The Orioles closed out their final homestand before the All-Star break with a loss to the Oakland Athletics, 8-1.
Baltimore didn’t do much in the loss as Jake Arrieta got hammered again on the mound, the bullpen could not stop the bleeding (Frank Mata and Matt Albers), the defense was shaky (two errors and Corey Patterson fell trying catch a flyball) and the offense could not touch Oakland pitcher Trevor Cahill.
The Orioles are now 24-54 on the season.
Last night’s game was notable because fans got to see their first look at prospect Josh Bell in his first appearance on the major league level. For most, his announcement was a surprise and left many wondering why he was brought up from Norfolk; however, the Orioles needed an extra player due to the Luke Scott injury and Felix Pie was deemed not ready to play for big league club yet.
Bell was hot in Norfolk and maybe the Orioles wanted to capture lightning in a bottle. He’ll more than likely stay with the big club for only a short while, but if he can hit a few homers, that would great – if he doesn’t, the team will have seen what they’ve got.
Yesterday, Bell went 1-for-4, looked decent on the field except for a throwing error early in the game. He’s a big man and I could envision him as a DH or first baseman, but didn’t embarrass himself in his first taste of the majors.
In addition, it looks like the Phillies are interested more than ever with Ty Wigginton since Chase Utley is hurt; another potential member of the so called ‘calvary’ Zach Britton made his first start at Triple-A Norfolk; Rick Dempsey and Eric Wedge met with the O’s brass; Cal Ripken broke ground on a new astro-turf field at the old site of Memorial Stadium and a minor leaguer at Frederick threw a no hitter.
