing comeback last night against the Red Sox. Pretty much we all know what happened, Nick Markakis had the go-ahead, two-RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth inning, the bullpen delivered, and Jonathan Papelbon blew his first save ever against Baltimore.

We won in a crazy game, 11-10, which might as well have been two games in one with a rain delay, Boston taking what was an insurmountable lead at one point, hits, a great rally by Baltimore, and more ups and downs than we can count.

For us Oriole fans, yes, Tuesday night is only one game, but it comes to show you have play every single out and battle. Now, Baltimore may never have a game like this again, but as a fan, it's a beautiful thing to have seen this team come back and fight against their powerful rival for one night -- especially after a decade plus of losing.

John Smoltz was good in a a solid start, but I'd love to know what was running through his head as the action unfolded at the Yard. Yes, and one must still wonder if Rich Hill is indeed on borrowed time as an Oriole...

Obviously, Boston had a lot more than talent than Baltimore on paper, but on Tuesday, a bunch of reserves and role players made the difference. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night, and it was funny to see the Red Sox players and staff look bewildered after the loss.

Red Sox Nation descended upon Baltimore once again, and for the umpteenth time, downtown Baltimore was transformed into a sea of red and blue. As well, the Red Sox once again beat the Orioles, 4-0, in front of 36,458 at Camden Yards on Monday. The victory for Boston was their EIGHTH straight win over the Orioles.

Jon Lester, who started the night at .500 at 6-6, was nothing short of amazing as he went seven shutout innings, allowed only five hits, struck out eight, and earned the victory. Jonathan Papelon averted a potential rally for the Orioles by pitching 1/3 of an inning for his 19th save. Baltimore had two runners on bases in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, and it looked like Melvin Mora was going to get a hit to perhaps avoid the team being shutout; however, Jason Bay made a diving catch to not only prevent runs from scoring, but close out the game.

Meanwhile, for Baltimore, Jason Berken pitched valiantly, but sort of went through the school of hard knocks facing a veteran Boston lineup. Berken went five innings, gave up four runs and took the loss for the Orioles, as he gave up a run in the opening frame, and then three more in the fourth inning.

Boston's J.D. Drew was the offensive star of the game as he had a home run in the fourth inning, and had three hits, drove in two, and scored twice. Dustin Pedroia had an RBI-single in the first, and Jason Varitek had an RBI-single in the fourth.

For Baltimore, Ty Wigginton had two hits, but beside his effort, the team only had four more hits on the night. Tonight, the Orioles face the legendary John Smoltz -- who I have great reverence for and like -- however, I hope he gets tagged up for a few runs and encounters the same fate he had in Washington. Seriously, I'll try to be there tonight and see a Future Hall of Famer who embodies what's right about the game on the mound for Boston -- which is still very strange to see, he should be in an Atlanta jersey closing out his illustrious career.

Finally, there's been a lot of talk about Wieters -- well, one could say the lack of offense that he's brought to the team so far, plus the ghastly display behind the plate on Sunday. Honestly, the fans have to let him develop at this level and see if he improves gradually. I was one of the thousands who felt he should have been brought up when was, and so far he's playing like a rookie. Right now, he's currently batting .235 with 2 homers and 6 RBI's -- granted, he's not putting up numbers like Nolan Reimold -- but he's doing decent work behind the plate and has shown some ability with the bat.

We want him to become the next Johnny Bench, but he'll develop at his own pace as he's only played professional for about a little less than two years now. Remember, Nick Markakis started slow, as did Adam Jones, but now they are both potential cornerstones of a rebuilding Oriole franchise.

At the moment, the only way Wieters should even be sent down is if he is hurting the team at the plate, most notably behind the plate (crucial), and if he's really that overwhelmed. As I see it, he's still learning, so let's all be patient.

The Washington Nationals avoided a sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles, as they emerged victorious, 5-3 on Sunday. The offense came alive as Adam Dunn hit a majestic two-run homer in the fourth inning that landed on Camden Yards famed Eutaw Street and Willie Harris added a solo home run of his own along with two more hits. Josh Willingham also contributed to the win with three hits on the afternoon, and two runs scored.

Southpaw John Lannan (5-5) -- who started the game -- was once again solid on the mound for Washington as he went 7 1/3 innings and was charged with three runs on six hits. Mike MacDougal pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save as a National. Meanwhile, for the Orioles, rookie starter David Hernandez (1-2) took the loss as he lasted 5 2/3 innings and gave up three runs.

Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the second inning as a shaky John Lannan gave up a leadoff walk to Nolan Reimold, and then allowed Luke Scott to double before Oscar Salazar plated in a run with a single. After that, Lannan got out of trouble with a double play and pretty much kept the Orioles at bay until the eighth inning.

He was yanked from the game after allowing a leadoff double to Robert Andino in the frame followed by a Ty Wigginton single. Washington manager Manny Acta brought in Joe Beimel who allowed two runs to cross home plate after a Nick Markakis sacrifice fly and an Aubrey Huff RBI-single. However, Huff -- for reasons why don't know -- felt the need to extend a single into a double, but ended the inning and perhaps killed a potential rally.

Washington took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning as Ryan Zimmerman led off the frame with a double, and then Dunn hit a homer -- his 19th -- estimated at 442 feet and amazed those in attendance. They added another run in the sixth as Elijah Dukes plated Willingham with a single, and then in the seventh, Willie Harris deposited a ball over the right field wall for a home run -- his fourth -- to make the score, 4-1.

Washington scored once more in the eighth as Josh Willingham scored from third thanks to an errant throw by Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters. Before Willingham crossed home plate, he stole third and after reaching base on a double.

The attendance on Sunday in Baltimore was only 25,068 down over 14,000 from the night before, and nearly 20,000 from Friday night.

Well, the Orioles got swept in Florida by the upstart Marlins in three straight games. While the opening game was thrilling, the next two contests -- um, not so much. I'm most know what happened in the next two games, but there's been a lot of ire focused on two players, both incidentally former Cubs.

Rich Hill and Felix Pie.

While the offense has come not through in the last two games, the attention on Wednesday was focused on Felix Pie's perhaps inadvertent delay in throwing the ball back to the infield that allowed speedy Emilio Bonifacio to basically score from second after an attempted throw by Matt Wieters sailed into the outfield.

Well, the next day, there was nothing short of a firestorm on local talk radio about the incident and pretty much every call wanted Pie excommunicated from the team. Ok, I know a lot of players make mental mistakes, but I guess Pie got hammered because of his less than impressive display in Birdland so far.

Really, at this point, the guy just needs to play and see the field on a regular basis. The problem is if the team wants to send him down to the minors, he's going to be put on waivers -- as he's got zero options left. I'm sure a team would take him; however, at this point -- if Pie is indeed a stud -- he needs to go somewhere he can play without pressure.

That may be Norfolk.

Moving onto Rich Hill -- I want to just let him go out and do his thing, but his lack of consistency from start to start on the mound is a little concerning. Now, I have no idea if he'll be a short timer in Baltimore, but he's still intriguing in my eyes.

The Marlins tagged Rich Hill for six runs in four innings and the game on Thursday has fit a pattern -- the southpaw struggling with the strike zone and leaving earlier than expected. While a lot of people want Hill moved out for someone younger (ahem, the studs on the farm), I still have hope for him because he's left handed, throws an amazing curveball and has shown flashes of brilliance. He just needs to be consistent, but promise will only take you so far if you continue to struggle.

What do you all think?