O's Take Second Straight From Red Sox With 5-4 Win

     For the second straight night an Orioles starting pitcher held the Red Sox lineup in check. Following Tuesday night's start by Zach Britton, Jeremy Guthrie took the mound for the Orioles and tried to overcome his previous struggles against the Red Sox. Guthrie came into the game with a 1-7 career record against the Red Sox, but you wouldn't have known it from the way he pitched last night.
     Jacoby Elssbury led off the game with a single, and two batters later Adrian Gonzalez doubled to deep right. It looked as if the Red Sox were going to jump on Guthrie early, but the O's ace was able to avert any trouble as he retired Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz to end the inning.
     Jeremy was able to navigate his way through the next two innings without much trouble before facing another Red Sox threat in the 4th inning. Guthrie retired Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis to start the inning before allowing a David Ortiz single and walking J.D. Drew. With runners at first and second and two out, Jed Lowrie singled to right field. With Ortiz rounding third and heading for the plate, Nick Markakis threw a bullet to catcher Matt Wieters gunning the Red Sox DH down at the plate.
     In the bottom half of the inning, the O's were finally able to crack through against Boston starter Josh Beckett. Following a Nick Markakis strike out, Derrek Lee came to the plate and blooped a pop up into right center field. Lee's pop up fell into the "Bermuda Triangle" of baseball as it fell between three Red Sox defenders. Given an extra out, the Orioles looked to take advantage and they did. After a Vladimir Guerrero strike out, Luke Scott came to the plate and launched a moon shot 424 feet onto Eutaw Street for his 3rd homerun of the year. Adam Jones followed Luke Scott with a homerun of his own, his 5th of the year, that landed just over the wall in left. The inning should have ended with the Guerrero strike out, but instead the O's took advantage of the Boston mistake and turned it into a 3-0 lead.
     The Birds were able to tack on another run in the bottom of the 5th inning. Matt Wieters led off the inning with a single to right, and Robert Andino laid a beautiful bunt down the third base line and was able to reach on a bunt single. A wild pitch by Josh Beckett allowed both runners to advance, and gave the Orioles a 2nd and 3rd situation with no body out. Brian Roberts was able to send a fly ball to deep right field allowing Matt Wieters to score on the sac fly. Beckett was able to avoid any more trouble and retired Nick Markakis and Derrek Lee on groundouts to end the inning.
     Jeremy Guthrie went out for one more inning before turning things over to the bullpen in the 7th inning. Jeremy Accardo pitched a 1-2-3 7th inning, and went back out to begin the 8th inning. Jacoby Ellsbury led off the 8th with a single and was followed by a Dustin Pedroia walk. After the Pedroia walk, Buck Showalter again went to the bullpen, this time calling on lefty Clay Rapada to face Adrian Gonzalez. The lefty on lefty matchup did not work too well for the Orioles as Adrain Gonzalez hit his 2nd home run of the year to left center field. Koji Uehara relieved Rapada after only one batter, but had similar results as he gave up a homerun to Kevin Youkilis. These back-to-back home runs allowed the Red Sox to tie the game in two swings. Koji was eventually able to get out of the inning, but the damage was done.
     With a tie score, the Orioles looked to take back the lead in the bottom of the 8th inning. Facing Daniel Bard, Nick Markakis and Derrek Lee got things going for the Orioles with back-to-back singles. A Jason Varitek passed ball allowed both runners to move up. Markakis was thrown out at the plate trying to score on another Varitek passed ball, but his hand was blocked by Bard's foot, and he was tagged out by the Red Sox pitcher. Validimir Guerrero delivered the go ahead run with his single up the middle.
     Closer Kevin Gregg came on in the 9th trying to hold onto the one run lead. Gregg recorded his second straight 1-2-3 9th inning en route to his fourth save of the season, and a 5-4 Orioles victory.

Lineups and Game Notes for Tonight's Orioles-Red Sox Game

Here are tonight's starting lineups for game two of the Orioles-Red Sox series, and how they have fared against the opposing pitcher:

Orioles
1. Brian Roberts 2B (12 for 40, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 9 Ks)
2. Nick Markakis RF (12 for 39, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 11 Ks)
3. Derrek Lee 1B (3 for 6, 2 HR, 2 RBIs)
4. Vladimir Guerrero DH (14 for 47, 2 HR, 6 RBIs, 7 Ks)
5. Luke Scott LF (9 for 20, 2 HR, 5 RBIs, 5 Ks)
6. Adam Jones CF (6 for 23, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 9 Ks)
7. Mark Reynolds 3B (1 for 3, 2Ks)
8. Matt Wieters C (2 for 6, 1 K)
9. Robert Andino SS (1 for 3, 1 K)

Notes
- Brian Roberts currently has a 12 game hitting streak, but does not have a multi-hit game since April 19th, a span of 5 games
- Nick Markakis does not have an extra-base hit in his last 10 games
- Vladimir Guerrero leads the majors with the most at-bats without taking a walk with 87
- Luke Scott recorded his second straight multi-hit game Tuesday after going his first 14 games of the season without one
- Adam Jones has reached base safely in 9 of his last 10 games
- Matt Wieters has thrown out 5 of the 11 runners attempting a steal on him this season

Red Sox
1. Jacoby Ellsbury CF (11 for 28, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 2 Ks)
2. Dustin Pedroia 2B (10 for 23, 2 2Bs, 3 Ks)
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B (1 for 3)
4. Kevin Youkilis 3B (11 for 37, 3 HR, 6 RBIs, 7 Ks)
5. David Ortiz DH (10 for 31, 3 HR, 8 RBIs, 6 Ks)

6. J.D. Drew RF (8 for 27, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 3 Ks)
7. Jed Lowrie SS (0 for 3, 1 K)
8. Carl Crawford LF ( 15 for 41, 5 2Bs, 3 RBIs, 3 Ks)
9.  Jason Varitek C (5 for 22, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 Ks)

Notes
- Jacoby Ellsbury has an extra base hit in three of his last 10 games
- Dustin Pedroia has only 1 RBI in his last 10 games
- Adrian Gonzalez has at least one base hit in 9 of the last 10 games
- Kevin Youkilis has struck out 12 times in the last 10 games
- David Ortiz has not hit a home run since April 2nd, a span of 19 games
- Jed Lowire was held hitless Tuesday night for only the 2nd time in the last 13 games

Tonight's Orioles-Red Sox Pitching Matchup

    
     The Baltimore Orioles will send Jeremy Guthrie to the mound tonight as they look to take the second game of their three game set with the Boston Red Sox. The Orioles took the first game of the series behind the arm of rookie Zach Britton, who went 6 innings allowing only one run.

     Jeremy Guthrie will take the mound tonight for the Orioles and is searching for his first win since Opening Day against the Tampa Bay Rays. Guthrie pitched 8 shut out innings for the Birds that night, allowing only 3 hits and walking one. In three starts following Opening Day, Guthrie has had some tough luck. He allowed one run and two runs to the Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins respectively, but the offense struggled to score runs in each of those games. His only bad outing of the season came against his former team, the Cleveland Indians on April 16th. In that game, Guthrie allowed 6 runs in 5 innings en route to an 8-3 loss.

     Guthrie has had his fair share of struggles against the Red Sox in his career. In 15 career appearances (14 stars, 1 relief appearance) Guthrie is just 1-7 with a 4.94 ERA. Last season, Jeremy made three starts against the Sox, and went 0-2 with a 5.71 ERA in those three games.

     After a 6-6 season in which he posted a 5.78 ERA in 2010, Josh Beckett is having a bounce back season in 2011. In four starts this year Beckett is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.93. Beckett's only loss came in his first start of the season, a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Cleveland Indians. Since that game, Beckett has only allowed 3 earned runs in 23 innings pitched. Beckett has gone at least 7 innings in his last three starts, including an 8 inning performance last Thursday against the Angels in which he only allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, but received a no decision.

     Beckett has pitched well against the Orioles, especially at Camden Yards. Overall, he is 6-3 with a 3.53 against the Orioles, and 5-2 with an ERA of 2.94 in Baltimore. Beckett made two starts against the Orioles last year going 0-1, but still posted a low 2.57 ERA against the Birds.

Thoughts and Notes on Tonights 4-1 Victory

     This is my blog, so I can give two Player of the Game Awards. The first recipient is obviously Zach Britton. The rookie pitched 6 solid innings tonight, and worked himself out of some tough situations. He really impressed me with his poise tonight, most notably in the 5th inning. Facing Adrian Gonzalez in the top of the 5th with the bases loaded, Britton was able to keep the game at 2-1. Britton had attacked Gonzalez on the inside part of the plate in his first two at-bats, so Gonzalez made the adjustment and backed off the plate a little bit in this at-bat. Wieters and Britton recognized this, and attacked Gonzalez away and ultimately forced the Red Sox slugger to hit into a fielders choice to end the Red Sox threat.

     The second recipient of the Player of the Game Award goes to a player who did not even record a hit in the game. That player would be Adam Jones. Jones had three quality "team at-bats" that while they all resulted in outs, were productive. In his first at-bat in the bottom of the 2nd, Jones battled Buchholz in an eleven pitch encounter. Jones continually fouled off Buchholz's pitches, allowing him as well as the rest of the team to see more and more of the Red Sox pitcher's repotoire. Jones also picked up two RBIs with sac flies in the 3rd and 5th innings. While Jones finished the night 0-1, he had three productive at-bats, picked up 2 RBIs, and was intentionally walked in his only other plate appearance.

     It was good to see the Orioles 3-4-5 hitters have a good game at the plate. Derrek Lee, Vladimir Guerrero, and Luke Scott went a combined 7 for 12 at the plate and scored all four of the Orioles runs. Six of those seven hits were singles, with Luke Scott providing the only extra base hit with his 7th inning double, but it was still good to see this kind of production from the middle of the lineup.

Notes
- Matt Wieters came into the game a perfect 6 for 6 with runners in scoring position. He extended it to 7 for 7 with his infield single in the 2nd inning, but ended his streak with a ground out in the 7th.

- Brian Roberts extended his hitting streak to 12 games with his 6th inning single.

- Jim Johnson recorded held the opponent scoreless for his fourth straight appearance spanning five innings. Johnson has struck out six over that span, including four in two innings tonight.

- Adam Jones' two sacrifice flies in a game fell one short of the Major League record of 3 in a game,which has happened 11 times, the most recent in 2002 by Edgar Martinez.

- Zach Britton is the first rookie pitcher in the history of the St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles franchise to record 4 wins in the month of April.

- Britton has also pitched at least 6 innings in each of his five starts this year.

- Kevin Gregg recorded his third consecutive scoreless appearance after giving up runs in two straight appearances against the Yankees and Twins on April 14th and 18th.

- All nine Orioles' starters reached base. Adam Jones and Robert Andino were hitless in the game, but both reached via walks.

Britton, Middle of the Lineup Guide O's to 4-1 Win

     The Baltimore Orioles were able to stop the red hot Boston Red Sox on Tuesday on their way to a 4-1 victory. Boston had come into the game winning 8 of their last 9 games, and ended their five game road winning streak.

     Rookie Zach Britton went 6 innings allowing only 1 run while scattering 5 hits en route to his fourth win of the season. Britton retired 9 of the first 10 Red Sox batters he faced, walking David Ortiz in the 2nd inning, before giving up his first hit to Dustin Pedroia in the 4th inning. Pedroia advanced to second on a groundout by Adrian Gonzalez and later stole third. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Youkilis for the Red Sox only run off the Orioles rookie.

     Britton escaped a bases loaded jam in the 5th inning unscathed. After getting two quick outs to start the inning, he allowed a single to Jason Varitek and a double to Jacoby Ellsbury. Dustin Pedroia then drew a walk, loading the bases for the Red Sox new first baseman, Adrian Gonzalez. Britton won this matchup though as he got Gonzalez to hit a weak ground ball to second base for the third out of the inning.

     Britton allowed two more singles in the top of the 6th, but again got out of the inning without allowing the Red Sox to cross the plate.

     The Orioles offense, which has struggled against Clay Buchholz in the past, got off to an early start against the Boston righty scoring their first run in the bottom of the 2nd on a Matt Wieters infield single that bounced off the bag at 1st scoring Luke Scott. The Orioles were able to load the bases in the 3rd inning after base hits by Derrek Lee and Vladimir Guerrero, as well as a Luke Scott walk. Adam Jones was able to knock in a run with a sac fly to put the Orioles up by two, and Buchholz was able to minimize the damage.

     Jones picked up his second RBI of the night in the 5th with another sac fly.

     The Orioles picked up their fourth and final run of the night in the bottom of the 7th. After Derrek Lee flew out to start the inning, Vladimir Guerrero singled and was followed by a Luke Scott double. After an intentional walk to Adam Jones loaded the bases, Mark Reynolds brought home Gerrero with yet another sac fly.

     Jim Johnson came on to pitch two solid innings of relief, striking out four and only allowing one hit.

     Kevin Gregg pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to earn his third save in four opportunities.

Tonight's Lineups, Game Notes

Here are the lineups for tonight's Orioles-Red Sox game, along with the Oriole's career numbers versus Clay Buchholz.

Orioles
1. Brian Roberts 2B (7 for 18, 3 RBIs)
2. Nick Markakis RF (2 For 20, 1 RBI)
3.Derrek Lee 1B (First Appearance versus Buchholz; 5 for 22 Last 7 Days)
4. Vladimir Guerrero DH (5 for 12, 2 RBIs)
5. Luke Scott LF (1 for 16, 1 HR, 1 RBI)
6. Adam Jones CF (3 for 9, 1 HR, 4 RBIs)
7. Mark Reynolds 3B (0 for 3, 3 K's)
8. Matt Wieters C (4 for 11, 2 Doubles)
9. Robert Andino SS (0 for 4)

- Brian Roberts is currently riding an 11-game hitting streak and is hitting .340 with 1 HR and 7 RBIs in that span
- Adam Jones has a hit in 8 of his last 9 games
- Mark Reynolds homerun on Sunday snapped an 0 for 22 skid that dated back to April 16th against the Cleveland Indians
- Matt Wieters went 0 for 6 in the weekend series with the Yankees
- Robert Andino has a hit in 5 of the 8 games he has had an at-bat, and is hitting 5 for 13 over the last 7 days

Red Sox
1. Jacoby Ellsbury CF (6 for 23, 3 RBIs)
2. Dustin Pedroia 2B (4 for 21, 1 RBI)
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B (9 for 28, 4 RBIs)
4. Kevin Youkilis 3B (4 for 16, 2 HR, 3 RBIs)
5. David Ortiz DH (4 for 17, 1 RBI)
6. Jed Lowrie SS (6 for 20, 1 HR, 3 RBIs)
7. J.D. Drew RF (4 for 15, 1 HR, 2 RBIs)
8. Carl Crawford LF (6 for 22, 1 HR, 4 RBIs)
9. Jason Varitek C (1 for 11, 1 RBI)

*The Red Sox have never faced Zach Britton, so in parenthesis are how the hitters have fared in the last even days

- Dustin Pedroia is 0 for 12 in his last 3 games
- Adrian Gonzlaez has a hit in 8 of his last 9 games, and is hitting .325 over that span
- Jed Lowrie has a hit in 11 of his last 12 games, hitting .477 (21 for 44) over that span
- J.D. Drew is hitting .351 with 14 HR and 38 RBIs against the Orioles since 2008
- In 141 career games against the Orioles, Carl Crawford is hitting .309 with 13 HR and 74 RBIs

O's Welcome Red Sox to Camden Yards

     The Baltimore Orioles welcome the Boston Red Sox to Camden Yards tonight for the first game of a three game series. It is the first meeting between the two teams in 2011, and it couldn't come at a worse time for the Orioles as these two teams are going in opposite directions in the American League East.

     Since beginning the season with a 6-1 record, the Orioles have lost 11 of their last 13 and fallen to the AL East cellar. After winning their first two series of the season against the Tampa Bay Rays and Detroit Tigers, the Orioles have gone 0-4-1 in their last five series, including being swept by the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees (twice).

     The Orioles will send rookie Zach Britton to the mound tonight. Britton has gone 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA in his first four big league starts. This will be a tough test for the rookie left hander against the formidable Red Sox lineup. He was able to hold the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers to one run and zero runs respectively in his first two big league starts, but has given up eight runs in his last twelve innings against the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins. He has struggled slightly with his control as he has walked three batters in three of his four starts this season. Britton cannot allow these free passes to the Red Sox tonight, or they will take advantage of those opportunities. Because he is a ground ball pitcher, Britton can work himself out of jams by inducing the double play, but I think everyone will agree it's better to avoid those situations.

     The Boston Red Sox opened their season by dropping their first six games, but have gone 10-5 since then and have won eight of their last nine games. Trailing the Yankees by three games, they are currently in third in the AL East with a 10-11 record. They are coming off a series sweep of the Angels in Los Angeles over the weekend, and have won five straight road games after dropping their first seven away from Fenway Park.

     Clay Buchholz takes the mound tonight for the Red Sox. He is 1-2 with a 5.31 ERA in four starts this season. After giving up three or more runs in his first three starts, Buchholz held the Oakland Athletics to one run over 5 1/3 innings in his last start to earn his first win of the season. Over his last two starts Buchholz has struggled with his control walking nine over 10 1/3 innings. Buchholz has been quite successful against the Orioles in his career going 5-2 with a 2.98 ERA in eight starts and one relief appearance. He is also the last opposing pitcher to toss a no-hitter against the Birds as he did it in 2007, his rookie season. In two starts against the Orioles last year Buchholz went 1-0 and held the Orioles scoreless over 15 innings.

     More to come before tonight's first pitch, including lineups, a look at the Orioles career numbers against Buchholz, and some game notes.

What to Make of Orioles' Early Season Struggles

     Before the beginning of the 2011 season, the talk around Baltimore was that the Orioles would go as far as their pitching would take them. Off season acquisitions Derrek Lee, Vladimir Guerrero, Mark Reynolds, and J.J. Hardy joined a lineup filled with young potential and consistent veterans. This was supposed to be the year where the Orioles lineup struck a little bit of fear into opposing pitchers. Yet, here we are a little over three weeks into the season and there is not one regular starter hitting over .300. While it's a little early to hit the panic button, it is worth taking a closer look at the Orioles' early season struggles.

     Derrek Lee and Nick Markakis are arguably two of the bigger disappointments early in the season. Markakis has been the Orioles most consistent hitter over the last few years, yet has found himself struggling at the outset of the 2011 season. Through 4/25, Markakis is hitting .208 with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs, well below his career averages. They say baseball is a game of averages, so Markakis should be ok once he finds his stroke. Derrek Lee was coming off a 2010 season where he hit .260 with 19 HRs and 80 RBIs while playing through a hand injury all season long. So far this season, Lee has struggled to a .211 BA with 1 HR and 2 RBIs. This is not the production a team needs from a guy in the middle of their lineup. Lee did miss most of Spring Training, so his early troubles could be attributed to that. It could also be that Lee's age, 35, has caught up to him. No matter what the case may be, it might not hurt to drop him lower in the lineup until he works out his issues at the plate.

     Another new acquisition, Mark Reynolds, is also seeing his fair share of early season struggles. Reynolds is currently hitting .179 with 2 HRs and 12 RBIs. While this is not what most fans want to hear, these numbers shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Reynolds is known for his power as he has averaged almost 31 HRs a year in his four seasons in the big leagues, but he is also known for his strikeouts. Reynolds has struck out over 200 times in three of his first four big league seasons. While we would like to see the strikeouts cut down, and the average go up, Reynolds is here to hit homeruns. Expect the balls to start flying out of Camden Yards once the weather warms up.

     The Orioles struggles aren't limited to these three players alone. Almost every hitter on the team, minus Brian Roberts, is hitting below expectations. These struggles are being magnified right now by the fact that it is the beginning of the season. Every player goes through slumps in a season. Unfortunately, the Orioles all seem to be slumping at the same time, when they have nothing else to base their season on.

     As I mentioned before, baseball is a game of averages. Eventually, the Orioles will break out of their early season lull, and hopefully the offense will be filled with a little more firepower. Hitting is contagious, and once one or two of these players breaks through look for it to havea positive effect on the rest of the lineup.