Kris Benson, 2007 Fleer Ultra #14

It's usually fun to do these "When Was This Game?"-type posts. This is an easy one: July 2, 2006, Orioles at Atlanta. The outfield wall is a giveaway, and of course Kris Benson only pitched at "the Ted" once in his only year in Baltimore. But this game isn't one to reminisce about.

Dude got his brains beaten in.

When embattled manager Sam Perlozzo sent reliver Chris Britton to the mound to start the sixth inning, Benson's pitching line settled at 5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R (4 ER), 1 BB, 4 K. He gave up home runs to the gruesome twosome of Ryan Langerhans and Wilson Betemit, and one of the two errors that led to the unearned runs was committed by the pitcher himself. He turned a 2-0 lead (via a Melvin Mora 2-run HR) into a 6-2 deficit in a game the Birds would lose 10-3.

This one's a hit-and-run piece, but I saw the card, became curious, looked up the box score, and was sorely disappointed. There's no sense in not sharing that disappointment with the people.