Bottom 3: Roberts attempts to steal third, is thrown out by Johjima. To be fair, Roberts was under the tag, and was, in fact, very safe.

Bottom 6: Miguel Batista sends a pickoff attempt to second into right center field. Mike Morse throws Roberts out at home on a perfect, beautiful one-hopper to Johjima. To be fair, with one out, Roberts should not have been sent home by Samuel.

Bottom 8: On a swinging bunt off the bat of Nick Markakis, Roberts is caught in a rundown between third and home. Adrian Beltre tags him out. To be fair...well, no, this one is just something that happens. Good play by the Mariners infield.

I'm not really dissing anyone (maybe Samuel, as bad third base coaches have been a constant for the O's in recent years), it was just a pretty memorably bad night on the bases for Brian Roberts.

All photos © Gail Burton / AP

Orioles fans, take a good look at your closer: George "Shutdown" Sherrill, flat brim and all, looking something like a 19-year old that still thinks Eminem is good.

He's getting the job done. Shutdown Sherrill closed his third game for the O's tonight, extending our win streak to the same number, and making us 3-1 in our first four games. How about that?

This is Birdland!

Player of the game was Luke Scott, who went 3-for-3 with a walk and drove in two. Millar was 1-for-2 with three walks (one intentional) and scored not once, not twice, but thrice. Brian Roberts got on base three times and made three baserunning outs, being wrongly called out at third on a steal attempt, getting thrown out at home by Mike Morse on a dumb mistake by third base coach Juan Samuel, and then getting caught in a rundown off of a Nick Markakis swinging bunt in the bottom of the eighth.

As a team, the Mariners did their share in helping us out, throwing the ball willy-nilly all over the damn place, including Miguel Batista, who walked in a run among his four free passes over five innings. If you had listened to Jim Palmer, you would have known that Batista was the ace of Seattle's staff last year because he won 16 games.

Speaking of the commentary, Gary Thorne continues to say "Richie Sexton." Can someone at MASN or in the front office or in the Mariners booth PLEASE send him a memo? Jesus. For the record, Richie Sexton looks absolutely cooked as a player, too. He is awful. He struck out not once, not twice, but thrice. Luckily, he did avoid the old Golden Sombrero.

In all honesty, without massive help from Seattle's four errors and ridiculous gaffes (Batista walking a run in, Beltre being safe at second and then falling off the bag, becoming out), the Orioles don't win this game. But just like yesterday, you take 'em where you can get 'em with a team like this. And who knows? Maybe they get in the winning spirit, it starts carrying over, yada yada...

I'm not all caught up in craziness just yet, but it's always fun to watch your team win some ballgames.

And I know we're going to get the, "Oh just you wait and see!" crowd here, but...

Adam Loewen looked like the same old tired song and dance as before. Loewen couldn't make it out of the fifth inning, can't throw strikes, has no control over any of his pitches, and doesn't even really look like he has a single plus pitch. His velocity was 84-89 on his fastball by the MASN gun -- I think he may have gotten over 90 a couple times, but it wasn't the norm by any means. Loewen is one of these guys that we might have to just face facts on in the midst of rebuilding. Command issues like his don't just go away very often. And if he can't make it past five innings, is he really helping us?

Attendance was up. So that's good. And we won! This is Birdland, son!

Miguel Batista, RH (16-11, 4.29/1.52) v. Adam Loewen, LH (2-0, 3.56/1.75)

Game time is 7:05 on MASN.

Batista will forever be a mild favorite just for being part of the team that, in retrospect, pretty much shut the door on the Yankee dynasty of the late 90s in 2001, starting Game 5 of the World Series and relieving in that electric Game 7. Sure, those D-backs were a mercenary group in their own way, but damned if Curt Schilling wasn't just a great pitcher back then, and let's not forget how mesmerizing pre-Yankee Randy Johnson was for all of us to watch.

Let's also not forget that two key cogs of the 2001 Diamondbacks were sent to Houston by some foolish organization in 1991 for this sumbitch.

Batista also notched a save on April 2 with J.J. Putz out of commission.

Adam Loewen. Aaaaadam Looooooewen. All things considered, even at 24 in four days, and even with the time he's been on the big league roster, we're still talking more prospect than anything else. He's got the stuff to get big league hitters out, sure. But he also retains the stuff to put them on first base without being forced into it. The 0.85-to-1 K-to-BB ratio from 2007's few appearances cannot continue. No kidding, huh?

Maybe Rick "Kranix" can get something out of him. Or perhaps he'll give up a home run to Richie "Sexton."

If you DO consider Loewen still a prospect, where would he rank among the Top 20 in the O's system? It's a worthwhile question. Personally, given his age, control issues, injury history, and all the other stuff -- good and band -- I'd probably put him right around the same area as Hayden Penn. They're probably at the same level of development and ceiling at this point, but Loewen has the better stuff and is left-handed, which never hurts.

Drop and drive, Adam. Drop and drive.

Diamond Dave had to drop the idea of Quiroz catching Loewen thanks to Ramon's big game yesterday.

MARINERS STARTING LINEUP

1. Ichiro, RF
2. Jose Lopez, 2B
3. Raul Ibanez, LF
4. Richie Sexson, 1B
5. Adrian Beltre, 3B
6. Mike Morse, RF
7. Jose Vidro, DH
8. Kenji Johjima, C
9. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS

ORIOLES STARTING LINEUP

1. Brian Roberts, 2B
2. Melvin Mora, 3B
3. Nick Markakis, RF
4. Kevin Millar, 1B
5. Aubrey Huff, DH
6. Luke Scott, LF
7. Ramon Hernandez, C
8. Adam Jones, CF
9. Brandon Fahey, SS
   

FUN STATS

• Batista has pitched in seven games at Camden Yards, but this will be his first start. The Orioles hammer him: 7.86/1.90, 17 K, 15 BB, 0-3 over 26 1/3 IP. He also has five saves against the Orioles.
• Brad Wilkerson is just 2-for-14 (.143/.316/.429) in his career at Camden Yards.
• I mentioned this at one point last year, too: Kevin Millar stinks against Seattle. .228/.293/.346 with two homers in 127 at-bats.
• Melvin Mora is 5-for-13 (.385) against Batista.