Orioles lose 5-4 in game #5 to Yankees

The Orioles are a spirited 3-2 in 2012 and its too early to tell what we are going to see long-term but there is energy and enthusiasm around this team after a 3-0 start. Last night, they lost 5-4 to the Yankees in 12 innings--a game they've played at least 25 times over the last 14 seasons. They squandered opportunities and the Yankees waited patiently until the O's beat themselves. In all fairness, the Yankees are the best team in baseball by a wide margin and many have picked them to win it all. Girardi may be the best manager in baseball and the Orioles are not yet a worthy opponent. They fought last night but they have lost to NY the same way many times like a mouse succumbs to a boa constrictor. It's the same outcome. The snake has the mouse right where it wants it. There's a waiting period and then its over. Their effort last night was good enough to beat a lot of teams in the big leagues, just not New York. They handled Rodriguez and others, but when it counted, an old nemesis made them pay. Raul Ibanez clobbered a Pedro Strop mistake in the 12th, over the head of right fielder Nick Markakis. At age 39, Ibanez resembles a breed of dinosaur that belongs in the Museum of Natural History, and may still be able to hit the Orioles well into retirement. He has destroyed the Birds over his career and continues to do so. In the end, we couldn't get him out. The Yankees have perfected beating the Orioles in this fashion for the last 14 years. Something always happens, a runner falls down going around third or is unable to go from first to third on a single to right, a misjudged foul ball, a could have done, but didn't. Runners are left on base by the bushel and the job just can't ever seem to get done. It's early in the season yet, but more than a decade of losing the same way over and over to the same team is painful.