Roch around the clock

The Kickoff

Saturday, a key situation in the ninth inning reached Raul Chavez. Yesterday, it had to be Brandon Fahey, making his major league debut on little sleep.

Fahey batted with Nick Markakis on third and one out in the ninth. He struck out against left-hander Eddie Guardado.

Manager Sam Perlozzo felt like he had no other option than to let Fahey face Guardado, lefty vs. lefty. Kevin Millar and Javy Lopez were unavailable. It had to be Fahey, who collected two hits yesterday, Chavez or Luis Terrero. Would you have sent up a pinch hitter in that situation? Personally, I would have been tempted to use Terry Crowley. At least he has a track record. But all Perlozzo can do right now is play the hand that he's dealt. If Fahey had looked completely overmatched in his other at-bats, I would have called upon Terrero. But it was worth a shot.

When Markakis advanced to third base on Chris Gomez's grounder, bringing Fahey to the plate, Perlozzo turned to bench coach Lee Elia and said, "Wouldn't you know that this poor kid would have to be in this situation in this game?" Fahey struck out swinging at a pitch wide of the strike zone, and Corey Patterson was called out on a close play at first after third baseman Adrian Beltre bobbled the ball momentarily and had to rush his throw.

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