The Cincinnati Reds sent the Orioles to their fourth straight loss, scoring six runs (three earned) off reliever Sean Douglass in the middle innings to break open a previously well-pitched game. Douglass was a long shot to make the starting rotation, but the Orioles were hoping to see more positives out of him before sending him to Triple-A Ottawa. After Sidney Ponson pitched four scoreless inning, Douglass entered and hit Wily Mo Pena in the helmet with a breaking pitch. Juan Castro followed with a run-scoring triple, scoring the go-ahead run on a passed ball by catcher Geronimo Gil. Pena came up against Douglass the next inning and clubbed a two-run homer. "It seemed like Sean never focused after that [beaning]," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove said. Hargrove said he plans to have another talk with Gil. "He has to understand that to be a No. 1 catcher in the big leagues, those types of things can't happen."
Reds turn Douglass blue in loss
Reds 7, Orioles 4
Who's hot
Sidney Ponson: Another good outing, even with subpar stuff, and trade rumors have been awfully quiet.
B.J. Surhoff: Two more hits left average at .474. Minor-league deal? Yeah, right.
John Valentin: Orioles hope his pinch-hit double in the seventh was sign of things to come.
Who's not
Sean Douglass: Hargrove thought about bringing his suitcase to the mound.
Geronimo Gil: The go-ahead run scored on a passed ball, right through his glove.
Willis Roberts: Those heavenward points would seem more meaningful if his ERA would just drop under 9.00.
Injury report
Hargrove said a few of his pitchers, such as B.J. Ryan and Buddy Groom, might be going through a "dead arm" period, which is common for spring training. It sounds worse than it is. In the baseball lexicon, this is another name for arm fatigue.
Box score
ORIOLES AB R H BI CINC. (ss) AB R H BI
BRoberts 2b 4 0 1 2 Lopez ss 3 0 0 0
Whiteside c 0 0 0 0 Olmedo ss 1 0 0 0
Matthews cf 4 0 2 0 LaRue c 1 0 0 0
Ryan p 0 0 0 0 Maxwll pr-2b 1 1 1 0
WRoberts p 0 0 0 0 Dunn lf 3 1 1 0
Richard 1b 3 0 0 0 Stefanski c 1 1 1 0
Batista 3b 3 1 1 0 Taylor cf 2 1 1 0
Rebolet ss 1 0 0 0 Smithrmn rf 4 0 1 2
Surhoff rf 3 0 2 1 Guerrero 3b 3 0 0 0
McDonald rf 1 0 0 0 Blnco ph-3b 1 0 0 0
Cordova lf 3 1 1 0 Pena 1b 1 0 1 0
Bigbie lf 1 0 0 0 Thoms pr-1b 1 2 1 2
Mora ss 3 1 1 0 Castro 2b 3 1 1 1
Leon 3b 1 0 0 0 Moseley p 0 0 0 0
Gil c 3 0 2 0 Watson p 0 0 0 0
Matos cf 1 0 0 0 Mercker p 0 0 0 0
Ponson p 1 0 0 0 Haynes p 1 0 0 0
Rios ph 1 0 0 0 Bosham p 1 0 0 0
Douglass p 0 0 0 0 Darula lf 1 0 0 0
Valentin ph-2b 2 1 1 1
Totals 35 4 11 4 Totals 28 7 8 5
Orioles 010 000 300 - 4
Cincinnati (ss) 000 024 01x - 7
E-Castro, Mora. DP-Orioles 3, Cincinnati 1. LOB-Orioles 5, Cincinnati 2. 2B-Batista, Matthews, Dunn, Valentin. 3B-Pena, Castro. HR-Thomas (1). SB-Matthews, BRoberts. CS-Richard, Mora, Maxwell. S-Taylor.
Orioles IP H R ER BB SO
Ponson 4 2 0 0 0 1
Douglass L, 0-1 2 3 6 3 2 2
Ryan 1 1 1 0 0 1
WRoberts 1 1 2 1 0 0
Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO
Haynes 4 5 1 1 1 1
Basham W, 1-0 2 2 0 0 0 1
Moseley 1 4 3 3 0 1
Watson 1 0 0 0 0 2
Mercker S, 2 1 0 0 0 0 1
HBP-by Ponson (LaRue), by Douglass (Pena). PB-Gil. T-2:31. A-2,561.
