A's win 4-2 as Orioles losing streak reaches four
The O's were held to four hits, all singles, as the A's beat the Orioles 4-2 in game two of this series.
The O's have lost four in a row and fall under .500 at 16-17.
Losing pitcher Brian Burres gave up four runs on eight hits over 5.1 ip. Aubrey Huff and Luke Scott had RBI's.
Jeremy Guthrie pitches Wednesday afternoon as the O's try to avoid the sweep in Oakland.
A'S TAKE GAME TWO OF SERIES, 4-2 OVER ORIOLES
The broken record of a lack of offense costing the Orioles games, is still spinning. They were held to four hits Tuesday, all singles, in a 4-2 loss at Oakland.
At 16-17, the O's have lost four in a row and fall under .500 for the first time since they were 0-1.
They have just nine hits in this series and were held to two or fewer runs for the 12th time. The Birds have scored just 16 runs the past seven games, and are 1-6 in that stretch.
Emil Brown's RBI hit in the first gave Oakland a 1-0 lead. They went ahead 3-0 on RBI groundouts by Bobby Crosby and Mark Ellis in the third.
The O's pulled within one, with a two-run fourth. Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis walked. Aubrey Huff singled in one and a Luke Scott sac fly plated the other.
Losing pitcher Brian Burres fell to 3-3, allowing four runs and eight hits in 5.1 ip. Matt Albers pitched 2.2 ip of scoreless relief.
Justin Duchscherer got the win with seven innings of four-hit ball and Santiago Casilla picked up a save.
The O's have lost 8 of 10 and send Jeremy Guthrie to the mound Wednesday at 3:35pm to try and avoid a sweep.
Balt 2-4-2
Oak 4-9-0
POST-GAME NOTES
AGAIN THE OFFENSE
The O's have eight singles and one double in two games in this series. They are 9-60 the past two games for an average of .150. Tonight they batted three men in an inning six times. They have scored three runs or less in 10 of the last 16 games and have five hits or fewer in 5 of the last 10 contests.
Nick Markakis is 6-43, Kevin Millar is 7-47 and Adam Jones is 1-18 on this road trip.
Huff's single in the 4th was his only hit and extended his batting streak to ten games. He is 13-36 (.361) during the streak. Melvin Mora went 1-4 and is 8-19 during a five-game batting streak.
WHERE'S THE POP ???
The O's and A's have combined for 26 hits in this series. That's 25 SINGLES and just one double. Mora doubled in the 9th Tuesday vs. Huston Street.
NOW LOSING THE CLOSE ONES
The O's have lost four in a row by a total of six runs. They are 1-5 in their last six games decided by one or two runs. A lot has been made of their excellent one-run record of 8-4. But they are now 1-6 in two-run decisions. So they fall to 9-10 overall in the close ones. The Birds are suddenly just one-half game ahead of last-place Toronto and are five games out of first.
HE DESERVED BETTER
Not only did Burres not get the run support, Melvin Mora made a key error behind him leading to a run. Also, several of the hits agasint him were bloops or seeing-eye grounders. Still, he kept his team in the game. Over his last four starts, Burres has pitched to an ERA of 2.16 (6er - 25ip).
Steve Melewski's live GameBlog
COSTLY MISTAKE
A's 4 O's 2...........end of six
Burres hit Mark Ellis to start the home 6th. Then Donnie Murphy hit a sure DP ball to third, but Melvin Mora's throw to second was off the mark and off Roberts glove as the runners moved into second and third, instead of two out and none on. Rajai Davis hit a sac fly for a 4-2 lead.
Then Matt Albers replaced Burres who just had no luck tonight. Albers did a great job stranding a man on third with a pop up and K.
Burres line tonight: 5.1ip, 8h, 4r, 3er, 1b, 1k..........84 pitches
ADAM JONES STRUGGLING
He is 0-2 tonight and on this road trip is now 1-17 with five strikeouts.
Jones really needs some strike zone discipline. When he gets behind on the count he really chases pitches that are not strikes. As word gets around the league he may never see a strike again. He also is, at this point, defensless agasint the curve ball away from him.
His strikeout in the third inning tonight was his 28th on the year, and ties Markakis for the team lead.
He is an exciting player, with, as they say, upside, but there is also plenty of work to do as well.
O'S GET BACK IN IT
A's 3 O's 2.....middle of 4th
Roberts and Markakis drew walks around a groundout. Then Aubrey Huff ripped an RBI single to right, his 20th RBI. It also extends his bat streak to ten games.
Luke Scott came up with the bases loaded and hit a liner to center that went for a sac fly and a 3-2 game. It was nice to see a couple of hitters take some pitches last inning.
A'S GET TWO MORE
A's 3 O's 0....end of third
The last of the third started with three straight singles by Thomas, Cust and Brown. Then a couple of RBI grounders by Bobby Crosby and Mark Ellis gave the A's a 3-0 lead.
Burres is not lucky tonight. He has allowed seven hits but several have been bloops or ground balls that found a hole.
It should be mentioned that Cust was struck out, it so appearend, on, I think a 2-2 pitch. CB Bucknor must have been out getting a hot dog and clearly missed strike three. Then Cust, given four strikes, went on to get a hit.
Burres has given up 3er in 3ip tonight. He had given up 3er combined over his past three starts, in 19.2 ip.
SLOW START ON OFFENSE
A's 1 O's 0.........middle of third
The O's have been retired nine in a row, four on strikeouts, thru the first three innings tonight. At this point in the series, as a team, they are 5-40 for an average of .125. Early on they have hit two line drives that were caught while the A's have two bloop hits.
So far the O's aren't good or lucky.
A'S GET THE LEAD
A's 1 O's 0............end of one
Emil Brown begins tonight the way he ended last night, with an RBI single. This one was a two-out bloop just fair down the right-field line. After Burres got the the first two outs, Thomas, Cust and Brown hit singles.
He then walked Bobby Crosby to lead the bases, but Mark Ellis lined out to leave the sacks full.
GAME TWO HAS BEGUN
The O's and A's are underway in game of this series. For many reasons we're looking for a win tonight. To avoid falling under .500 and to avoid the first four-game losing streak of the season.
PRE-GAME NOTES
They have lost three in a row, 5 of 6 and 7 of 9 contests. Of the seven losses, five have been by two runs or less.
The A's lead the majors in team ERA and didn't hurt their stats at all, winning 2-1 last night in ten innings. Emil Brown's single in the tenth gave Oakland the walk-off win.
The A's have allowed two runs total in winning back to back games and have won 11 of their last 17 to get to 20-14. They have the third best record in the league.
The clubs split eight contests last year, but Oakland is 56-27 vs. the Birds since 1999.
THE PITCHERS
Lefty Brian Burres will make his 6th O's start of 2008 and the 23rd in his O's career. Over his last three starts, Burres is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.37 (3er - 19.2 ip).
Burres took the loss last Thursday at home vs. Tampa, giving up six hits and four runs over 6 ip. He threw 110 pitches. In his previous two outings he pitched a combined 13.2 ip without allowing a run vs. the Yankees and White Sox.
The 27-year-old lefty pitched well in two games last season vs. Oakland, with a 1-0 record and 1.00 ERA in 9 innings. Those are also his career numbers vs. the A's.
Burres was originally drafted in the 31st round by San Francisco in 2000.
His mound opponent is 30-year-old righty Justin Duchscherer, who is 2-1 2.40 this season. Duchscherer was on the disabled list this year from April 8-26 with a strained right biceps.
In three starts he has allowed 16 hits in 15 innings with 3 walks and 14 strikeouts. Lefty hitters bat .233 vs. him and right-handed hitters have a .310 average.
Duchscherer has made 8 career starts and 192 relief appearances. He has a 4.54 ERA as a starter and a 3.22 mark out of the pen.
He got the win in his last start, Thursday vs. the Angels. He pitched five frames and gave up six hits and six runs, but just one run was earned.
In eight career games vs. the Orioles, he is 1-0 2.87. He has just one career start vs. Baltimore and that came on July 25, 2001, when he pitched 6.2ip allowing four runs on six hits.
Duchscherer was drafted in round 8 by Boston in 1996
MOST HOMERS VS. THE ORIOLES SINCE 1954
Harmon Killebrew 68
Mickey Mantle 44
Frank Thomas 42
MORE FRANK NOTES
He was signed by the A's April 24, and, in 12 games with Oakland is hitting .244-0-1. He is hitting just .074 this year vs. lefties, with two hits in 27 at bats. Thomas is 6-9 lifetime off Brian Burres with one HR. He begins tonight with 516 career homers, 18th on the all-time list. He has 1690 career RBI, that's 22nd best all-time and just five back of Cal Ripken, who is 21st.
Thomas career vs. Balt: 145 gms........308--42--126.
THE OFFENSE AND ITS STRUGGLES IN STAT FORM
O's have scored three or less in 9 of last 15 games
O's have scored just 14 runs in the last six contests
Have five hits or less 4 times the last 9 games
Scored two runs or less 11 times during 2008
O's are 10th in AL in runs, 11th in OBP and 12th in average
STARTING PITCHING NOTES
The last 11 games, O's starters have pitched to an ERA of 3.90. Take Steve Trachsel's two starts during that time out and the ERA is a brilliant 2.76. The O's have gotten quality starts in 8 of 9 games, minus Trachsel, in that stretch. That's not good starting pitching, that's great pitching.
That's much better than anyone could have expected. Right now the O's have four of their five starters throwing well, most teams would love to have 3 of 5 going well.
It's why this team was contending for first place just a few days ago and even with very poor offense lately, still are at .500 starting tonight. With an improved offense and this pitching, this club could stay at or around .500 for a long time. It's been a very encouraging run of pitching which could get overlooked with so many players slumping on offense.
MORA AND HUFF STAY HOT
Aubrey Huff went 1-3 Monday and his current batting streak is at nine games. During the streak he is batting .375 (12-32). Huff is 6-14 on this road trip, but is without an RBI the past six games. He hasn't had many chances lately it seems, to drive in runs.
Melvin Mora has hit safely in all four games on this trip. He is 7-14 on the trip, with a homer, two doubles and 3 RBI. The hot stretch has raised his average from .230 to .260.
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