Cold weather, colder bats doom Rays

Jeff Niemann's horrid first inning was all the Baltimore Orioles needed to win their second game in a row against the Rays.  The O's jumped on Niemann early, scoring 5 runs before he could even get an out including a grand slam by Melvin Mora.  After the 1st, Niemann settled down and the Rays gave up only one more run.  The only problem was they couldn't score any to chip away at the O's lead.  Once again leaving RISP is hurting the Rays offense. Maybe we can chalk it up to the cold weather, but the Rays need to start hitting.

Here are some other things in noticed:

• Ground rule doubles? What's the deal with the 4 ground rule doubles in a game? We're not talking about one part of the outfield, it was happening all over the place.  At least twice, Rays runners from 1st had to stop at third when they may have otherwise scored. Just for fun here's the e-how video definition of a ground rule double:

Definition of a Ground Rule Double in Baseball -- powered by eHow.com

• Longo's still swinging a big stick. He seems to be the only one hitting and the pitchers aren't even giving him much to hit.
• Oh, Rockies!!! Why didn't you take Niemann off of our hands instead of Hammell? That 1st inning was just awful.  It was very reminiscent of Ed "winless" Jackson starts. While Niemann was giving up 5 runs in the first. David Price pitched a few down in Durham and only gave up 2 runs.
• Pat Burrell's leash is getting short with me. I know he's a streaky hitter, but I'm ready to see a streak. He had a couple of chance tonight and couldn't come through.
• What is it with the O's and April? For the 2nd year in a row, they look like a real tough team. Of course, over a 162 game season the cream usually rises to the top, but their 1st 4 look more dangerous than the Red Sox 1st 4.