Get well, Brett

Last night in the seventh, the long-awaited implosion of Brian Matusz appears at hand. He walks Thurman Martin on four pitches, not one close. Up comes Nuni, who in the top of the inning did a Three Stooges routine on a catchable ball, allowing Baltimore to take a 6-1 lead.

First two pitches miss by two feet. The pitching coach comes out. It's obvious that Baltimore is stalling.

So what does Nuni do? Does he take pitches until Matusz throws a strike? Seeing as how we need baserunners more than home runs, does he bear down and try to grind-out a base on balls? No, of course not. He swings away. On the next pitch. And he pops it up. Baltimore comes out to fetch Matusz, and our chance at a big inning is done.

Actually, the inning ends with the bases loaded and Arod doing basically the same thing: On the first pitch after Granderson was hit by one - a sign of wildness - Arod swings. Pops it up.

When you own a team - as we have the Orioles in recent years - and you beat yourself against them at home, sometimes the light comes on in their heads, and you never again regain that mental advantage.

Tonight, we may lose a series at home against Baltimore. We look old, slow and stupid.