Erik Bedard gets his 9th loss of the year.
Bedard had a shaky outing, but I think the umps were part of it, at least in the beginning. Erik got the first 2 batters out no problem, but then on a full count pitch to Vernon Wells it looked like Bedard hit the outside corner to end the inning. But instead the umpire called it a ball and Wells walked to first. The next batter was Troy Glaus who knocked the ball out of the park to give the Jays a 2-0 lead. It seemed like Bedard was getting squeezed in the first and it looked like it bothered him. Still no excuse for the 7 runs (5 earned) he let up over 5 innings, but it could be a reason. He gave 7 hits and that Wells walk was the only one he gave up. He struck out 4. Chris Britton pitched a scoreless inning, then Russ Ortiz (…) came in and gave up a homerun and 2 runs over 2 innings. I would rather have Sidney Ponson pitching for us right now than this loser. Bruce Chen pitched a perfect 9th to stop the bleeding.
The bats were held hitless by Roy Halladay until the 6th inning. Halladay was on his A game and you could tell we were fighting a losing cause after the first couple innings. He leads the Major Leagues in wins with 16. We lose our first game with Nick Markakis batting second, but he did have a walk and an RBI. For the second day in a row Miguel Tejada hit a homerun, his 22nd. Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora, Jay Gibbons, and Brandon Fahey each recorded a hit. But that was about it for the offense today.
Markakis watch: 0-3 (.301)
The O’s get another day off Monday before the Minnesota Twins come to town for a 3 game series. Tuesday it will be Adam Loewen (3-4, 6.12) pitching against Carlos Silva (8-10, 6.30). Silva is a pretty hitable pitcher, so I think we should do well against him. Go O’s.
