Moral Victory?

Last night's game would qualify for one of Ben's cocentric Circles of Losing. It would be Circle 1 - the Moral Victory. (Further Dante infused Orioles reading over at Oriole Central here.)

Adam Loewen was not bad last night and he has improved with every start. His stuff is electric, not in pure heat but in movement. And after a disastrous first inning, he settled down and (with some help from his defense) put up zeroes for the next 5 innings. A step in the right direction. Loewen has improved with each start.

Jim Johnson looks like a seasoned pro on the mound. He mixes his pitches, keeps the ball down in the zone, works fast and isn't afraid to let his defense work behind him. He looks like a veteran at the age of 24 and he might not go back to Norfolk at all this season.

Lots of singles last night. Without some extra base hits, they're going to struggle in close games. Sorry if I'm stating the obvious but the offense is beginning to look a lot like the power-starved version from last year.

Williamson to DL, O's Call Up...Johnson?

Raise your hand if you saw this guy getting the call. As I mentioned in last week's minor league wrapup, Jim Johnson has been the best pitcher at AAA this year. He has posted a 2.81 ERA with 13 Ks and 3BB in 16 innings.

As I've mentioned before, Todd Williams is never coming back under normal circumstances. Baltimore would have to be decimated by injuries for him to get the call.

Roch Kubato reports in his blog that Mora tried to signal Patterson three times before he bunted.

"That was my decision," Mora said. "That's the way I play baseball. I play to win. I play to surprise the other team. That's why I've been in the playoffs before, because I like to do the little things."

That's a copout. A) You need to make sure that Patterson understands before you lay down a bunt or B) lay down a decent enough bunt to give the guy a legitimate chance to score. Mora did neither.

And I love you Melvin but you went to the playoffs on a team that featured Mike Piazza, a young Mike Hampton, Al Leiter in his prime and a young Edgar Alfonso. Even your current teammate, Jay Payon, was a more important cog on that team than you.

And if that was a veiled dig at Corey Patterson, he was a major contributor on the 2003 Cubs team that went to the NLCS (even though he was injured by the end of the season.).