Millar at home batting in heart of lineup for O's

The Baltimore Sun

ARLINGTON, TEXAS -- Kevin Millar's answer about whether he wants to stay an Oriole through this month's non-waiver trade deadline probably would have been different three weeks ago. But now in the lineup virtually every day, hitting in the middle of the order and for a team that is playing much better baseball of late, Millar feels invigorated.

And though the veteran has drawn some trade interest and likely will continue to before the July 31 deadline, Millar wants to stay right where he is.

"If you would have asked me that three, four weeks ago, I would have said, 'Bro, help me out.' But now I can't say that," he said. "I want to be a part of the Orioles, and that includes next year. That's the truth. I love the nucleus of guys. I love the young pitching we have here. It's almost like a revived, new scene here with [interim manager] Dave Trembley."

Millar, who didn't start yesterday for the first time in eight games, entered last night with a .280 average, seven home runs and 31 RBIs. He is second on the team with 38 walks and a .393 on-base percentage, and has also played a solid first base, not making an error this season. Millar attributed his performance to emerging from the Orioles' designated hitter-first base logjam to get consistent at-bats.

He said it has also helped that Trembley has used him in the middle of the order - he has batted third twice, cleanup seven times and fifth once - after former manager Sam Perlozzo had him hitting in the sixth through eighth spots.

"It allows me to be who I am," Millar said. "It's not that I am a superstar player, but the thing is, I'm going to give you consistency. It's almost embarrassing at times to be in the eight or nine hole as a first baseman. If that's the case, I should be playing in the middle of the infield. For some reason, that was the way our previous manager liked to do it."

Millar has a $2.75 million option that will vest for 2008 if he reaches 475 plate appearances. He has 262 through last night.

Bynum to DL; Mora close

The Orioles yesterday placed utility player Freddie Bynum on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring and recalled shortstop-second baseman Luis Hernandez from Triple-A Norfolk.

Bynum, who has made four starts at shortstop with Miguel Tejada on the disabled list, strained his left hamstring running out a ground ball in the third inning Friday night. He was batting .277 with two homers and eight RBIs in 48 games.

"I pretty much knew this was going to happen," Bynum said. "That's OK. I'll get healthy and come back."

Hernandez, whom the Orioles claimed on waivers from the Atlanta Braves in October, was batting .273 while hitting safely in six of nine games at Triple-A Norfolk. With Chris Gomez and Brandon Fahey, who both play shortstop, on the roster, it's possible Hernandez won't remain with the club through the All-Star break. But he's needed now because Gomez has been playing third base with Melvin Mora sidelined.

Mora, who has a bruised foot, was out of the starting lineup for a sixth straight game, but he took fielding and hitting practice and told Trembley he's hoping he'll be ready for today's series finale.

Trembley appeased by umps

Trembley said he was content with plate umpire Brian Knight's admission that he blew a pivotal call in the Orioles' 4-3 loss to Texas on Friday night. Knight called out Gomez, who was trying to score on a wild pitch in the seventh. Replays clearly showed Gomez was safe.

Trembley asked crew chief Tim Welke to watch replays of the call and get back to him. Welke acknowledged to Trembley that the call was blown.

"It's unfortunate that it played a pivotal role in that game, but the other thing that they can throw back at me is that we were 1-for-11 with guys in scoring position," Trembley said.

Trembley said the Orioles have been victimized by three blown calls on the base paths in the past two weeks.

"I don't want our guys to feel, and sometimes they do feel, that they are the Baltimore Orioles and maybe the Baltimore Orioles don't get what everybody else gets," he said.

jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com

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