Guthrie and O's come up short vs. New York, 5-3
Jason Giambi homered with 3 RBI and Carl Pavano won in his first start since last April as the Yankees beat the Orioles 5-3 Saturday. The crowd of 48,817 was the 6th sellout of the year and 15th largest in Camden Yards history.
New York scored two in the first and third vs. Jeremy Guthrie to lead 4-3, and Yankees pitching took it from there. Pavano, in his first Major League start since April 9, 2007, pitched five innings and gave up three runs on seven hits. New York's bullpen combined for four scoreless frames.
Mariano Rivera got the last three outs for his 30th save in 31 chances.
Guthrie, who falls to 10-10, allowed five runs and seven hits over 6 2/3. It's just the third time all year he's allowed five runs or more in a start.
The Orioles have lost four of five games and fall to 10-11 in August. The Orioles are now 7-7 this season vs. New York.
Hideki Matsui hit a 2-1 pitch out to right for his 9th homer and a 5-3 Yankees' lead in the top of the seventh. It's his 500th career RBI.
With two out and none on in the top of the third, Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch. Giambi followed with a two-run homer and New York took a 4-3 lead. Giambi's 25th homer came on a 3-2 pitch.
The Orioles scored three in the second to gain a 3-2 lead. They loaded the bases with no outs on a Luke Scott double, a walk to Kevin Millar and Jay Payton's single. Juan Castro plated a run with a sac fly. An RBI groundout by Brian Roberts tied it at two. Nick Markakis singled up the middle for a 3-2 O's edge and his 77th RBI.
New York scored twice in the first to take a 2-0 lead. Rodriguez produced an RBI double and went to third on the throw home. He scored on Giambi's RBI infield single.
NYY 5-8-0
Balt 3-9-0
Postgame Notes
Ramon Hernandez came up with a single in the 8th for his only hit of the game....It extended his hitting streak to 13 games, which ties his career-high set in May of 2005....During the streak he is batting .302-2-11.....He has also hit safely in 20 of 21 games and is batting .308 since the All-Star break.....Brian Roberts was 1-5, extending his hitting streak to 9 games with a first-inning, infield hit......Roberts is batting .385 during the nine games.
Jay Payton went 3-4 with three singles to snap a 4-29 slump....Payton's three hits ties his season high, first set June 7 at Toronto......Juan Castro was 0-2 and has 2 hits his last 15 at bats.....Melvin Mora went 0-3 and is batting .457 his last 11 games and is hitting .429-6-29 over his last 20 contests.
Jeremy Guthrie gave up five runs for just the third time in 28 starts.....He threw 115 pitches and has thrown more just three times this year.....Carl Pavano picked up the win in his first Major League start since last April.....He gave up three runs in five innings vs. the Orioles after allowing five runs in just 4 1/3 on August 12 vs. the Bowie Baysox.
New York is now 3-2 on its six-game road trip, 19-15 in the second-half and 60-0 when leading after eight innings.....Mariano Rivera picked up his 30th save and has saved 30 or more six straight seasons and 11 times in his career.....Hideki Matsui's homer in the 7th was his 9th of the year and gave him 500 career RBI.....In two games in the series, New York's bullpen has pitched seven scoreless innings giving up just two hits.
The Orioles allowed a first-inning run for the 57th time and are 23-34 when doing so.....The O's fall to 20-33 vs. the AL East and 7-15 in two-run games.
Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog From Camden Yards
Guthrie's Line
Guthrie tonight: 6 2/3 IP, 7H, 5R-ER, 1BB, 7K, 2 HR....115 pitches
For just the third time all year, Guthrie allowed 5 runs or more in a start. He gave up 6 vs. Tampa on March 31st opening day and 5 vs. Boston on June 12th. The 5ER allowed tonight matches the total he had given up over his last four starts, covering 30 innings.
Chicago Probables
Mon 6:00 - completion of suspended game from April 28th
7:00 - LH Chris Waters (2-0, 4.98) vs. LH Clayton Richard (1-2, 6.75)
Tues 7:00 - O's starter TBA vs. RH Gavin Floyd (13-6, 3.78)
Wed 7:00 - RH Radhames Liz (4-3, 7.32) vs. LH Jon Danks (10-6, 3.16)
The Longball
Even though the O's are 4th in the AL in homers and NY is 8th, the Yankees have now hit six already in this series as Giambi and Matsui have taken Guthrie deep tonight. The O's have one homer in this series hit by Ramon Hernandez last night.
Tonight's Attendance
Is 48,817. It's the 6th sellout this season and the 15th largest crowd in OPACY history.
Guthrie & Pavano
Since giving up the two-run homer to Giambi in the 3rd, Jeremy Guthrie has retired 10 straight Yankees, but he trails 4-3 after five and a half. He has fanned four of those ten batters. Meanwhile, Carl Pavano, making his first Major League start since last April 9th, is out after five innings and he could pick up the win.
Pavano's line: 5IP, 7H, 3R-ER, 1BB, 2 HP, 5K.......91 pitches
Brian Bruney is on to pitch in the last of the sixth.
The Explanation
The explanation to the confusing end to the last of the second, after Melvin Mora struck out on a pitch in the dirt and later tried to run to first base was, that Mora "abandoned his chance to advance" by leaving the dirt surface around home plate. Once you leave that area, you can no longer run to first on a dropped third strike. The rule apparently changed after the 2007 season. Before that you could run to first until you got to the dugout. Now, once you leave that dirt area, you can no longer run to first. The umps say Melvin ran after leaving that area and he was already out for leaving that space. Hope that makes some sense.
100 Millionth Fan
It is Velma Greene, a resident of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Greene, 48, is a middle-school teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia. She was presented with $100,000, season tickets for five years and a package of VIP amenities. She was designated as the 100 millionth fan to attend an O's game since the club moved to Baltimore in 1954.
Trembley Ejected
Home plate ump Joe West ejected Dave Trembley after the confusing end to the last of the second. The O's seemed to think the inning should have been going with runners on second and third and after Joe Girardi argued they sent New York to the dugout with the third out on Mora's strikeout. More as we sort it out. It's Trembley's 4th ejection of the season.
Baysox Notes
Bowie, which clinched its first Eastern League playoff berth since 1997 last night, is playing again tonight at Binghamton. Brad Bergesen (15-4, 3.00) is on the mound. The Baysox, now 79-54, have won four in a row and 9 of 11 games. They lead their division by four games over Akron and if they finish first, will have the home-field edge over Akron in round one of the playoffs.
Lou Montanez, even though he's been with the Orioles since August 5th, STILL leads the Eastern League in batting average, homers, RBI, hits, extra-base hits, slugging and runs. He is second in doubles. Bowie SS Blake Davis has hit .327 his last 76 games, raising his average from .221 to .285.
Bergesen tonight is looking for his 17th win on the season, he had one in Frederick and has 15 with Bowie. He is attempting to join Rick Krivda (1992) as the only O's minor leaguers to win 17 or more in a season since 1972.
This Just In
The Orioles are the worst first-inning team in baseball. It sure feels like it. Not even Jeremy Guthrie can stop the first-inning bleeding as NY takes a 2-0 lead. They have allowed a first-inning run or runs now in 9 of the last 12 games and 57 times on the season. They are 23-33 when giving up a first-inning score.
They might have gotten away with no runs scoring. Ramon Hernandez it appeared, could have blocked the plate better and made a better tag on A-Rod's double which scored Johnny Damon with the first run.
Game Time in Baltimore
Tonight's O's-Yankees game is underway. The first pitch was at 7:06 pm and it's 82 degrees. Let's see how the ace, Jeremy Guthrie fares vs. the New Yorkers as the O's look to even this series. Check back often tonight here for news and updates live from the Yard.
Starting Lineups
Yankees
CF Johnny Damon
SS Derek Jeter
RF Bobby Abreu
3B Alex Rodriguez
1B Jason Giambi
LF Xavier Nady
DH Hideki Matsui
2B Robinson Cano
C Ivan Rodriguez
P Carl Pavano
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
RF Nick Markakis
3B Melvin Mora
DH Aubrey Huff
C Ramon Hernandez
LF Luke Scott
1B Kevin Millar
CF Jay Payton
SS Juan Castro
P Jeremy Guthrie
More on Guthrie
Seven of his ten wins have followed an O's loss......His 19 quality starts leads the AL.....He has allowed 2 ER or less 17 times.....Has thrown at least 99 pitches in 21 of 27 starts......Guthrie has had nine starts this year where he has pitched at least six innings and given up two or fewer runs and not gotten a win.....He is tied with Mike Mussina for the AL lead with 21 starts where he held opponents to 3 earned runs or fewer....the O's have scored a total of 14 runs in the nine games in which Guthrie has take the loss.
Trembley's Talk
The skipper welcomed Chris Ray to the clubhouse today as he continues his comeback from Tommy John surgery.
Trembley said Ray will pitch one inning tomorrow for Delmarva, then will pitch an inning for Bowie on Tuesday and Thursday. Next weekend he will rejoin Aberdeen.
"For me this is a tremendous accomplishment, he had surgery August 15th of last year," Trembley said of Ray and his comeback. "In less than a year, this guy is pitching in games. His work ethic is off the charts. There's a place on this team for him next year. He has done everything we've asked and it's real nice to see him here."
Trembley said there is no chance Matt Albers will pitch for the O's in September. He sees Albers as a candidate to pitch in the rotation, rather than in the bullpen next season.
Trembley said Radhames Liz made some progress last night, even though his outing lasted just 4 2/3.
"He looked a lot more relaxed and at ease when he walked in the clubhouse yesterday. He did better and would have stayed out there longer except for those home run balls."
Trembley said the O's won't have much of a scouting report on tonight's Yankees' starter, Carl Pavano.
"There is no recent history to go on. We can't look at video from 2005 and say that's what he is going to be tonight."
The skipper had some comments on the Bowie Baysox clinching an Eastern League playoff berth last night.
"Nothing like winning in the minor leagues. You learn a heckuva lot more in the minors winning than you ever do losing. Some of these guys won at Frederick last year. We need to keep moving that (winning) mindset along. What it takes to win. It's very, very difficult to win in the minors because that's not your first goal, your goal is player development. You eat it a lot in the minor leagues. You need unselfish, team guys and a good staff to win in the minors."
Game Preview
New York Yankees (68-60) at Orioles (61-66)
The Orioles, who have dropped 3 of 4 on this homestand, tonight host the Yankees in game two of a three-game series. New York won the series opener, 9-4, Friday night.
The Yankees hit back-to-back homers twice in that win and banged out 16 hits one night after suffering their worst loss of the year, 14-3 at Toronto.
The O's bullpen, handed a 4-3 lead in the 8th, allowed six runs over the final two innings. New York's Bobby Abreu went 5-5 to tie his career high for hits with two runs and one RBI.
Aubrey Huff had two hits and two RBI for the Orioles and Ramon Hernandez hit his 14th homer. He also had 2 RBI and extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
The Orioles are now 10-10 in August, 32-27 at home and 13-11 over their last 24 games.
The Birds are 7-6 vs. the Yankees this season, including a 4-3 mark at Camden Yards. The O's have won 3 of the 4 series the clubs have played so far.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Jeremy Guthrie (10-9, 3.15) tonight makes his 28th start of the season, his 14th at home and his 3rd this year vs. the Yankees.
Guthrie has been on roll lately and is 4-1, 1.49 (6ER - 36 1/3IP) over his last five starts. In seven starts since the All-Star game he is 5-2, 2.25 over 48 innings.
Guthrie, who has won 7 of his last 11 starts, has given up 2 ER or less 17 times and has recorded a quality start 19 times on the year.
Right-handed batters hit .236 vs. him and lefties bat just .231. The Orioles are 14-13 when he starts this season.
Since June first, he is 8-3, 2.78 in 100 innings over 15 starts. In 13 home starts, Guthrie is 4-5, 3.40.
Guthrie vs. New York:
2008: 1-1, 2.70, two starts (13 1/3 IP, 9H, 4R-ER)
2007: 1-0, 5.29, three starts
Career: 2-1, 5.90, six games, five starts
RHP Carl Pavano (0-0, 0.00) tonight makes his first Major League start of this season, his 20th with the Yankees and the 169th of his career.
Pavano, who signed a four-year free agent deal with New York on December 22, 2004, has spent most of his Yankees' tenure injured.
Pavano made 17 starts for New York in 2005 until he was sidelined with rotater cuff tendonitis. He was out all of 2006 with back and elbow ailments. He made two starts early last year before going on the DL. He went on to have Tommy John surgery on June 5th.
This season, he has made five rehab starts at Single-A Charleston and Double-A Trenton. He is 1-1, 3.32 in those outings, giving up 20 hits and 4 walks in 19 innings. His last start was last Sunday for Trenton and he picked up a win at Reading. In that game he allowed one earned run and six hits over six innings.
Pavano's last Major League start was against Minnesota on April 9, 2007. Last year with New York he was 1-0, 4.76 in two starts.
Pavano last pitched vs. the Orioles in 2005. He was 0-2, 5.27 in three starts that season vs. the O's. In his career vs. the Orioles he is 2-2, 3.14 in five starts, pitching 28 2/3 allowing 33 hits, including five homers.
O's Hitters Recently:
Castro: 2-13
Cintron: 4-12
Hernandez: Batting .306 with 11 RBI during 12-game batting streak
Huff: Over last 29 games is hitting .356-8-27
Markakis: Over last 17 games is batting .338-3-19
Millar: Over 8 games is batting .344, with 6 doubles and 5 RBI
Mora: Batting .488-4-16 his last ten games, 29 RBI his last 19 games
Payton: 4-29
Quiroz: 2-20
Roberts: Is hitting .412 during 8-game batting streak
Scott: Last 14 games is hitting .413-3-6
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