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Father's Day weekend baseball There is no better way to spend Father's Day eve than to watch a minor league baseball game with your children. Last night we drove to Prince William County to see the Frederick Keys face the Potomac Nationals. The Keys are the Carolina affiliate of the Orioles and, before the game, the PA person rocked the Pfitz with the old Baltimore Orioles song from the glory days, “Oriole Magic,” which reminded old time fans such as myself of the days when the Birds ruled the AL East. Friday night’s game was a pitchers duel between Keys lefty Garrett Olson and the Nats Mike Hinckley. Olson threw eight shutout innings, striking out eight, walking none and giving up four hits. Hinckley matched him with 8.2 shutout innings of two hit ball. Casey Cahill ponied up the only run of the game in the bottom of the ninth when he gave up a Luke Montz sacrifice fly, scoring Brandon Powell who had doubled earlier and stolen third. The Nats took this one, 1-0. Before the game, I congratulated Olson on his previous night’s performance and his modest response was, “I just had a good feel for the ball.” Last night's game featured a rehab assignment for ex - Diamondback and current National, John Patterson. Patterson was placed on the 15 day DL earlier by Washington when he strained a muscle in his right forearm. This was his second tune up before he returns to the big club. In addition, there were five Carolina League All-Stars on the field last night as well. The Keys contingent featured pitcher Radhames Liz (leading the Carolina League in strikeouts), second baseman Paco Figueroa (who sported an ice pack on his left wrist and a splint on one of the fingers of his right hand before the game) and outfielder Nolan Reimold. Trey Webb and Brandon Powell are the Nats' representatives to the All Star squad. Webb, a second baseman, is the leading hitter on the Nats squad and has re-emerged as a prospect after three dismal seasons in the lower minors. I was interested in the game because it would give the Birds' top position prospect, Nolan Reimold, a chance to face a major league pitcher. A terrific way to gauge his progress this year. Patterson started off with a bang. Peter Maestraeles led off the game with his fifth home run of the year. He hit a Patterson fastball over the right center field wall to give the Keys the go ahead run. Two batters later, Reimold stepped to the plate and struck out on a two strike changeup which fooled him completely. I doubt he had ever seen a pitch like that before last night’s game. In his next at bat, Reimold took Patterson to a 3-2 count before driving a ball to the base of the scoreboard in left center. I thought it was going to be another Reimold blast off the Nats scoreboard, but it fell a bit short. In his third at bat against Patterson, Reimold smoked a grounder to short, advancing a runner on the fielder’s choice. All told, except for being fooled with Patterson’s changeup, I felt Reimold held his own. Even though Patterson was limited to using just fastballs and changeups, Reimold had quality at bats and was not swinging at balls out of the strike zone. He hits the ball to left and left center and hits it hard. It would have been a better gauge of his progress to see him face Patterson’s full arsenal. After a low-scoring start, the game turned into a slugfest. The Nats chased Keys starter Kevin Hart by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth and another in the fifth coupled with one more it the sixth. Hart was replaced by former top prospect Rommie Lewis, who is making a comeback bid this year after missing last season to collect himself. Lewis came into the game with a lead and promptly lost it, starting with a coverage gaffe when he was late getting to first on a ground ball which allowed Montz to score. Lewis has been known to lose focus from time to time during his minor league career, which has also been punctuated with odd behavior such as standing on the bullpen mound and playing the air guitar for no apparent reason. Lewis eventually righted himself enough to pitch two scoreless innings, finishing the game in grand fashion. In the bottom of the ninth the Nats trailed by one run in the 9-8 slugfest. With runners on the corners, Webb smoked a line drive up the middle, which Lewis snared and turned to double Ian Desmond off first to end the game. A fitting end for a Rommie Lewis pitched game. Lewis was the Orioles fourth round draft choice in the 2001 draft. Taken out of Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington, the lefthander featured a 90-93 MPH fastball and devastating curveball. At one time he was considered by some to be the top pitching prospect in the organization. Used as a closer, he was solid. However, in 2004, the Orioles placed him into the Frederick rotation so he could get more work. He eventually floundered in this new role, posting an ERA of 5.64 while walking more than four batters per nine innings of work. He left the team during the off-season and returned this year. Other players of note on the field last night included Vladimir Guererro's cousin, Cristian Guerrero, who is currently batting .188 and struck out twice last night. Onetime Orioles lefthanded pitching prospect Blaine Beatty is the pitching coach for the Keys. Beatty was a fireballing lefthander who many felt would be a key to the Orioles future in the ’80s. He was traded with fellow pitcher Greg Talamantez to the Mets in 1987 for reliever Doug Sisk. Beatty eventually reached the majors with the Mets in 1989 and again in 1991 where he appeared in a total of seven big league games and posted a 2.30 ERA. Former Orioles first rounder Bryan Bass manned third for the Keys and is entering his second season at Frederick. The Keys also have a former Braves top prospect, Carlos Duran, whom they claimed off waivers earlier this year when he was in Richmond. Duran is currently on the DL. --- John
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