Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays – who fell out of the playoff hunt with an 11-game losing streak – came into Baltimore with David Price on the mound to somehow themselves again.
Tampa did as they jumped on starter David Hernandez and the Rays ended up with an 8-4 win over the Orioles. Tampa ended an 11-game losing streak; however, the larger story may be the struggles of Hernandez. Baltimore was actually up 4-1 at one point thanks to hammering starting pitcher David Price for Tampa to the tune of four runs – all on singles during the opening frame, but he would shut them down for the rest of game.
Hernandez looked so promising, when he came up, but now it’s a different story. If you want to read a sobering piece of reality, here’s what Dan Connolly wrote in the sun about the hurler:
I’m sure most people who saw the game know what happened, the Rays jumped on Hernandez in the fourth with four runs when Baltimore had the lead, 4-2. A two-run homer by Reid Brignac and a B.J. Upton solo shot put the Rays up 5-4 when the frame end; thereafter, in the fifth inning, Tampa Bay scored three times thanks to inept fielding by Baltimore due to a Nolan Reimold error that sailed over home plate, followed by a errant toss by Brian Bass to third.
It now goes without saying that Hernandez could have cost himself a spot in the rotation for next year, unless he finds himself in Spring Training.
Speaking of another youngster, Brian Matusz was officially shut down by the Orioles. Too bad. Yes, I wanted to see him be challenged in the majors, but with the money and youth involved – plus the fact this is his first pro season, it was the right decision to have shut him down.
Finally, the crowd at the Yard was a paltry 10,628 (one of the smallest crowds I’ve ever heard attend a game there) – and it looked much, much smaller on TV. Has baseball finally become a non-entity in Baltimore now that football season has started?
And in other news, the Orioles have announced their 2010 regular season schedule…
