Garrett Olson

A recap of the Orioles' 11-6 loss to the Angels last night: Fewer than six again Orioles starter Radhames Liz was pulled in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and two outs and the Orioles trailing 6-3. It was the sixth time in his past seven starts that he failed to get through six innings. He's not alone. Orioles starters have pitched six innings only twice in 10 games since the All-Star break and have an ERA of 8.35 in that span. Liz was charged with six runs on seven hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings.

The three-season, up-and-down Orioles career of Felix Pie likely came to an end Tuesday when the outfielder was designated for assignment to make room for outfielder Matt Angle. As he walked out of the visitors' clubhouse at Target Field, Pie said he was disappointed and somewhat surprised by the move but hopes he'll get a chance to play more elsewhere. "It's a business. I know that. It's better for me, because here I don't play. And I know I can play every day," said Pie, who hit .220 with no homers and seven RBIs in 164 at-bats this season.

In September of another losing season, facing an unavoidable last-place finish for the first time in two decades, it's difficult to believe that any win could be an important one for the Orioles. Yet after losing a season-worst eight in a row, several in embarrassing fashion, and rarely getting a well-pitched game from a young starter, the Orioles craved the kind of victory they picked up last night, a 14-3 blowout of the Cleveland Indians before 11,181. "We needed it," said Orioles designated hitter Aubrey Huff, whose grand slam capped a seven-run sixth inning.

When the Aberdeen IronBirds came into existence for the 2002 season, Orioles officials scrambled to find enough players to fill the roster. The Rookie-level team at Gulf Coast was still in the club's farm system and the short-season Single-A Aberdeen franchise was a late-winter arrival to the fold, meaning precious little time was available to amply stock both squads since the June draft nearly coincided with their openings. But when the IronBirds begin their new season tonight at Ripken Stadium against the Hudson Valley Renegades, the opposite problem will prevail.

Jaret Wright feels a dull ache in his pitching shoulder and the dominoes start to fall. Next on the Orioles' depth chart is Hayden Penn, but he had to be scratched from his second minor league start Tuesday night with some arm soreness. That probably leaves long reliever Jeremy Guthrie as the logical replacement if Wright is forced out of the rotation, which seems like a pretty good bet right now. I can almost hear the teeth-gnashing in the gloomier corners of Oriole Nation: The O's traded a decent young reliever for Wright, who had a long history of arm trouble, and - anyway - somebody should have figured something was up when the Yankees were willing to pay $4 million to let him pitch for a division rival.