Friday Night Observations

I don't know who is working the game in the truck for MASN tonight, but they need to replace him.

Sure seems like the Orioles are going to replace Steve Trachsel in the starting rotation. The TBA in Minnesota on Tuesday isn't going to be Trachsel. Now it isn't likely to be Matt Albers either as he went three innings already tonight.

Bad feeling with Jamie Walker entering. Just a bad feeling.

But I like the fact that David Ortiz is bunting. That helps the feeling.

I really think the starter on Tuesday is going to be Radhames Liz. And I still think that his best pitching may come later out of the bullpen. But after a very shaky start at AAA Norfolk, he's been solid in six of seven starts since mid-April. I think he gets the start on Tuesday. Hayden Penn was apparently under consideration but his sore shoulder has cancelled those thoughts. I'm in favor of getting Liz up here and seeing if he can't mesh with Rick Kranitz.

Another solid outing for Daniel Cabrera tonight. Obviously, the first inning was shaky but more than solid after that. His ERA has fallen to 3.60 on the season and he continues to provide quality starts. His name continues to be mentioned as a potential deadline deal prospect, but I'm just not so sure. I think the Orioles hoped before the season that they'd be able to move him at the deadline and get something back for him. Now the price tag has increased and there are definitely more interested. I also think the O's brass has to be thinking about keeping him.

The Orioles had a lot of opportunities in extra innings to score some runs. The Red Sox got one opportunity when Melvin Mora threw the ball away and Mike Lowell cashed it in.

Of course, the game probably would have been over if Kevin Millar would have run out his infield grounder that Julio Lugo bobbled earlier. I just have to believe that Luke Scott would have found a way to get the run home.

Sarfate is on, and if he gets the Birds out of this jam down only a run, they'll have to find a way to keep it going with a run against Papelbon in the bottom of the frame.

The Mount lost 16-8 to North Carolina tonight in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They'll face Elon in tomorrow's elimination game.