Game 18: Orioles 6, Red Sox 7

The Good: * Brian Matusz was great yet again. During the game the comp of a poor man's Johan Santana popped into my head. Matusz doesn't have Johan's raw stuff, but a lefty who's best pitch is a change-up (with a fastball and breaking ball as back-up) who can strike out batters and limit walks (while also giving up a lot of flyballs). He once again did a nice job mixing his pitches and throwing strikes in this one; 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR. He tired in the 7th and started losing his location a little, and Dave didn't leave him out there after a walk and a hit to face the line-up for a fourth time. Nice job by Trembley to learn from his mistakes, irrespective of results*. * By the way, I typed this - even the "irrespective of results" part - before Albers had even thrown a pitch in the game. To say I wasn't shocked by the outcome would be an understatement. * Nick Markakis singled, doubles, and walked twice. Looking good at the plate, but still no semblance of home run power. * Ty Wigginton went 4-5 with his 6th home run of the year. This is why complaining about Brian Roberts solving everything by being healthy is so dumb - his replacement has hit better than he likely would have. * Rhyne Hughes picked up a couple of singles - including one to drive in a run in his first major league at bat. He also struck out to end the game. The highs and lows of baseball in the big leagues. * Luke Scott was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI, getting out of his slump a little bit. * Adam Jones dropped a beauty of a bunt single in the early innings, and then took one out of Fenway for his second home in as many games in the 9th. * Miguel Tejada went 2-4. As did Wieters. * Alberto Castillo had a solid inning, striking out 2 in a perfect frame. The Bad: * Matt Albers relived Matusz and K'ed David Ortiz, but he gave up a three-run home run to Marco Scutaro to blow the O's (and Brian's) lead. A double and a walk later, and he was taken out of the game. Damage done though. Well, mostly * Kam Mickolio - in for Albers - gave up a three-run homer to Youkilis to really put the game away. The Final: Matusz could easily be 4-0, but the pen screwed him again. The O's made a valiant comeback in the 9th inning, but fell just short and lose 7-6. They're now 2-16 on the season. Amazing. Edit: The Orioles - scoring 3.1 runs per game - are now 0-3 when they manage to score 6 runs, and 1-4 when scoring 5 or more.