Byrnes Breaks Up Cabrera’s No-Hit Bid: O’s 7 – D’Backs 1

June 23, 2007

One of Chad Tracy’s two errors in the 2nd inning because I can’t find an Eric Byrnes photo from yesterday! <grrr>

(photo by Matt York)

"I really just couldn’t make the big pitch to get us out of those
innings after the errors were made, and usually I can do that."
— Diamondback Ace Brandon Webb, who gave up a two-run triple after the errors, one of which was his.

I decided to take the "glass half full" approach with the title today, but it’s really the "glass one tenth full" as the Diamondbacks committed three errors in the second inning to let four unearned runs cross the plate and ruin everything for Brandon Webb who allowed three earned runs of his own in five innings.  Wenn also struck out seven and had seven groundouts to one flyout, an indication that he was throwing pretty well.  But this is the third time in recent weeks that the Diamondbacks have allowed three errors in a game, and three errors in an inning will definitely kill you.

And the Diamondbacks could not afford to give the Orioles anything the way Daniel Cabrera was pitching.  The Orioles’ starter took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and that’s when Eric Byrnes did his thing.  Hitting the ball to left field, his aggressive baserunning got him into second base on a close play and he later scored the Diamondbacks only run when Chad Tracy drove him in with a double.  (It was the least Chad could do; he committed two of the three errors in the second).

While the Diamondbacks were making errors, the Orioles were flashing leather.  Third baseman Melvin Mora took a double away from Byrnes later in the game, and the contest ended with Corey Patterson making a fine catch and hanging onto the ball as he crashed into the wall in center field, much to Scott Hairston’s helmet-tossing dismay.

With Livan Hernandez and Doug Davis in a funk — Livo goes today — and Randy Johnson on the sidelines, the last thing the Diamondbacks can afford to do is forget their defense.

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Written by mlblogsbyrnesblog Posted in Dailies Tagged with Eric Byrnes 07.06, My Team(s), Players