The Orioles finally got some good pitching and whaddya know, they ended up with the win. Funny how that works, don't you think?
There have been rumors that teams are interested in Jeremy Guthrie, there have been ruminations here and on other sites that it could be in the best interest of the team to trade him (or not, depending upon who you talk to). Guthrie hasn't done much in his last few starts to prove his trade value, but tonight, with less than two weeks until the trade deadline, Jeremy Guthrie pitched his heart out against the Boston Red Sox.
Guthrie wasn't the sharpest he's ever been, allowing eight hits and a walk in his seven innings, but he allowed just two runs and helped the Orioles play with a lead for nearly the entire game.
The Orioles got on the board in the second inning with two runs. Adam Jones and Matt Wieters singled, then a double by Mark Reynolds and a ground out by Nolan Reimold knocked them both in. They added another run in the fifth when Nick Markakis, who reached on a walk, scored on a single by Wieters.
The 3-0 lead held until the fifth inning when Guthrie was touched up for a home run by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The ball just barely got over the scoreboard in right field and, with Josh Reddick on base, cut the Orioles lead to just one.
One run leads are not safe in Baltimore, this much we all know. But Guthrie gave the Orioles two more shutout innings and Jim Johnson pitched the final two innings without allowing a base runner.
The offense gave the pitching some breathing room that they, for once, didn't need. In the eighth inning Wieters (who you might have noticed was involved in nearly all of the scoring tonight) walked with two outs and was on board when Derrek Lee homered to center field. Not to be outdone, Mark Reynolds joined the fun with a home run of his own into the O's bullpen.
The Orioles and Red Sox meet again tomorrow at 12:35 and it's gonna be a hot one.