It?s a wrap.
The Orioles? home season came to a close Sunday with a chance for the team to finish a game above .500 at home. Playing through the afternoon rain the outcome was much too familiar for the birds this season, falling to the Minnesota Twins, 6-3, and finishing 40-41 at home.
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“Arms, arms, arms,” first baseman Kevin Millar said before the game. He was referring improvements that the team could make to the pitching staff in the off-season and it was evident early, Sunday, that his advice should be followed.
Orioles starter Adam Loewen gave up a two-run home run in the top of the first to catcher Joe Mauer, and gave up two more runs in the top of the third. He allowed eight hits through six innings, but did manage to strike out eight. In relief, Russ Ortiz gave up a two-run insurance homer to Phil Nevin in the eighth to seal the Twins victory.
Miguel Tejada provided a spark for the Orioles offense. The shortstop hit a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the fourth and sixth. He has 24 home runs for the season and it was his ninth two-home run game.
Before the game, the Orioles named Miguel Tejada the winner of the 2006 Louis L. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole award. It is the second time in three years the shortstop has won the award.
“I think what is even better is that we had three or four choices. When a decision becomes tougher and tougher like that it means we are going to get better,” Manager Sam Perlozzo said of choosing Tejada.
Center fielder Corey Patterson added a homer in the sixth. Two batters after Tejada, Patterson sent a solo shot to right field for his 15th of the year. It put Baltimore behind just one, before the 29-minute rain delay after the sixth.
Outside of the Tejada and Patterson homers, the Orioles floundered against the Twins. Despite the offensive woes, designated hitter Jay Gibbons (1-4) said he still sees hope in this team. “I do definitely see light at the end of the tunnel.”
Gibbons had more on his mind than usual Sunday. Saturday, Gibbons hit a foul ball into the stands that hit his wife in the left side. “She is going to be ok, but it is something that you think about every day here. One of these days somebody is going to get hurt real bad,” Gibbons said.
Gibbons said that he has spoken to Orioles and league officials about changing the screen behind home plate toprovide better protection from foul balls. “I have talked about it on deaf ears,” Gibbons said.
Perlozzo said that the Orioles were aware of the potential danger and that they would do everything they could to make the stadium safer. “Anything you can do is something you consider,” Perlozzo said.
Any changes will not be noticed until next year, as the Orioles head to New York for three games starting Tuesday and then go to Boston to finish the schedule with three games in Boston.
