W – Chris Tillman (2-3, 4.91) L – Damaso Marte (1-2, 11.32) SV – Mark Hendrickson (1)

Chris Tillman struggled in the first inning, but once he got through that he was pretty effective. He pitched into the 6th, but was removed after he allowed a single and hit a batter to open the inning. Tillman gave up 4 runs (3 in the 1st inning) on 9 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 8 batters, a career high. Alberto Castillo came in and struck out the only batter he faced, then Matt Albers finished the inning. Mark Hendrickson came in to start the 7th. He earned his first save of the season by pitching 3 scoreless innings to end the game.

The Orioles scored a run in the 2nd inning on back to back doubles by Melvin Mora and Luke Scott, but we did most of our damage in the middle innings. In the 5th, Felix Pie led off with a walk, moved to 3rd on a single by Chad Moeller, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brian Roberts. Cesar Izturis walked and Nick Markakis singled to load the bases. Mora was hit by a pitch to score another run. The 6th was more of the same. Matt Wieters led off with a single, Jeff Fiorentino followed with a single of his own, and Moeller walked. Roberts singled in 2 runs and Izturis singled in another. A Nolan Reimold sacrifice fly gave us another. A 2 out rally in the 7th gave us our final 3 runs of the game. Moeller doubled, Roberts walked, and Izturis singled – scoring Moeller. A wild pitch moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd and Markakis took advantage. He singled and both runners scored.

Player of the game: Chad Moeller (2-4, 2 R, BB, double (8) (.276 AVG))

Brian Matusz (4-2, 5.26) tries to continue his recent success against AJ Burnett (11-8, 4.19) this afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

W – Billy Wagner (1-0, 1.35) L – Matt Albers (2-5, 5.46) SV – Jonathon Papelbon (35)

Dave Trembley is really trying to overuse our oversized bullpen. It seems like hes trying to get as many pitchers in each game as possible. Jason Berken started for the O’s, and his line was pretty predictable. 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. Thats about what hes been doing for his last 7 starts. At least we know what we’re going to get from him. He came out with one out in the 6th, and thats when the pitching change carousel began. Alberto Castillo came in and got an out, then was removed for Matt Albers. Albers allowed the tying run to come in but got out of the inning. He started the 7th, but gave up a hit and was removed in favor of Mark Hendrickson. Hendrickson struck out the only batter he faced. Danys Baez was next and he got hit around. He allowed the inherited runner to score, along with two of his own on 2 hits and 2 walks. In the 8th, newly acquired Sean Henn started it out. He got an out on a strikeout, but gave up 2 hits and was taken out for Cla Meredith. Meredith gave up a hit, but was able to get out of the inning without allowing any damage.

The offense was alright last night but they just couldn’t keep up with the Red Sox hitters. In the 2nd, Matt Wieters walked, Luke Scott followed that with a walk of his own, and Ty Wiggington singled to load the bases with no outs. But we would only get one run, on a Cesar Izturis double play that scored Wieters. We got another in the 5th when Brian Roberts hit his 50th double of the season, stole 3rd base (his 28th steal), and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nolan Reimold. Roberts joined select company by becoming only the 4th player in MLB history to hit 50 doubles in 3 or more seasons. The other three are Tris Speaker, Stan Musial, and Paul Waner. Not bad. We got two more in the 6th when Roberts walked with the bases loaded and Felix Pie hit an RBI single. Our last run came in the 9th when Scott hit a sacrifice fly to score Nick Markakis, who had 3 hits in the game. Wieters had a pair of singles to go with his walk.

Player of the game: Nick Markakis (3-4, R, BB, double (42) (.305 AVG))

The Orioles get another day off today before going to New York to face the Yankees. In game one, the O’s get a chance at redemption against Andy Pettitte (13-6, 4.10) who threw a gem against us about a week ago. Chris Tillman (1-3, 4.66) pitches for Baltimore.

W – Clay Buchholz (5-3, 3.92) L – David Hernandez (4-7, 5.05)

Well so much for getting any momentum from Sunday’s 7-0 win. Last night was a terrible game, not many positives you can take out of it. Hernandez was in trouble from the very beginning. He walked the first batter of the game, then gave up a homerun. He would go on to give up 4 homeruns, and 6 runs,  in 2.2 IP. Chris Lambert replaced Hernandez to make his Orioles debut and didn’t fare much better. He walked the first batter he faced and then… drumroll please… gave up a homerun. He did pitch a scoreless 4th inning however. Brian Bass started the 5th, but gave up 2 hits and a walk before getting an out. Alberto Castillo was then brought on and got out of the jam. But Castillo gave up a run himself on 2 hits before being taken out in the 6th for Chris Ray. Ray finished the inning, walking a batter. Freshly called up Bob McCrory got in the game next and pitched the 7th, but gave up a solo homerun in the process. Dennis Sarfate pitched a scoreless 8th, striking out 2.

The offense was abysmal as well. Buchholz had a perfect game going until the 4th inning when Felix Pie walked. Nick Markakis singled two batters later to end the no hitter. Matt Wieters had a single and a double in the game. Robert Andino and Jeff Fiorentino had singles. They both entered the game late as replacement for Brian Roberts and Markakis respectively.

Player of the game: Matt Wieters (2-3, double (11) (.268 AVG))

Its only a 2 game series, thank god, and Jason Berken (4-11, 6.07) looks to put an end to the embarrassment against Paul Byrd (1-1, 7.56).

W – Jeremy Guthrie (10-13, 4.96) L – Derek Holland (7-10, 5.93)

It was a great game for the Orioles today. Guthrie continued his late season resurgence, throwing 7 shutout innings. He gave up 6 hits and a walk, while striking out 6. Matt Albers followed him with a shutout inning, allowing a walk. Kam Mickolio pitched a scoreless 9th to complete the shutout. I wonder how much different the season would’ve been if Guthrie had pitched like he has over his past 4 starts the whole year. Maybe a handful more wins. Maybe he would have been traded before the deadline. Maybe he’ll be traded in the offseason. Who knows? But I hope he keeps it up.

Most of the offense came from the bottom of the lineup. Our first two runs came in the 2nd inning. Melvin Mora singled, Jeff Fiorentino walked, and Chad Moeller doubled them both in. We scored 4 in the 4th. Mora was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Ty Wiggington doubled, then Fiorentino singled to score Mora. Moeller struck out before Robert Andino walked to load the bases. Brian Roberts singled, scoring Wiggington and Fiorentino. Felix Pie then walked to re-load the bases for Nolan Reimold, who hit a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Andino. We added our last run in the 7th on another Fiorentino RBI single after Nick Markakis walked and Wigginton singled.

Player of the game: Jeremy Guthrie (7 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, BB, 6 K, W (10-13) (4.96 ERA)

The O’s have Monday off before starting a two game series in Boston to face the Red Sox. David Hernandez (4-6, 4.54) goes against Clay Buchholz (4-3, 4.40).

W – Brian Matusz (4-2, 5.26) L – Kevin Millwood (10-9, 3.77) SV – Jim Johnson

Brian Matusz looked good. He had a shaky first inning when he gave up 3 runs on 3 hits, including a homerun. But over his next 6 innings he would only give up 1 run on 3 hits and a walk. He struck out 4 batters in the game. Its nice to see Matusz go 7 innings in back to back starts. And he only needed 93 pitches to do it. He could have started the 8th but they’re being careful with the young arms. Danys Baez pitched a perfect 8th with a stikeout and Jim Johnson pitched a perfect 9th to pick up the save.

The Offense got going right away. Felix Pie led off the game with a single, then Nolan Reimold doubled. Nick Markakis lifted a sacrifice fly to get the Orioles on the board. Melvin Mora homered in the 2nd inning. In the 3rd, Reimold hit a homerun, his 14th of the season, to cut the Rangers lead to 4-3. Brian Roberts, Luke Scott, and Matt Wieters walked to load the bases and Mora singled to tie the game up. Markakis singled and moved to second on a Wieters groundout before Mora singled to score him. The Orioles would actually hold on to a lead for once. Felix Pie also had a walk in the game.

Player of the game: Melvin Mora (3-4, R, 3 RBI, HR (7) (.265 AVG))

Jeremy Guthrie (9-13, 5.18) will try to give the Orioles their second series win since the all-star break. He’ll face Derek Holland (7-9, 5.63).