Rays 4, Orioles 1: Garza prevails despite lack of throat shoving

Tonight's game was boring. Some losses are rage inducing, some are sad, some are frustrating. This one was boring. A good team beat a bad team, ho hum. Kevin Millwood pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and five walks. He also hit a guy. So that's thirteen baserunners. The fact that only four of them scored is kind of a miracle, huh? I am so tired of Kevin Millwood. Don't say I didn't warn you people. 

The Rays scored their four runs in the third and fourth innings, two in each inning. Reid Brignac singled to lead off the third and scored on a single by Carl Crawford. Crawford then scored on a double by Evan Longoria. In the fourth inning, Millwood started things by walking Matt Joyce. That always bodes well for an inning, doesn't it? A leadoff walk? He struck out Dan Johnson but then both B.J. Upton and Brignac singled. Joyce scored on Brignac's single, and Felix Pie made a simply terrible throw way over the head of Wieters trying to throw him out. Millwood was backing up the play but Upton and Brignac each moved up a base on the throw. Upton then scored on a sacrifie fly by Ben Zobrist (after Millwood walked John Jaso). 

Mark Hendrickson relieved Millwood and was the best thing about tonight's game. Good for Hendo redeeming himself and all, but when he's the best thing about a game, that game sucked. Hendo pitched three scoreless innings, allowing two singles and striking out five. Jim Johnson also faced one batter tonight and struck him out. So, well done bullpen. Or whatever. 

Offensively, there's not much to say. The O's racked up seven hits, one each by everyone in the lineup other than Felix Pie and Nick Markakis. Luke Scott also took two walks. I think that by season's end Luke will have a higher OBP than Nicky, and I say that as a bad thing about Nick more than as a good thing about Luke. The O's only run came on a sacrifice fly by Pie in the fourth inning. They left eight runners on base and were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Matt Garza didn't exactly make the Orioles batters pee their pants out there the way he pretended he would, but he was still good enough to beat them. 

Tomorrow night James Shields and Jeremy Guthrie face off as the Orioles look to stop their three game losing streak and get back to the good time August feeling.