The prospects for the weather improving immediately in the Chesapeake region are much better than are the prospects for the local ball club turning its recent slide around. Mike Hargrove, though well-respected and an ardent players' manager, has sealed his fate in Maryland with a second consecutive late-season collapse.
The Orioles did get a bit of good news this week, as Luis Matos is back in the lineup. The Jays finally complete their nineteen-game season series with the O's, which didn't even start until June 18 this season. As for pitching matchups, Kelvim should be able to handle the Baltimore attack tonight, and Lurch may get another shot at starting on Sunday. Meanwhile, Cory Lidle, whose stock has continued to slip, gets another shot at Tommy John recipient Matt Riley on Saturday.
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Orioles went 1-2-1 in their four game set with the Yankees this week, although they did not record any overtime losses ... The O's continue their annual September fade, going 2-6-1 in their last nine ...
* The O's tend to get off to fast starts in games, as they've outscored their opposition 169-127 in the first two innings ...
* Tonight's opponent, Omar Daal, earned the start tonight with a respectable relief outing against the Jays on Sunday ... Prior to his landing on the disabled list with tendinitis in his rotator cuff, Daal was absolutely bombed by the Jays for nine runs in 2 1/3 IP, back in the halcyon days of June ...
* Setup man Kerry Ligtenberg has trouble with lefties (.363), but has walked just three righties while striking out 31 and limiting righthanded batters to a .212 average ...
* Tomorrow's opponent, Matt Riley, will attempt to record his second win over the Jays in his second appearance overall this season ... Riley only lasted five innings in besting Cory Lidle, but he said he felt comfortable in his first big-league start since he was a 20-year-old rookie in 1999 ... Riley managed to pound Vernon Wells down and in, coaxing a key groundout with two runners on base ... Riley: "I figured I'd get this win a long time ago" ... But Riley committed severeal disciplinary infractions in training camp at 2000, and then got hurt. Hargrove: "He wasn't a bad kid, but he was real hyper all the time. He was a true lefthander" ...
* Jay Gibbons has emerged from a long slump and is riding a six-game hitting streak ...
* Larry Bigbie has continued his hot hitting ... He had a nine-game hitting streak (.395) ended the cheap way, as he went 0-for-2 in yesterday's official tie ... He's still at 308/368/474 on the season, 333/388/528 since his late-July callup and 377/415/525 in September ...
* Tony Batista went just 1 for 13 (.077) in the Yankee series after a strong weekend at the Dome ...
* B.J. Surhoff is 3 for his last 18 (.167) ...
* Melvin Mora has a partially torn MCL in his left knee after his painful pursuit of Vernon Wells' triple last Saturday ... He's out for the season, which must otherwise be considered an unqualified success ... Mora shares that perspective: "I've been able to have a good year and help the team win some games" ...
* Old friend Pedro Swann was called up to replace Mora, and he hit his first major league home run on Tuesday -- at age 32 ... Swann also committed his first major league brain cramp on Tuesday, as he began trotting to the dugout after catching a Karim Garcia shallow fly. Problem was, it was only the second out -- and an alert Jorge Posada tagged and scored ... Swann was named MVP of the Ottawa Lynx after keeping the offence afloat. Even with the callups of Bigbie, Luis Matos, Brian Roberts, Jack Cust and Tim Raines Jr., the Lynx earned a wild-card berth ...
* The O's offence (and defence) got a boost on Wednesday by the return of Luis Matos from a strained hamstring ...The 24-year-old has been impressive this year at 306/357/454 ...
* Sunday's opponent will hopefully be Rodrigo Lopez, whose command dried up when the skies did on Monday ... Lopez has been shelled in back-to-back outings against the Red Sox and Yankees, giving up 15 runs and a ghastly 6 home runs over the two starts ... Lopez gave up five runs on five pitches on Monday (home run, single, home run, single, home run) ... Joe Torre: "We're a patient ballclub, but when we see a strike, we're going to swing at it" ... Lopez was scolded for leaving his pitches up by pitching coach Mark Wiley and catcher Brook Fordyce in a private postgame meeting ...
* 24-year-old righty Sean Douglass has been tattooed in both of his 2003 appearances, and his ERA sits at 11.12 ...
* Deivi Cruz is just 4 for his last 26 (.154) ... Only three of his career-high 14 homers have come since the All-Star break ...
* The more youthful B.J., Ryan, has not given up a run in 30 of his last 32 outings ... 32 appearances ago, Ryan's ERA was an unsightly 6.08. His appearences have been so short that he's only got it whittled down to 3.45 after repeated scoreless performances ... Lefties are hitting just .173 against him ...
* Hargrove received a hate letter on Monday -- from a Red Sox fan ... The writer fumed that Baltimore consistently played spoiler against Boston, but got dominated by the Yankees ... The letter writer even imputed a conspiratorial element to Jack Cust's pratfall in the O's August 16 extra-inning defeat ...
* Closer Jorge Julio will pitch exclusively from the stretch for the rest of the season, in order to focus on his mechanics ...
* Kurt Ainsworth recently threw 45 pitches in a simulated game, but if he pitches again this season, it'll be in relief ...
* As the Baltimore Sun says, Cha-Ching! ... Pat Hentgen threw his 150th inning in yesterday's rain-shortened draw -- earning him a $2 million bonus ...
* Finally, there was an exceptionally classy gesture by Jay Gibbons on Wednesday ... Robert Florio, paralyzed in a swimming-pool accident at age 14, met Gibbons at an electronics store a few months ago, and the two exchanged e-mail ... Florio, a lifelong Orioles fanatic, has recently discovered another passion: art. Florio has a paintbrush specially fitted with a mouthguard, so he can paint with his teeth ... He asked permission to make his most ambitious oil painting a portrait of Gibbons. Gibbons drove a hard bargain, insisting that he would only grant permission if Florio would agree to be shown around Camden Yards personally before a game and if Florio wouldn't mind taking a few autographed bats off his hands ... The Orioles were both moved by the portrait and impressed by Florio's artistic ability. They chipped in on a team-autographed bat and road jersey for Jay Gibbons' newest friend ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
4 Roberts
DH Hairston Jr.
7 Bigbie
5 Batista
9 Gibbons
8 Matos/Raines Jr.
3 Surhoff
6 Cruz
2 Fordyce
vs. RH
DH/4 Roberts
4 Hairston Jr./ 8 Matos
9/8/7 Bigbie
5 Batista
9/DH Gibbons
3 Surhoff
6 Cruz
7 Swann/8 Raines Jr.
2 Machado/Fordyce/Gil
Pitching Probables
Friday: LH Daal vs. Escobar
Saturday: LH Riley vs. Lidle
Sunday: RH Lopez/RH Johnson vs. Walker/Hendrickson
Bullpen Usage
Long: Douglass R, Parrish L, Bauer R
Short: Carrasco R, Groom L
Setup: Ligtenberg R, Ryan L
Closer: Julio R
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20030919053247999