The Orioles' troubles in Oakland continued tonight as they were shut down by Athletics' starter Josh Outman. They managed only two runs against Outman and while Brad Bergesen had a pretty good game, it wasn't good enough to keep him from getting the loss.
Bergesen allowed single runs in the second, third, and sixth innings, although the run in the second was unearned thanks to a Ryan Adams throwing error. In that inning, Bergesen got the first two batters before Mark Ellis hit a ground ball to Adams that he threw away, allowing Ellis to move to second. The next batter, Kevin Kouzmanoff, singled Ellis in.
In the third inning, Coco Crisp singled and then stole second base (Craig Tatum was catching tonight instead of Matt Wieters). He moved to third on a ground out and scored on a single by Josh Willingham.
Bergy worked around two singles in the fourth inning and a single and an error (by himself, he missed Ryan Adams' catch when covering first base) in the fifth, but wasn't as lucky in the sixth inning. After the first two batters were retired, Cliff Pennington doubled to left field, where he scored on a single by Crisp. Bergy walked the next batter, Daric Barton, and that was all she wrote for the O's starter. Bergesen was replaced by Clay Rapada, who struck David DeJesus out to end the inning.
The Orioles had their chances against Outman but just couldn't put together a big inning. Outman gave up six hits and issued five walks, and the Orioles had men on in each of his six innings pitched. But they were only able to score twice, once each in the third and fourth innings. In the third, back-to-back walks to Tatum and Robert Andino set the table for Adam Jones, who knocked in Tater for the O's first run. They wouldn't get any more as Nick Markakis lined out and Vladimir Guerrero struck out to end the inning.
In the fourth, Nolan Reimold started the inning with a single, then after J.J. Hardy and Mark Reynolds both flied out to Willingham in left field, Adams singled to left for his second hit as an Oriole. That brought Tatum to the plate, who singled in Reimold for the O's second run. Robert Andino followed Tater's AB with a walk, but Jones struck out to snuff the rally.
After Outman left the game, the Orioles didn't get another hit. They did get two more walks, but were otherwise quiet.
Jim Johnson pitched a perfect seventh inning for the O's, but Koji Uehara ran into some trouble in the eighth, giving up a home run to Ellis to make the the score 4-2 in favor of Oakland. Brian Fuentes pitched the ninth for the Athletics for the save.
Tomorrow the Orioles will try and salvage one game in the series as they send Zach Britton to the mount to face Guillermo Moscaso (who, mercifully, is right handed). Cross your fingers they remember how to hit.