Sunday Bloody Sundays

"Tell me why I don't like Mondays." - Boomtown Rats

The Orioles have had some boring teams over the years. This isn't one of them. Unfortunately, that's not such a good thing. For the third time in the last four weeks, the Orioles wake up on a Monday morning with a hangover that stings like you wouldn't imagine. It's not so much that the Orioles keep losing on Mondays--it's really more about the style in which they lose. Losing like the Orioles did in Game 2 (Cabrera gives up the hit in the 7th and the Orioles can't come back) is tough. Losing like they did in Game 3 (bad starting pitching, a stuttered offense resulting in a poor showing overall) is annoying, but those clunkers happen to all teams. But Sunday. Ahh, Sunday. The Orioles have turned losing on Sundays into an art form. The day where a win would be make the weekend a success. The day where the Orioles do everything right for most of the game. And a day when the back-end of the bullpen melts down and leaves a sour taste in your mouth. The Mother's Day massacre was a combo of Baez and Ray. The week after was Baez. After a week where the lead was too big to blow, it was Ray's turn to blow it.

Ray is an easy scapegoat (as is any struggling closer). The funny part is, if you look at Ray's numbers, he's been outstanding. Opponents hit under 200 against him. His walks have cut down. Even with today, the home runs have gone down since last year. But the blown saves are such collosal failures that it's easy to lose confidence in him. No closer is perfect (witness Papelbon surrendering A-Rod's game-winner tonight), but Ray's failures have come against major teams in key games. The first blown save against the Yankees prevented what could've been a sweep at Yankee Stadium. The second one (against the Red Sox) foiled a split and the third prevented a weekend series win at Fenway where no one gave the Orioles a chance. This one would've salvaged the split, showcased Jeremy Guthrie as a stopper, guaranteed a split on the road trip, and given them momentum going up to Seattle (who are playing very well right now). And don't blame Perlozzo for this one. Guthrie did his job. You have a closer in the pen and this is his job. Francona would do it with Curt Schilling. Joe Torre would do it with Mike Mussina. Heck, Davey Johnson would've done it with Mike Mussina back in the day. Then again, they've had Papelbon, Rivera, and Randy Myers circa 1997 behind them. The Orioles have traditionally had confidence in Ray, but each of these outings hurts that confidence.

I don't think anyone believes that Chris Ray taking the stopper role last year was ideal. Ideal would've been BJ Ryan for at least 1-2 more seasons and then Ray stepping in when Ryan. The Orioles wouldn't have needed to sign Baez in that situation and even if Ryan suffered his injury this year, Ray would've had that extra year to learn. How will he handle this adversity? So far, he claims his confidence is up. But four blown saves a year after he had five all year is concerning. Plus, the pitch he threw Guerrero looks a lot like the one to A-Rod. He's gotta learn that the most important thing, especially with Vlad Guerrero, was to KEEP THE BALL IN THE PARK!!! That's situational pitching. That is paramount to a closer more than any other person in the park. It's the entire job description.

Of course, the Orioles have little choice but to let him work it out. The irony is that the major off-season signings should've afforded them the opportunity to let Ray get out of his funk, but the natural successor would be Baez and he can't even handle the setup role. Plus, unlike Baez, Ray actually had been pitching pretty well. Before this series, he had only given up 1 hit in his previous 5 innings--but none of them were pressure situations as there were only 2 saves and both were of the three-run variety. With Baez, you take the innings wherever you get them and try new things. With Ray, the problem is the clutch pitching. How do you solve that.

Anyway, it's off to Seattle. I'll be at two of the games in person. Erik Bedard will be back on the hill after a phenomenal May. A few years ago, he got his first career win in Seattle (I was there for it), but last year, he was shelled by the Mariners, incluing a Richie Sexson Grand Slam (I was there for that too). Bedard, Burres, and Cabrera before the Orioles head home for a much needed nine-game homestand. Of course, that'll be against the dreaded NL, against who the Orioles have struggled for years. Taking two out of three would mean a winning roadtrip and that would be some great momentum. But they'll need the bullpen to come through. I believe in both Ray and Baez. I just hope the team does as well...