Strike Zone

Nothing makes a team look worse in a losing effort than shoddy defense, and the reeling Orioles showed plenty of that in Tuesday night's 8-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. It doesn't help when frustrated players lose their cool and take it out on the umpires, either. But we'll get to Matt Wieters in a moment. First, the errors. Orioles starter Jake Arrieta simply rushed his throw on the bunt Rajai Davis laid down in the third inning. Ugly, sure. But stuff like that happens. And normally sure-handed Adam Jones had David Cooper's fly ball to center drop out of his glove in the fourth.  That was even uglier.

It's not often that Orioles catcher Matt Wieters loses his cool. But after the Orioles fell behind 8-1 in the fifth inning of their 8-6 loss to the Blue Jays Tuesday night at the Rogers Centre, he felt he had to speak his mind to home plate umpire Doug Eddings. He expressed his displeasure with the way Eddings was calling balls and strikes, obviously an easy way to get rung up. And that's what happened to Wieters, who was quickly ejected for the first time in his career.  Manager Buck Showalter had to rush out to put himself between Eddings and Wieters.

Packed into a sardine can of an interview room with about two dozen reporters - most of them sending details of his outing to his home nation of Taiwan - Orioles rookie left-hander Wei-Yin Chen tried to explain the toughest day of his brief major league career. Through his first seven starts as a big leaguer, the 26-year-old has been close to perfect on paper. He came into Sunday's start against the Washington Nationals with a 4-0 record that included wins over the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers in his past two starts.

As the Orioles went 5-1 on this week's six-game homestand, it's been an eventful week for right-handed reliever Pedro Strop. Earlier this week, with closer Jim Johnson hospitalized with food poisoning, Strop had the opportunity to step into the ninth-inning role and earned his first two career big-league saves on back-to-back nights Tuesday and Wednesday against Toronto. Strop, who has spent most of the season pitching in an eighth-inning set-up role, thrived under the late-inning pressure, throwing 98-mph two-seam sinking fastball that cuts off the corners of the plate.

Manager Buck Showalter was gone from the Orioles' 3-2, 10th-inning, sweep-busting victory over the Los Angeles Angels by the sixth inning Sunday, long before Nick Markakis had two key hits to guarantee the club a winning record on what could have been a brutal road trip. Showalter may still qualify for a save, however. The Orioles manager jumped out of the dugout in the top of the sixth to protest a questionable strike call by home-plate umpire Angel Campos against Markakis, who had already jawed with Campos in an earlier at-bat.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter was tossed in the top of the sixth Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels after complaining about home plate umpire Angel Campos' strike zone. When Campos called a pitch that appeared to be well off the plate a strike against Nick Markakis in the sixth, Showalter yelled something and was immediately ejected. It was his first of the season and 20th of his career for Showalter. John Russell took over managing duties. Showalter has been displeased with the strike zones in each of the games during the Angels series.

The consensus in the Orioles' clubhouse after Friday night's loss to the Los Angeles Angels is that Brian Matusz is making strides - his slider is sharper, he's throwing his fastball in the low 90s, his command is improving some.     Here's what manager Buck Showalter had to say: “I thought he was better. A little better each time he has pitched since the first one. A little crisper, the command was a little better. It got away from him there a little bit at the end.”      And here's what Matusz had to say: “I definitely made some improvements in this start over the last.

Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie insists that he's frustrated only with himself, not with his abominable win-loss record, his team's failure to provide him consistent run support or the constant trade rumors that swirl every time that he pitches. However, evidence continues to mount that all those things have taken a toll on Guthrie, and perhaps a change of scenery is exactly what he needs. His frustration came through Sunday in his demeanor on the mound -- where he uncharacteristically reacted to plate umpire Todd Tichenor's inconsistent strike zone -- and in a terse post-game session with reporters after the Orioles' 9-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels in the series finale in front of an announced 15,676 at sultry Camden Yards.

Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine.   Running it back: After one of the worst outings of his career in a loss to the Cardinals , struggling starter Brian Matusz was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday night. ... After the game, Matusz was relatively upbeat about his demotion , saying he will use it for motivation.

Anyone who has closely followed the Orioles this year is likely able to identify one of their biggest problems on offense, and that certainly includes manager Buck Showalter . The hitters just aren't particularly patient, especially in high-leverage situations. Heading into Thursday, Mark Reynolds was sixth in the American League in pitches seen per at-bat with 4.26 and led the team in walks with 48 this year, more than twice as many as any other Oriole. Luke Scott (4.16 pitches per at-bat)