After an uncharacteristic bullpen session before Thursday's game, rookie starter Brian Matusz walked to the Orioles dugout and sat down. He was both frustrated and confused as he gripped the baseball and closed his eyes, wondering what had happened in the 4 1/2 weeks since his surprise call-up to the major leagues.
"It just wasn't me," Matusz said. "I had to break it down and remember what got me here."
There had been promising glimpses during Matusz's first five big league starts, but nothing like Sunday, when the 22-year-old left-hander put it all together in overpowering the Cleveland Indians over seven dominant innings in the Orioles' 5-2 victory in front of an announced 20,643 at sun-splashed Camden Yards.
Matusz's performance, along with Felix Pie's two-run homer off Cleveland starter Justin Masterson that sparked a four-run third inning, powered the Orioles (54-77) to a split of the four-game series. It was the Orioles' sixth win in the past 11 games, a modest improvement for a team that is just 14-29 since the All-Star break.
Matusz (3-2) didn't allow a base runner until the fourth inning, didn't give up a hit until the fifth and then finished his outing by retiring the side in the seventh on just three pitches.
"I've been working all week, trying to figure out what happened, what's been going on, why I haven't been consistently pounding the strike zone with all my pitches," said Matusz, who even watched videotape of his outings this season at Double-A Bowie to get positive reinforcement. "I kind of actually just visually broke it down and went back to seeing, visualizing how I felt when I was at my best. I broke down every pitch, and I told [pitching coach Rick Kranitz] and I told [manager Dave Trembley] that I figured out what I was doing wrong.
"I was trying to do too much, trying to make the curveball that much better, when in reality, I just need to throw it and go back to being comfortable on the mound. And I felt that. I felt comfortable the whole time. I felt I could throw a strike whenever I needed to. I got ahead of hitters, and I worked backwards with breaking pitches, fastballs. I did everything today. I did what I know how to do best, and I did good."
Matusz, who said his struggles were all in his head, allowed just four hits and walked one while striking out eight. His walk came with two outs in the fourth, when Asdrubal Cabrera, the Indians' first base runner, reached after Matusz went to his mouth while standing on the mound. He was assessed a ball as punishment, and because the count had been 3-1, Cabrera took his base.
