David Newhan swung at the first pitch from knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, probably not the best idea, and reached on second baseman Mark Loretta's error. I turned to Peter Schmuck and said, "At least now he'll get a stolen base." Sure enough, Newhan swiped second, tagged and went to third on a fly ball and scored on Miguel Tejada's single to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.
More on Cory Morris, who arrived at Camden Yards before the game: Pitching coach Leo Mazzone worked with Morris this spring on shortening his breaking ball. We'll soon find out if that lesson held.
Corey Patterson swung at the first pitch again and reached on another Boston error. Credit second base umpire Tim Timmons for ruling that shortstop Alex Gonzalez never had possession of the ball after Loretta flipped it to him. Often, the runner is called out automatically, as if the infielder being near the bag and making any sort of contact with the ball is good enough.
With Raul Chavez gone, Kevin Millar once again becomes the emergency catcher. And I'd pay big bucks to see that happen.
"He's the only one who volunteered," manager Sam Perlozzo said. "It's not like I'm looking for quality. I just want quantity at this point."
