| Tom Morris. 25th July, 2005 - 3:42 am
 On a night that saw Sidney Ponson pitch seven strong innings for what may be his last appearance as an Oriole, the rest of the team --the ones that step to the plate-- again struggled to get anything going on offense. Baltimore's lineup continued its ineffective ways tonight in Tampa Bay, scraping together five hits and two runs against the Devil Rays while losing their fourth straight game, 3 - 2.
Scott Kazmir (5 - 7) allowed one run and four hits, with seven strikeouts, and Damon Hollins provided the go-ahead RBI single for the Devil Rays, who now have the chance Sunday to sweep the Orioles, losers of 18 of their last 24 games.
The Orioles were the first to get on the scoreboard, putting together three hits in the first inning. Brian Roberts doubled, and one out later, back-to-back singles by Miguel Tejada and Sammy Sosa brought him around to give Baltimore the early 1 - 0 lead.
The Devil Rays responded in the third when Alex Gonzales hit his fifth home run, a solo shot, to left field. It snapped Ponson's string of retiring the first eight batters he faced, and tied the game at one apiece, where it stayed until the seventh.
Reports surfaced shortly before the game started that Ponson, who is 0 - 5 in his last six starts, had been traded to the San Diego Padres for 1B/OF Phil Nevin. Nothing can be made official, however, unless Nevin waives the no-trade clause worked into his contract. It is believed that the Orioles are one of eight teams to whom he can refuse a trade.
According to leading newspapers, talks with Nevin's agent, Barry Axelrod, revealed Nevin's continued reluctance to move to a team outside of California, among other things. Still, the door is not completely closed to the deal.
Said Axelrod, "I haven't had a chance to talk in-depth about it with Phil. We have to get some questions answered with the Orioles...about what his role might be and what the circumstances would be there."
Axelrod added that Nevin, who has three kids in school in the San Diego area, has a new home being built there right now, and would need to be persuaded to leave the clean-up spot on a division-leading ballclub. Nevin, the first overall draft pick of 1992 for the Houston Astros, this year is hitting .263 with nine home runs and 47 RBI, returning last week after having missed many games with a strained right oblique muscle. He is primarily a first baseman, but has also played the outfield as well as at third base in his career.
The Orioles, according to sources close to the ballclub, would admittedly be leaving a hole in their starting rotation but would be picking up an extra right-handed batter who would give rest time to Palmeiro at first while also filling in at DH and some time in the outfield.
Some may be surprised, quite frankly, that any team was prepared to burden themselves with both Ponson and his hefty contract. The Aruban native --in the middle of a 3-year, $22.5 million contract-- last year followed a very poor first half with strong second-half numbers. Overall, however, he has mostly been a puzzling disappointment on- and off-the-field for the Orioles. Despite starting this season 7 - 4, his ERA has still only continued to climb, and with Baltimore's recent offensive slump, so have his losses. Last night was another night where offensive support was hard to find, but Ponson ironically gave one of his strongest outings of the year.
Baltimore manager Lee Mazzilli, who before the game denounced the trade stories as "rumors", afterward praised Ponson for his effort:
"He pitched good enough to win the game. We just didn't score any runs," Mazzilli said. "We got one hit after the first inning until Miggy hit the home run. We're not hitting."
Indeed. After the first inning, the Orioles did not get another hit until Luis Matos' one-out single in the fifth, and then were hitless again until the ninth, when Tejada's 21st home run, off Devil Rays closer Denys Baez, cut the lead to 3 - 2. Baez then struck out Sosa and pinch-hitter Palmeiro for his 19th save in 25 chances, sealing the game for a team that has responded to a season-high 10-game losing streak by winning 7 of 11 games. The Orioles are 1 -6 -2 in their last nine series, and fell to 3 1/2 games back of Boston in the AL East division.
With the AJ Burnett deal now almost officially erased, Baltimore has seen its strongest efforts of late coming from its previously struggling starting pitching. Of late it has been the bullpen and the stumbling offense who have relieved the starters of the responsiblity of losing games for the squad. Baltimore, who must win Sunday to avoid a sweep at the hands of Tampa Bay, next play four games against Texas and three versus the ML-best Chicago White Sox. A week from today, I'm sorry to say, they may have drifted too far away from a playoff spot to even consider getting close again...regardless of who is playing on their roster. |
