O's 6/18, random Thoughts and Phils Series

I read a headline about a "Hon Festival" in MD and I have to say, it's a festival I am sad to have missed. For all you local Baltimore folk, you can probably relate to and appreciate the use of the term "hon."" Follow the ink so you don't miss it next year, and if Jimmy's is still down in Fells Point, stop by, I assure you that someone will address you as "hon." Man do I miss that here in Seattle…...
www.honfest.net/

One other random thought from Wednesday's O's broadcast was how relaxed and animated Trembley was during his interview on MASN's "Wired Wednesday." For me, it would be great to see a lot more of this. He's incredibly stoic in the dugout, and while he's obviously focused on the game, he sometimes gives the appearance of a deer in the headlights. Maybe it's just me, although my Mom even made the comment a few weeks ago, and she doesn't watch a lot of baseball! At any rate, it was nice to see and I hope we see more of it as the season progresses
On to last night's game. Berken looked great through 5 innings and it was clear he had a plan and executed it well. He kept the Mets hitters off balance, consistently kept the ball down, and got K's both via his off speed pitches as well as his fastball. What impressed me most was how comfortable and confident he looked, and his ability to stay focused after Andino made the throwing error to lead off the 4th ( BTW, Wiggy should have been able to actually stretch for, or at least stretch and make it a short hop, not an in between hop on the throw in the dirt). For any pitcher, much less a rookie, poor defense behind you so often leads a pitcher unraveling, but Berken didn't appear to let him bother him. In the 6th inning though, he was consistently up in the zone and after giving up only 1 hit through 5, gave up 2 runs and four hits in the 6th. He finished the inning with close to, if not 90 pitches for the game, and it should have been the end of his day. The most obvious reason he should have been pulled was b/c he was getting pitches up and he was coming off of two very poor outings, so he could have left feeling pretty damn good about his outing. We can always can second guess (in particular, I can), but this seemed like a no brainer to me. It all worked out and it was nice to read in the Sun that Wiggy went over to Berken and told him that the offense would get him off the hook, and sure enough they did.
Home plate ump Mark Wegner had a very generous strike zone all night for both teams, but I really thought the O's got a break in the bottom of the 9th as K-Rod, in my opinion, was really getting squeezed. When things are going well (and I consider 3 of 4 going in to last night's game "going well" for the O's, at least) this is what happens. And, the sacrifice bunt by Roberts and K-Rod's subsequent throw to third to try to get the lead runner was another great break for the O's, and great hustle by Felix Pie to even make it close. I watched the play about 5 times in slo-mo, and I have to say that it could have gone either way, but I think the correct call was made. Surely there are Mets fans, and even Jim palmer on the broadcast, who may think otherwise, but these are the kinds of breaks teams need sometimes. We'll see if they parlay it into a couple wins off of the Phillies lefties this weekend. There's been lots of chatter coming out of Philly regarding the Phils home tonic with the O's coming to town, and Bob Ford had some bulletin board material for the O's in this article, including the excerpt below: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20090619_Bob_Ford__Manuel_is_near_boiling_point_with_listless_Phils.html
Here's the kicker:
"Life might get a little brighter tonight when the Baltimore Orioles, owners of the worst road record in the American League, drag themselves into town. If you can't have the Washington Nationals around - and the Nats are the only thing standing between the Phils and an 8-18 home record - the Orioles are the next-best option."
As any association with the Nats should outrage O's fans on many levels, I'd like to think we have a decent chance of taking 2 of 3 with the Phils myriad issues. Patience against Rich Hill tonight could spell disaster, but I'm looking forward to some good old banter with those folks from Philly. Especially that Sophocles punk! I think Reimold and Jones will have big weekends. Go O's!