OAKLAND -- One day after lumping all his team's baserunning mistakes together, Baltimore manager Dave Trembley spoke out about one in particular. Trembley said only that "mistakes were made," on Sunday, but he admitted Monday that he was somewhat irked when Ramon Hernandez went into a premature home-run trot in a 6-5 loss to the Angels.
Hernandez helped kill a rally unwittingly in the first inning on Sunday, when he drilled a hard shot off the left-field wall and jogged into second base. Hernandez was thrown out by at least five feet at second, stranding a runner on third base and letting Angels starter Joe Saunders off the hook. On Monday, Trembley held forth on the play from his perspective.
"What happened yesterday is unacceptable," he said. "It may be a part of what's going on in the Major Leagues now, with guys somewhat styling it when they hit it. ... But it's not acceptable with me, it's not acceptable with what we're trying to do or the direction we're trying to go. I told Ramon that. He fully understands where I'm coming from."
Hernandez wasn't the only one fooled by the long drive. First-base coach John Shelby -- who doubles as Baltimore's baserunning instructor -- slapped Hernandez's hand as he jogged past first base. The Orioles settled for a two-run first inning and only scored twice more against Saunders, who outpitched Steve Trachsel to earn his sixth win of the season.
Second baseman Brian Roberts was picked off first base in the ninth inning of that game, and the Orioles lead the Major Leagues in getting picked off this season. That play didn't bother Trembley as much as Hernandez getting thrown out at second base, and the catcher said Sunday that he regretted the play and how it affected the game.
"You can't look back, man," said Hernandez. "I left a guy on third base, but you can't look back on what happened in that inning. What happens if the next guy made an out? It's the same. You have to get a hit to get two more runs.
"You just can't look back at that. You have to take it inning-by-inning. We just came up short and that stuff that happened, just happened. All you can try to do is watch the ball a little longer and just keep running."
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