Dennis Sarfate got the first out of the ninth inning, then walked Nick Swisher as the O's led 7-2. He got the second out before giving up a 2 run home run to Derek Jeter. Dave Trembley made the exact same mistake he did Opening Day when he left Chris Ray in too long, and did it against the same batters. Johnny Damon, a lefty was at the plate, with Mark Teixeira, a switch hitter, and Hideki Matsui, another lefty up next. The obvious move is to put in left-handed closer George Sherrill to get the last out, just like he should have inserted Jamie Walker on Monday. But he didn't and Sarfate gave up 2 more runs before Sherrill came in and barely saved the game.
Still it was a nice start for Koji Uehara, who got his first MLB win with 5 innings, allowing 1 run. He surprisingly had no strikeouts, but only walked 1. Nick Markakis was 3 for 3 with a single, RBI double, 2 run home run, and a walk.
Aubrey Huff and Brian Roberts were both picked off, Roberts for the second game in a row. Baserunning and coaching mistakes are killers and very frustrating, and the O's won't improve on their 2-0 record until they fix that. But their offense has been excellent so far and probably should be pretty good this season. Their first 2 starters have been effective, it's the other 3 we're all worried about.
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