The Orioles lost to the Royals tonight 4-3 in front of 153 of their most loyal fans. Brad Bergesen gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 10 hits over 6.2 innings and the Orioles couldn't figure out Kyle Davies (yes, really) or the Royals bullpen.
The Royals got on the board in the first inning as Brad Bergesen walked the first batter he faced, Scott Podsednik. Podsenik then stole second and scored two batters later on a single by Billy Butler. The Royals got to Bergesen for another run in the second thanks to an error by Ty Wigginton (his 6th on the year) and a balk by Bergy himself. Bergesen settled down for a few innings after that but got into trouble again in the 6th inning.
With one out in the 6th, Jose Guillen singled and Albert Callaspo doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. And as he has done so many times this season, Dave Trembley called for an intentional walk to load the bases and ostensibly set up for the double play. The recipient of the IBB? Mitch Maier, who came into the game hitting .241/.347/.342 with zero home runs. The next batter up, Yuniesky Betancourt, grounded to third. Had the bases not been loaded, Tejada probably could have looked Guillen back to third to throw for the out, but they had to go. The ball got caught in Miggi's glove and his only play was to first as the run scored. The next batter, Jason Kendall, struck out to end the inning.
The Royals fourth run scored in the 7th inning when Mike Aviles scored on a double by Billy Butler. Butler was 2-4 with 2 RBIs tonight. I can't stand that guy. I wish he was an Oriole.
After the Butler double, Bergy hit Guillen with a pitch and that would be the end of his night. Koji Uehara came in and got the final out of the 7th and pitched a perfect 8th. Will Ohman's arm hasn't fallen off yet, so he pitched the 9th without trouble.
As for the O's offense, well, it wasn't pretty. Corey Patterson led off the bottom of the first with a bunt single and stole second base. He moved to third on a fly ball by Nick Markakis, then scored on an infield hit by Tejada. That'd be all the O's would get until the 5th inning despite multiple hits in both the second and third innings. Patterson got things going again with a walk. He then stole second and moved to third as Jason Kendell threw the ball into center field. After Markakis lined out, Patterson scored on a ground out to second by Wiggy.
The Orioles scored their final run in the 7th inning and guess who was involved? That's right, Corey Patterson. Corey likes to mix things up, and since he'd already gotten on base by walk and single, he decided to take one for the team as he reached on a HBP. He moved to third on a Nick Markakis single and scored on a fielders choice by Wigginton.
Down 4-3 going into the bottom of the 9th, the Orioles tried to make a go of it. Garrett Atkins led off with a walk and Cesar Izturis reached on a bunt single. With two on and none out, up to the plate came Corey Patterson. Despite having been on base three times tonight and having scored all three runs, Trembley opted to have Corey bunt. He did, moving the runners up. Well you know what happened then, right? The Royals IBB'd Nick Markakis. Wiggy struck out and Tejada grounded out to end the game. Another great decision.
O's lose 4-3 and tomorrow they face Greinke. Great.