coming up on o's extra, we'll look into the change in the orioles bullpen. jamie walker today released by the orioles. he has been replaced by left hander roberto castillo up from aaa. and we'll talk about the picks. four of them already in the majors. and jeremy guthrie takes the mound against the a's. >> jim: friday night baseball

on masn as theorioles continue their west coast road trip now as they take on the oakland athletics from the oakland colyseum. the pitching match-up, the right hander, jeremy guthrie for the orioles and the left hander dallas braden. jim hunter with rick dempsey. rick, baseball is such a funny game because, every time you think you have it figured out, you realize you can't figure it out. earlier this year, orioles are looking for consistent pitching. just get consistent pitching and we're going to go on a streak. and they get good pitching now and the hitting goes cold. >> you know, there are some pretty young pitchers who are putting on some good stretches. now, the offense taking a

break. they are struggling to get over six hits a game. they have done that one time. you can't win ball games when everything does not come together. we talk about it all the time. you have to have timely hitting, good pitching, defense. the orioles seem to be able to get two of the three and that one usually costs them the ballgame. to get on that kind of a streak, you have to be able to put the three together. orioles with a 3.68 e.r.a. >> the orioles did make a roster move. this was highly anticipated and this is now a done deal as jamie walker has been released and alberto castilla who has been with the orioles for a little bit last year, is now up with the orioles. he will become the left handed specialist and jamie walker who had a tough time in particular

against left handed batters is no longer on the team scastillo is in and walker is out. let's go to oakland with more. amber? >> gary: we just learned that cesar izturis was taken to the hospital today. he arrived here ready fort game but complained much stomach pain. ritchie bancells recommended that he go to the hospital and it's a good thing that he did. he will have emergency surgery to remove his appendix. we don't know if he will have to go on the disabled list. we imagine that will have to happen and if it does, it will be retroactive to yesterday. the question; who will come up in his place? the pharmacies tell is not exactly deep in aaa for middle

infielders. dave trembley did say this is a big blow. dave says it's going to be very difficult to replace cesar izturis. in other news, a lot going on today. as jim and rick mentioned, jamie walker has been released. he is a ten-year veteran. it was very difficult to make but it had to be made, really if you look at the numbers as dave trembley said. jamie was supposed to be a left hander specialist and left handers were hitting .450 against him. but it was very difficult because people liked jamie walker. he was very popular. jamie burke told me that nobody reached out to him early on but jamie walker. that's something that had to be

discussed over the last few days. you know, obviously, his last appearance in seattle was the one that finallized it. walker was a great teammate and a tremendous person on the club for us. he totalllly understood and, yo know, we just left it at that. but i'm -- we'll miss what he brought other than, you know, just out there pitching because, like i said, he was a great teammate. he earned a lot of respect and had been through the wars for a long time. >> >> amber: now, it's alberto castillo's job to bring something to the team. he does have big league experience. he was with the team a little bit last year. he told me down in aaa, his job was to throw that in a 3/4

position. he was sidearming a lot. he has been consistent with the arm strength. he is ready to take on the oakland a's, if he has to. last year with the oriole, they were hitting .256 against him -- lefties were hitting .256 against him. we'll see. a lot of left handers in that oakland line-up. we'll see if he is called as a left handed specialist, jim and rick. >> jim: thank you, amber. jamie walker is no longer on the club and we'll see what is going on with sudden cesar izturis. they were talking about the orioles not being able to hit but one guy who was hitting now gets append sites. it's been that kind of a week for him. disappointing end to jamie walker's career. the fact of the matter is, when you are on the team to get left handed batters and you can't get them out, something had to be done because that was his

role. going back to his first year, 2007, the success or lack of success against the left handed batters began to compound. so maybe, just maybe castillo can step in and do a little bit of a better job. >> i don't think that jamie walker's days are over at the major league level. he needs to find a ball club that will use him as a relief pitcher. his strength has become his weakness. he came from the detroit tigers as the premiere left hander nobody no lefty could hit against him. you see at the numbers. it came back to haunt him because he was overworked. now it's time for castillo. he got someal nt. he can keep the ball down. he has that big sweeping slider. tip point right here, the orioles have no championships but to try somebody else. jamie walker, please, go home,

rest for a while. you will find yourself with another ball club before the season is over. you're going to find the situational guy in r with another ball club. >> what hurt him was his lack velocity. he was throwing bp speed fastballs and that's what those hitters see every day and if you don't have velocity, you better move. >> it comes from the last two years, being overworked. so many appearances in three or four or five batters. that's just way too much because you just don't count the amount of times that he gets up notice bullet pen and how much pitches he throws. yes, towards the end of his career, he is still a very intelligent guy out there on the mound. he is a professional. he knows how to handle himself. i would think that a team that's in a pennant race, they will pick him up and get him to do what he does best, situational pitcher when we come back, we'll take a look at theline-up.

already one change for the orioles with cesar izturis. and, that's robert andino. and that's luke. he has glove. yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

63%. that's actually pretty high humiddity for the san francisco bay area. just a slight chance of rain tonight as the orioles and the athletics open up this three- game weekend series. takeing a look at the line-up. roberts, adam jones and markakis up top. adam still hitting very well with runners in scoring position, .447, still fourth best in the american league. huff, mora and scott who is in left field. myreimold starting tonight. with cesar izturis about to

under go apen appendectomy. >> luke scott already in 50 games so far has five homeruns against left handed pitchers. now, in order to get comfortable, you have to play against them. the skipper gives him a chance to play against left handers and he has produced right off the bat. what an unbelievable week we have seen out of him. he got seven homeruns. i think in his last eight games and 17 rbis. he is carrying the ball club right now. they are just not getting enough people on base in front of him to make it work. >> the other night in seattle, the orioles scored two runs and he drove both of them in with a homerun and an rbi double. adam kennedy has bounced around and has found a home in

oakland. matt matt holliday in left build, giambi, suzuki and hung cam with hanrahan and rajai davis, the centerfielder batting 9th. and matt holliday is the big man in the line-up. >> rick: it's going to be a different kind of season for matt holliday coming from coors field where the ball traveled a mile. no ballpark was ever built like that. so these were inflated numbers he has put up some huge rbi numbers. the same thing is not going to happen in oakland. i know, because i played through there a lot of years. the air gets heavy and cold at nighttime and the ball just does not travel at all. right now, he is hitting .289, that's a respectable batting average but the homeruns and rbis are not up to par. >> jim: the other night in

seattle, the orioles lost the rubber game. but brad bergesen gave them a start that was good enough to wifnlt he ended up with a no- decision. following the game at safeco field, he talked about the start. >> i felt good. that two-run homerun was a setback. i just tried to come back and brush it off and get abig starred. >> amber: when did you talk about on the beltre. >> we went about it. sinker away, but sure enough, i left the fastball in the middle and he got it. >> jim: 15 innings combined, he has given up only 12 base hits, 4 earned runs combined in three starts. the one homerun to adrian beltre the other night. really, that was the difference notice game, a two-run shot and i still have no idea why beltre even swung at that pitch but take us through the at-bat.

>> rick: he swung at it because he can hit it out of the park. we are looking at a future star right here because his fastball, his sinker is such a good movinging sinker. those are the kind he pulls he gets. he gets the strikeout on that ball, down and in to right handed hitters. when you are down in the count, great but when he drops underneath it, there it goes, down into left field. see how the ball stray stays up in the strike zone when he does not concentrate on staying on top of the ball. when he stays on top, a huge amount of ground balls, a double play, infielders better play on their toes. if he is going to get drop underneath, he is going to have a lot of trouble. one thing that the young man is learning together. >> you are still not supposed to swing at that pitch. that's at your neck. that's too high. >> that could nobody said it had to be a strike. >> with jamie walker being released and alberto castillo

coming up, will the orioles go to aa bowie and promote wilfredo perez? >> well, perez has been dog very well. he had a good spring training. he is a left hander. he has been used as a closer. he has a good fastball, average change-up and above average curve ball. >> there is that key phrase. he needs better fastball command that is probably the reason why he is still at bowie and alberto castillo is with the orioles. >> rick: the only reason is because of that fastball. you heard larry mccoy talk about it because he has great mechanics. he has two very good pitches and that change-up, too, that's going to keep people off the fastball. if he doesn't not have chaipd of that fastball, he should not be in the big leagues right

now. he does have very good stuff. whens throwing the ball over the plate, there is no reason why he should not be in the big leagues. 19 walks in 26 innings, that's not very good. when he starts cutting the walks down, he will be a big leaguer. >> jim: next tuesday, it is the 2009 amateur draft. the orioles have the fifth pick in the draft. when we come back, you will hear from joe jordan, the orioles director of scouting. where can a marketing administrator be a watercraft engineer? where can a doctor serve his community while also treating patients around the world? where can a student stay in school while expanding his education beyond the classroom? in the us army reserve you'll find the strength to develop new skills and gain an edge to get ahead. there's strong and then there's army strong. visit goarmy.com/reserve

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. >> jim: here is your opportunity to meet adam jones, next wednesday from noon until 1 at the wendy's right near the airport. get online, masn sports.com for more information. next tuesday, it's the amateur draft and joe jordan and his staff very busy. jordan is about to go through his fifth draft as the orioles scouting director and he

already succeeded because four of his selections are currently on the orioles' major league roster. i spoke to joe jordan at the ballpark and asked him his philosophy and the philosophy of the scouts when they go scouring the country looking for talent. >> i told the staff from the day i came in here that we're going to look for at leads, we're going to look for tools, for those two things and also guys that are baseball players. >> jim: you have the fifth pick which means only four players will be gone. we pretty much know who is going to be number 1. that leaves three other players. will you line it up with your staff, 1, 2, 3, 4, and the other four are gone, that's how pick or to you adjust when he gets to you. >> no, we'll line up the spot. the top player on the board, we'll take. absolutely. you know, you need some flexibility when you get down in a little bit but that high, that's what we are doing right now. we are in a room and we are

just trying to get things lined up. as far as the fifth pick is concerned in our top 5, that's who we are taking. >> you look at the drafts and this will be your fifth draft here. do you look at the success by the later rounds and guys that made an impact? right now, i'm thinking about a guy like a david hernandez who is a 16th round pick and, right you no, he is in the big leagues. >> that's where you make your draft. we work hard to make the top part right because that's where you spend your money but that's a credit to the staff. honestly, i don't see a lot of the players that i see in that part of the draft. i was fortunate to see david hernandez. james keller and i were there to go see another player. as a good scout does, he says, before we go to another guy, i would like to see you another guy. we saw him for two innings and we were gone. that's a credit to him.

>> is there a player that somebody sold you on, one of your scouts that, looking back on, you can say, it was a good thing that i listened. >> there are guys obviously, you know. we have a kid in delmarva, ronnie willke who is playing well but john marriotti who had a flyball-ground ball ratio ridiculous. one guy that i'm most proud of him for taking because i thought he was bad but that whole room never let up. they kept telling me, we like him, we like him. it was reimold. i did not see him play well. the staff saw it. it was lard to do to some degree being the first year scouting director but i'm happy i did.

>> i know who is going to be the first pick of the draft? >> who do you think it's going to be. >> it's going to be -- >> jordan never tip his hat. well, he talked about reimold. that was his very first round pick in that draft was brandon nighter who is back in the line- up for bowie. but david hernandez came out of that draft in the 16th round and, of course, matt wieters the first draft pick in 2007. joe jordan not only knows talent but knows how to listen to the talent in the room with all of his scouts. if they have an i'd yarks he will listen to what they say. tonight, the orioles are in oakland, game 1 of a three-game series. we'll get the rick dempsey scouting record. jeremy guthrie against dallas braden.

into first three four inning, a 5.7 e.r.a. ant team opposition hitting against him is almost .300. no doubt he puts a lot of time in on his mechanics and everything he averages now 6 innings per starts and that's 103 pitches for jeremy guthrie. that's not like him at all. he has to start cutting the pitch count down. after the 5th inning, he is great. no doubt about that because after that, the team is batting only .221. jeremy just has to cut down the amount of pitches and we need to get him late into some ball games. >> jim: on the other side, dallas braden. >> rick: he loves the o's the wrong way, though. that's his second best e.r.a. again the oriole, 1.33 in 2007. he has been really tough on the o's. quality pitching, yes but not quantity. he is another guy who has own given up one time over three

earned runs per game. he has the stuff but he can't go more than six innings. that's puts a lot of pressure on the bullpen. another one of those guys who gets to that 100-pitch mark around the 6th inning and he has to be taken out. >> jim: and the rick dempsey key to the game into let's leave the a's with an f. we cannot let this team get up there, the lowest in the american league in batting average. bottom three with rbis, slugging percentage, hit there is no way that this team should win a game again the o's. >> when dallas braids en broke into the -- when dallas braden broke into the big leagues, you know who pitched against him? jeremy guthrie. guthrie was new to the rotation. guthrie went five innings and lost, braden wasn't six innings, one run allowed and he won the game. stay tuned, gary thorn and buck martinez will be there with the

play-by-play. it's the orioles in oakland, game 1 of the three-game series. birds trying to get back at it. enjoy the game, everybody.

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