Its a wonderful day in Charm City and the Cincinatti Reds will be playing the Baltimore Orioles in the final contest of their three-game interleague series.
Of course, the Orioles won Friday night thanks to Derrek Lee’s walk-off homer in extra innings; however, they lost yesterday as an ineffective pitching corps lead by Brian Matusz got hammered by the swinging Reds, 10-5.
It’s pretty obvious that there’s is something very much wrong about Matusz. I didn’t see the game since I was out of town; however, caught snippets of it on the radio and the man simply didn’t have his stuff. He isn’t throwing very hard, and when he tries to locate his pitches, hitters have been getting good wood on his offerings. Overall, the Reds got all their runs off homers, and last night Camden Yards became a launching pad.
The Orioles did their share offensively, as J.J. Hardy, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones all homered for Red starter Broson Arroyo. The game was ugly overall, but it was a good offensive showing by both teams until the mid-point of the game, and the Reds just flat out took over in the second half.
I think Matusz may need some time off, or see if he is suffering an undisclosed injury or problem. For now, it looks as if the team is trying to figure things out with the young southpaw. It’s disconcerting to watch such a young, talented pitcher. The only thing I can say is that Matusz can work through his issues on the mound.
