GB&U GAME 71: O's Don't Stop Till They Get Enough

"To not like Michael Jackson is un-American." --Ryan Zimmerman, as told to Nationals Journal.

THE RESULT: The Baltimore Orioles busted out for an eight-run sixth inning against three different Washington Nationals relievers, and cruised to an 11-1 win before a bi-partisan crowd of 45,024, in a game that could not have been labelled a Thriller.

Starter Ross Detwiler (L, 0-4, 5.24) and relievers Joel Hanrahan and Ron Villone were the authors of the "snowman", with Hanrahan particularly ineffective. The deposed closer was Bad again, and managed one out against three hits an a walk, with all the base runners scoring.

Hanrahan now has an ERA of 7.71 for the season, and in his last three appearances has surrendered eight earned runs over two and one-third innings.

Not to be outdone, Villone turned in an atypical performance, giving up two hits and a walk, with two earned runs, in his two-thirds of an inning.

Detwiler was not sharp at all under the Friday night lights. He allowed five earned runs on nine hits and two walks, striking out three. All the base runners he put on were Dangerous, but the one thing that kept him in the game was the two double-plays turned behind him.

Asked to assess his performance, Detwiler said: "Terrible. I left the ball up all game. That's why they had nine hits and were hitting it hard all night."

But the pitching was not the only thing missing against the Nationals' geographic rivals.

Washington managed just seven hits and three walks, and the worst fielding team in the league committed two more errors, by Cristian Guzman (misplayed grounder) and Josh Willingham, who took a strange approach to a ball that banged Off the Wall in left field.

THE TAKEAWAY: Well, the battle for who remains on the roster when Scott Olsen is activated on Monday just got a little more interesting. All along, I think the team planned to send Craig Stammen back to Triple-A when Olsen returned, but Detwiler was especially erratic last night. One could say the decision now is less than Black or White.

He couldn't get on top of his sinking fastball all night, which allowed the ball to stay up in the zone, and essentially turned into batting practice. He did manage nine ground ball outs (compared to one fly ball out), but if he's not getting his true sinking action, the grounders are going to hit harder and stand a better chance of getting thought the porous Nationals infield.

And what about Hanrahan? He's out of options, so they can't just send him down to the minors. He would have to be designated for assignment and then pass through waivers, something that probably would not happen.

THE GOOD: Josh Bard. It's another multi-hit game for The Bard, as he went 2-for-3 with the Nats' lone RBI. He's hitting over .400 for June and has his season average up to .386.

THE BAD: Anderson Hernandez. 0-for-4, with four runners left on base.

THE UGLY: Hanrahan. Manager Manny Acta just can't trust him in any sort of competitive ball game right now, which is only Human Nature.

NEXT GAME: Tonight in Balmer. Oh, to be in Charm City on a Sattidee night. Shairon Martis (5-2, 5.13) faces O's "ace" Jeremy Guthrie (5-7, 5.09). The score has a chance to look like a Ravens score, something like 10-7?

NOTES: R.I.P. King of Pop.