Game 35: Royals (17-13) @ Orioles (21-13), 7:05

Most of the time that he spent in Baltimore, Jeremy Guthrie could not buy a win. He was exactly the sort of quirky, decent-sorta-good-ish player you could root for, a Mormon funny man who was an unabashed boy band fan, rode his bike to work, and always worked hard. He threw 200 innings. He had a couple of good years and a decent one. Between offensive ineptitude and bullpen shenanigans - as Mother's Day approaches, never forget - he could not win games.

The idiotic segment of what remained of the fanbase in those days would say things like "Guthrie doesn't know how to win" and was not sad to see him traded. Indeed, it was a good trade for the Orioles. But Guthrie was a good Oriole, and it is unfortunate to see him unappreciated by some. Was he ever a Cy Young candidate for the Orioles? No. But if the 2007, 2008, and 2010 Orioles had a rotation full of Guthries, those teams would have been much better than they were.

Guthrie is now on the Royals. He brings a 4-0 record and a 2.40 ERA into this game, along with a streak of 17 consecutive starts without a loss. Think about that for a second! Guthrie, who was repeatedly screwed in his time here, has not lost for 17 starts. He was no-decisioned, but has not taken a loss.

One thing about Guthrie's time here is he gave up a lot of home runs, particularly at Camden Yards, so tonight would be a good night to make it like old times. Of course, there was also the notion that Guthrie pitched just well enough for the Orioles to lose. And let's hope he doesn't do that tonight. No offense, Guts, but the Orioles are the Orioles, and you can always comfort yourself when your streak ends with some Justin Bieber tracks.

Current Orioles hitters have a total of 31 PA against Guthrie and have managed a whopping .103/.161/.103, but a lot of that is Alexi Casilla, who isn't even starting tonight. Chris Davis is 0-10 with a walk - let's get to fixing that, Thor.

Starting for the Orioles tonight is Freddy Garcia, who I'm still trying to pretend isn't on the Orioles. I think he will suck before long. But for now, he sucks less than Britton and Arrieta and others, so here he is in the rotation. That's the whole point of a #5 starter, isn't it? Maybe I shouldn't be so harsh.

Speaking of things that suck: the Orioles in the last game of a series. They are 4-6 in such games so far this year. Get a sweep!

J.J. Hardy has homered in three of the last four games, and if he wanted to keep doing that, that would be okay. If he'd like to bat a little better than .215/.254/.385, that would also be pretty okay.

Go O's!