One day after Roy Halladay pitched a perfect game in a 1-0 victory against the Florida Marlins, Orioles hitters must have thought to challenge starter Jeremy Guthrie to duplicate the feat by scoring a single run in the top of the first inning and then going silent for the duration of the game. With the way things have gone in this series, we should count ourselves lucky not to be on the wrong end of a perfect game instead.
Corey Patterson led off the game with a single, took second base on a balk, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Julio Lugo, and scored on a single by Nick Markakis. That constituted the extent of the Orioles' offence for today's game. Only one other runner even reached second base in the game, and that was on a throwing error. The Orioles have had one extra-base hit in something like their last 41 innings. Playing the part of Cy Young today was Ricky Romero, who scattered six hits and two walks in a complete game effort where he struck out seven batters.
On the other side of the ledger, the Blue Jays jumped on Guthrie quickly, with Fred Lewis opening off with a double. Three runs scored in an inning which saw the Jays get three more hits and a walk before it was over. Characteristic of the 2010 Jays, they added solo home runs later on in the game, with Lyle Overbay teeing off on Guthrie in the 6th inning, and Jose Bautista and Alex Gonzalez going back-to-back off Will Ohman to start the 8th. The two runs were the first that were charged against Ohman on the season in his 26th apperance.
In this three-game sweep, the Orioles were outscored 16-3 by the Jays. With an off day tomorrow, the Orioles close out the first two months of the season with a 15-36 record, which is good for a whopping .294 winning percentage, the worst in the major leagues. The team travels next to New York for a three-game series starting on Tuesday, so things are not getting any easier from here.