Jeremy Guthrie got knocked around in the first inning and gave up six runs in 2/3 of an inning. He was also hit by a ball on his hand/wrist/forearm area and I guess we'll hear later if that's going to affect him in the future. Today was Jeremy's 12th start of the season and he's just not looking any better than he did early in the season. Who knows what's going on with him this season, but it's getting very worrisome.
The Orioles offense was non-existent once again as they managed only five hits on the game. They've now scored only 6 runs on this road trip and it's getting very hard to watch. Nick Markakis is still as cold as ice and the rest of the team is following suit. The rest of the team, that is, other than Luke Scott. Luke continued his assault on the American League with another home run tonight. Since coming back from the disabled list, Luke is 12 for 31 with 8 home runs. That's in 9 games.
Here's the thing. I believe this is a good offense. I have no idea what's going on with them, but I do believe they're good and that they'll turn it around. Nick is going to start hitting again. So is Brian. Matt Wieters will hit eventually. I hope that all happens soon, because it's not fun to watch a team that is failing on so many levels.
The good news is that other than Jeremy Guthrie, the O's starting pitching has held up. David Hernandez didn't have a very good outing his last time out but he wasn't awful and he was the victim of poor defense. My fear is that the team will start hitting right around the pitching starts failing and we'll go through this cycle all year.
The other big news on the day is that Cesar Izturis needed to have an appendectomy today and is out indefinitely. Robert Andino filled in today and wowed us with three great plays at SS before air mailing a throw for an error. The Orioles will reevaluate Izturis' condition and if he's going to be out more than a few days they'll call someone up from AAA.
If you're looking for some good news on the evening, Brian Matusz had another great outing in Frederick tonight. He pitched 6 innings giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, and 0 walks. He struck out 5. He's now pitched 23 1/3 innings without allowing a run. I expect he'll be promoted to Bowie shortly.