take steve out to the ball game

This is the Baltimore Orioles game I went to on the Abbott Trailways bus trip on Sunday. I had so much fun. I’m not even a huge baseball fan, but there’s something about going to see it in person that’s really cool. Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a hell of a place. More on this later.

O's fall short against Yanks
09/12/2004 5:49 PM ET
By Gary Washburn / MLB.com

BALTIMORE -- Given the responsibility to keep the Orioles in a game they had no business being in Sunday, Jorge Julio continued his September struggles as the Orioles lost another late-inning game against the Yankees. And a series that began with an impressive win on Friday night ended in all too familiar disappointing fashion.

Julio allowed back-to-back home runs to Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, as the Yankees rallied back from a three-run deficit to beat the Orioles, 9-7, in front of 47,780 at Camden Yards. The Orioles' pitching staff, straightened out since the arrival of pitching coach Ray Miller, walked a season-high 14 batters, and the Yankees left a whopping 17 runners on base, their most in 10 years.

Yet, the Orioles actually had a chance to win and Julio was called on in the ninth to preserve a 7-7 tie. It took one batter to lose the lead. Julio gave up Sheffield's home run on a hanging slider to break the tie. Matsui then crushed a fastball over the center-field wall to spark further concerns about Julio's future as a closer. He has three losses in the past week and has allowed five runs -- including three homers -- in just 1 2/3 innings.

Manager Lee Mazzilli, who has enough concerns in the final few weeks, reiterated that Julio is his closer. "He's gonna be our guy tomorrow," he said. "Closing takes a special mentality and he's got to get through it. It's his job. He has to go at it regardless if it a save situation [or not]."

It's been a difficult week for Julio, who before this month had not been getting consistent work. Last Sunday at Yankee Stadium, Julio walked the bases loaded and then walked Jorge Posada to score the winning run for New York. On Tuesday against Minnesota, he allowed the go-ahead two-run homer by Michael Cuddyer and then threw a high-and-tight pitch at Augie Ojeda before being ejected by home plate umpire Ron Kulpa.

He was suspended for four games and is appealing the suspension.

"I'm fine," he said in his usual calm demeanor. "I wanted to try a slider to Sheffield and he was waiting for that pitch. [Sheffield and Matsui] are two good hitters. It happens."

The nine-inning game lasted three hours, 55 minutes and Mazzilli went through 10 pitchers, a Major League record for a regulation game. The Orioles actually led, 6-3, in the sixth inning, despite the Yankees' constant threats to take the lead. Perhaps one of the game's key decisions occurred in the sixth, when Mazzilli decided to summon Dave Borkowski to relieve Rick Bauer.

It took Borkowski just four batters to lose the lead. He promptly gave up a single to Kenny Lofton and then walked Derek Jeter. Alex Rodriguez pounced on a straight fastball for a two-run double to right-center field.

Borkowski, who spent most of the past three years in the minors but suddenly has been thrust into the right-handed setup role, then gave up a laser single down thleft-field line from Sheffield to cash in Rodriguez for the tie.

"If I just make some pitches and do my job, we win this game," he said. "It's stupid. You can sit there and allow a hit and then walk a guy and you've got A-Rod and Sheffield coming up. If I get out of that inning, with [Jason] Grimsley, [B.J.] Ryan and Julio to pitch the next three innings, I like our chances."

The Orioles built a 6-3 lead, thanks to some timely hitting with runners in scoring position. Rafael Palmeiro blooped a double to right-center field to score two off Jon Lieber in the first inning. Baltimore jumped ahead 4-2 in the bottom of the second, when David Newhan laced a two-out, two-run single to score Jay Gibbons and Larry Bigbie, both of whom singled.

Newhan then contributed another two-out RBI single in the fourth for a 6-3 lead. But the O's managed just one run in the final five innings.

The Orioles were lucky to be ahead because rookie right-hander Daniel Cabrera had no command, walking six batters in 1 2/3 innings. He walked three of the first five batters faced, and then issued a pass to Ruben Sierra for a Yankees run in the first inning.

He gave up singles to Cairo and Rodriguez and then walked Sheffield and Matsui to score another run. He was pulled after just 1 2/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. Just 27 of his 60 pitches were strikes.

"I felt the same as before, I felt good," Cabrera said. "I don't know why all my balls were up, maybe I throw too hard. I really don't know what happened."