After losing 4-0 to Josh Beckett and the Red Sox on Saturday night, the Orioles continued their swoon as they lost 18-10 to the Red Sox on Sunday. Although the Baltimore offense came alive and they had a six-run rally in the third inning, it was just plain bad baseball on the afternoon at Camden Yards. The pitching sucked, Aubrey Huff was shaky at first, and hitting into double plays killed the Orioles.
One has to figure that Jason Berken may still be around next week in Birdland with Bergesen on the DL, but if Brian Matusz — who will start on Tuesday — delivers at the Major League lebel, he’s good as gone and back in Norfolk.
I’m a tad surprised that Matusz is going to pitch in the majors much sooner than expected, and moreso considering how conservative the Orioles have been with their young starters; nevertheless, they need help. The kid has dominated in the minors, and has stepped it up this season, so why not give him the opportunity and see if he’s hungry.
I might have preferred to see a Chris Waters or David Pauley come up with the big squad if a spot opened up, especially if they were need for a start or two, or three, but let’s see what Matusz can do.
Finally, the biggest story aside from the sad loss to Boston might have been the words out of Melvin Mora’s mouth and I’d be surprised if he’s still on the squad in the near future.
Here’s what Mora said today to the media as he lamented on the lack of playing time recently given to him by Dave Trembley:
From MASN Sports: Melvin Mora stood in front of his locker with his arms folded earlier today and expressed his frustration to the print and electronic media over losing his playing time.
Trembley had to know this was a distinct possibility. He didn’t want the distraction. He doesn’t want a divided clubhouse. But he finally reached the point where he felt like he had to sit Mora more often.
Now we have a mess on our hands.
“I think I deserve more respect than what I’m getting here,” Mora said. “Don’t give me excuses that I can’t beat Smoltz or I can’t beat Beckett or I can’t beat Lester. I’ve been here nine years. All these guys in the East know me. I’ve made the All-Star team. I deserve respect.
“I always speak up. I never hide anything. I’m an honest man. Just respect me. The way I’ve played for the Orioles, just respect me.”
Mora conceded that it’s “time for me to move on.”
The Baltimore Sun and orioles.com have an extended piece on the Mora episode, but we all know how he can be, and this response was going to come sooner or later.
We know that Melvin has been a good soldier, plus a great steward to the team, but the last I remembered baseball is a results-driven game, and your ability in the lineup depends on your performance.
Melvin has not been performing well, and sooner or later, he was going to be put on the bench in favor of Wigginton — who deserves to play more and has the better bat. At this point, Melvin’s career in the majors may be coming to the end and he’s no longer the player he was last year, more less several years ago. The game, much more than anything, is a business and with Trembley trying to save his job, along a capable bat in Wigginton, Mora has to ride the pine.
The man has a lot of pride, but at some point in sports, your playing career comes to an end and it can be very cruel. I hope he can maintain some sort of relationship with the team post-career as he lives in the area and has done a lot in the community.
The end result in this case may be real ugly, unless Mora finds a way to find a way to exit gracefully.
