Mike Timlin

The Orioles yesterday began their off-season roster shuffling just as they had done last November, signing right-handed, free-agent reliever Mike Trombley to a three-year, $7.75 million deal intended to add flexibility, durability and perhaps another ninth-inning arm to the team's most depressed area.Trombley appeared in 75 games last season, going 2-8 with 24 saves and a 4.33 ERA for the Minnesota Twins. But rather than being imported as a candidate for closer, he was introduced by the club as part of a much-needed bridge to the ninth inning.

Jesse Orosco - UP - The ancient left-hander entered this weekend's three-game series two games removed from setting the all-time appearance record by a pitcher. In a season where even three-homer games have represented a stage for dour dispositions, Orosco's moment should be savored.The Bullpen `Torch Award' - DOWN - Recipient Ray Miller cost himself two games last Sunday by removing Ricky Bones after surrendering (gasp!) two runs in 3 2/3 innings. Jason Johnson was charged with nine earned runs in the next night's 10-9 loss in St. Petersburg.

CLEVELAND -- Mike Timlin remembers the frustration and the sense of helplessness compounded by his inconsistent usage and uneven performance. He remembers unprintable words that greeted him from every angle in every ballpark, especially within Camden Yards. He can remember because the words are still there, even if Timlin says he isn't listening.His contract a source of organizational controversy before he even threw a pitch, Timlin has righted himself within his team's listing season. The poster boy for a chaotic bullpen during the season's first half, he enters this weekend's three-game series against the Cleveland Indians with more confidence, a string of six straight converted saves and less sensitive hearing.

The Orioles tried to turn back the clock last night, wearing retro caps that hadn't been in fashion in 10 years. What they got instead was another hard look at the present. Given his only at-bat after being used as a pinch runner, Rob Butler punched a run-scoring single off Mike Timlin in the 10th inning to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 4-3 victory over the Orioles before 37,939 at Camden Yards who braved the stifling heat and another bullpen failure. The loss was the Orioles' 11th in 13 games and left them 1 1/2 games behind fourth-place Tampa Bay, which rallied to defeat Boston.

TORONTO -- Tuesday night, a five-run rally wasn't enough.Wednesday night, 16 hits were too few.Yesterday, Scott Erickson offered the last-place Orioles a quality start after altering his delivery, left after 6 1/3 innings, then watched as the remnants of a 6-0 lead against the Toronto Blue Jays were blown apart in a five-run eighth inning.The resulting 8-6 loss not only completed a three-game meltdown, but was followed by angry exchanges in the clubhouse and a blistering rebuke of the bullpen by manager Ray Miller, whose status is now being scrutinized, as well.

MIAMI -- The Orioles endured two rain delays, an artificially shortened start by Mike Mussina and the predictable anxiety of four innings from their bullpen last night. In return for 5: 18 of water torture, they absorbed a 2-1 loss in the opener of a doubleheader against the Florida Marlins because a stop-and-start offense again stopped and Jesse Orosco couldn't throw strikes to an unheralded lineup.Orosco's two-out walk of second baseman Luis Castillo capped the loss, which dropped the Orioles to 21-35 and behind the $18 million Marlins for the game's second-worst record.

MIAMI -- The Orioles' late-inning relief is just like the weather. Everyone talks about it but no one does anything about it.Both conspired against the Orioles last night in a doubleheader loss to the Florida Marlins before 13,003 at waterlogged Pro Player Stadium. Doormats to the National League but terrors to the American League, the Marlins won the opener, 2-1, on Jesse Orosco's two-out bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning and welcomed Scott Kamieniecki's return from Triple-A Rochester with a two-run eighth in the second game to leave the Orioles with a 5-3 loss.

Miller bears responsibilityOrioles owner Peter Angelos recently said that the fans and sportswriters who want Ray Miller fired have a "lynching mentality," and he asked "how the manager was responsible" for the team's last-place standing.I will leave the insults to Mr. Angelos -- I'm sure he is better at them than me -- but I will answer his question.Miller has failed to earn the respect of the players and fans due to many blunders and mishandling of situations and individuals. If the problem is the players, as Angelos contends, then that is one major coincidence.