Aubrey Huff with 3 RBI, but O's come up short, 6-3 vs. Boston
For one night, the surging Orioles offense was slowed down. Jon Lester picked up his 12th win and Jason Bay homered twice as the Red Sox beat the Orioles 6-3 Monday. Lester, now 12-4, gave up just one run and four hits over seven innings.
Bay hit a solo homer in the second, a two-run shot in the 8th and knocked in another run in the 9th as Boston improved to 72-53.
Aubrey Huff had a solo homer and two-run double to plate all three Baltimore runs. Hot-hitting Melvin Mora went 0-3 with a walk as the O's lost for the just the second time in six games.
O's starter Jeremy Guthrie fell to 10-9, giving up two runs and five hits over seven innings. Boston scored twice in the 8th and 9th off the O's bullpen.
The Red Sox picked up two big insurance runs in the 9th to lead 6-3. David Ortiz had an RBI double and later scored on Bay's grounder. Bay has 2 homers and 4 RBI.
The Orioles scored two in the 8th to pull within 4-3. Markakis and Mora drew walks off Manny Delcarmen who was then replaced by Jonathan Papelbon. Huff ripped a two-run double to left center. But Papelbon got Ramon Hernandez to fly out and held onto a one-run lead.
Boston scored twice in the 8th to open a 4-1 lead. David Ortiz began the inning and reached on an error by first baseman Kevin Millar. One out later, Bay hit a two-run homer to center, his second homer of the game.
The Orioles got on the board on Huff's solo homer in the 4th. That made it a 2-1 Boston lead. It's his 5th homer in 9 games and his 27th of the season.
Bay's solo homer leading off the second inning, gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. It's his second AL homer and 24th of the year overall and traveled 400 feet to right center. Two outs later, Jason Varitek followed a blast to right for a 2-0 lead. It's his 9th homer.
Bost 6-9-0
Balt 3-5-1
Postgame Notes
Winning pitcher Jon Lester improves to 5-0, 2.93 in seven career starts vs. the Orioles. He improved to 12-4, 3.17 on the season.....He is 9-1 since May 25th.....The Red Sox, who have won 8 of 12 games, improve to 29-35 on the road and 22-23 vs. the AL East.
Aubrey Huff knocked in all three Orioles' runs.......His solo homer in the 4th was his 5th in nine games and 27th on the season......Over his last 26 games, Huff is batting .377-8-25....He has knocked in at least one run in 8 of his last 9 games.........Melvin Mora, who entered hitting .432 since the All-Star game, went 0-3 with a walk ending his six-game batting streak.........Ramon Hernandez went 1-4 extending his hitting streak to nine games.....He is batting .324 during his hitting streak.
Luke Scott went 0-4 with two strikeouts, snapping a ten-game hitting streak.....He hit .485 during the streak......
Jason Bay, who homered twice, is batting .348-3-16 in 16 games since his trade to Boston....The O's have scored a total of 14 runs in Jeremy Guthrie's nine losses.....The Birds fall to 9-8 in August, 31-25 at home and 19-30 vs. the AL East.
Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog From Camden Yards
Keep in Mind
If you are looking to be the 50 millionth fan tomorrow night, keep this in mind. The Eutaw Street gates open tomorrow first, at 5pm at Gates A and H. The rest of the gates open at 5:30 pm on Tuesday. Good luck !
Tonight's Attendance
Is 40,429. That leaves the O's 2,861 shy of the 50 million mark.
Lester in Command
One day after getting 16 runs on 22 hits, the league's best-hitting team in August is getting shut down, so far, by Jon Lester. The lefty has a 3-hitter and 2-1 lead heading to the seventh. He has gotten outs many ways - grounder, fly outs, weak pop up and four strikeouts. He has walked just one and has thrown 84 pitches so he should have plenty left. Guthrie has thrown well again, but has given up one more homer than Lester.
Huff's Homer
Aubrey Huff's solo homer in the 4th is his 27th this year, that's 12 more than he hit all of last season. His career high is 34 with Tampa in 2003. It's his 5th homer in the last 9 games and his 18th in the last 60 games. He homered three times on the Cleveland-Detroit road trip. Huff now has at least one RBI in 8 of the last 9 games. It's his second homer of the season vs. Boston.
Not Tonight
The 50 millionth fan to attend a game in Camden Yards history will have to wait one more night. Tonight's attendance, I'm told by an O's official, will fall a couple of thousand short. So number 50 million will be among the first couple thousand to make it through the turnstiles on Tuesday night.
More Mora
You would think after all he's done at bat, Melvin Mora would be the latest American League Player of the Week. Well, he is, but is sharing the award with Javier Vazquez. Mora hit just .234 in the first-half, but is batting .432 since the All-Star game, the best average in the Majors since the game. He now has 11 multi-hit games over his last 12 and 21 RBI over the last nine games.
His 6 RBI day was the first by an Oriole since Rafael Palmeiro did it July 9, 2005 vs. Boston. His 13 total bases tied the club record, it was done 11 previous times and the last to do it was Chris Richard at Cleveland on September 3, 2000. He also tied a club record with four extra-base hits in one game. Oh, and Mora is hitting .381 with runners in scoring position, 4th best in the AL.
Not Like Guthrie
When the Red Sox hit two homers in one inning, in fact in a span of just four batters, vs. Guthrie, it was a rarity. Guthrie had given up a total of three homers over his last nine starts before tonight. Then Bay and Varitek go deep in one inning. Also, Guthrie has allowed just 1ER exactly in each of his last four starts and Boston has two already tonight.
Game Moved
The Orioles will have off on Sunday September 7th. Because the Ravens have a day game in Baltimore that day, the Orioles will move their September 7th game and play it the day before as a part of a day-night doubleheader. So on September 6th, the O's will host Oakland at 1:05 p.m. and again at 7:05 p.m.
Game Time in Baltimore
The O's and Red Sox are underway at the Yard. Tonight's first pitch was at 7:06 pm and it's 90 degrees at gametime. The O's are 5-7 vs. Boston this year. It's Jeremy Guthrie vs. Jon Lester. Check back here often tonight for news and updates during this game.
Starting Lineups
Red Sox
RF Jacoby Ellsbury
2B Dustin Pedroia
DH David Ortiz
3B Kevin Youkilis
LF Jason Bay
SS Jed Lowrie
1B Sean Casey
C Jason Varitek
CF Coco Crisp
P Jon Lester
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
RF Nick Markakis
3B Melvin Mora
DH Aubrey Huff
C Ramon Hernandez
1B Kevin Millar
LF Luke Scott
CF Jay Payton
SS Juan Cintron
P Jeremy Guthrie
Luke's Hitting Streak
Luke Scott is a hot hitter right now on a team full of hot batters. He is 5-10 over his last two games, homered twice in Detroit Sunday and currently has a ten-game hitting streak going. During the streak he is batting ..485 (16-33) with 3 homers and 5 RBI. Scott went 9-19 on the road trip. I talked to him today about his longball potential, the team's hot hitting and Melvin Mora's current hot streak.
Trembley's Talk
Dave Trembley, in today's pregame briefing with reporters at Camden Yards, said for now, both Garrett Olson and Dennis Sarfate will work out of the bullpen. The O's have an off day Thursday and Trembley is listing Friday's starter as TBA.
Let the speculation commence about Brad Bergesen eventually getting that start, since he pitched last night and his next day to start would be Friday. Trembley said neither Olson or Sarfate would be considered to start on Friday.
"I had to do something to be fair to the team and Olson. Olson needs to get some success and be put in a situation that's not as stressful and pressure packed as it would appear it's been for him his last three starts. He understands the reason behind this move."
Trembley was asked if Olson has lost confidence.
"I don't know if he's lost confidence, but he's just as beside himself as we are. He works hard between starts, his preparation is good. We need to try and help him and that's what we'll do.........Some of our scouts believe Olson could be a bullpen guy in big leagues. There's a mixed bag of opinions on what his role should be."
Trembley provided an update on Adam Jones.
"Adam Jones will see Dr. Wilkens today and if all goes well, he can remove his crutches. Then tomorrow or the next day he'll see a foot specialist. Then he'll get a CT scan and if that goes well he can begin baseball activities. But he's got to get cleared for that."
Game Preview
Boston (71-53) at Orioles (60-63)
After a winning road trip that featured inconsistent starting pitching and tremendous hitting, the O's begin a 10-game homestand tonight hosting Boston to begin a three-game series.
The Orioles banged out 22 hits, 12 for extra-bases in Sunday's 16-8 win over Detroit. The O's set season highs in runs, hits and extra-base hits. They hit five homers to tie a season high. Eight Orioles had multi-hit games and four drove in 2 or more runs.
Melvin Mora led the way Sunday, going 5-6 with two homers and 6 RBI. His 13 total bases tied an Orioles' single-game record. Mora is 18-28 over his last six contests and is batting .432-9-43 since the All-Star game. This series should provide a test for Mora's hot bat. He is hitting just .088 (3-34) this season vs. Red Sox pitching.
The Orioles, who are 31-24 at home this season, are 15-15 in the second-half.
Boston lost the last two games of its series with Toronto, losing 15-4 Sunday as Josh Beckett gave up 8 runs over 2 1/3. Toronto produced a club-record 10 doubles among its 22 hits.
The Red Sox are 21-23 this season vs. the AL East and the Sox have lost 9 of their last 14 division games. The Red Sox, who are 10-5 in August, have been in second-place 31 straight days.
Like the O's, Boston's bats have been hot in August. The Sox team average is .299 in August and they're averaging 6.6 runs per game this month.
The Orioles are 5-7 vs. Boston this year, including a 3-3 mark at Camden Yards.
Pitching Match-Up
Jeremy Guthrie (10-8, 3.18) tonight makes his 27th start of the season, his 13th at home and his 4th this year against Boston.
Guthrie has been on a roll lately winning his last four starts, going 4-0, 1.23 in that time. He has allowed exactly one earned run in four consecutive starts and in 8 of his last 13. Since June first, Guthrie is 8-2, 2.80 over 14 starts.
He has given up 2 ER or less in 16 starts, recorded a quality start 17 times and has picked up the win in seven of his last ten starts.
In six starts since the All-Star break, Guthrie is 5-1, 2.20.
He gives up a batting average of .234 vs. lefty hitters and .236 vs. right-handed batters. The O's are 14-12 when he starts this season.
Guthrie vs. Boston:
2008: 1-1, 4.76, three starts
2007: 0-0, 2.41, three starts
Career: 1-1, 3.58 in six starts covering 37 2/3 innings
LHP Jon Lester (11-4, 3.25) tonight makes his 26th start of the season, his 13th on the road and his 4th this year vs. Baltimore.
In five second-half starts, Lester is 4-1, 2.78. He pitched to an ERA of 2.05 in July and it is 3.80 in August. The Red Sox are 17-8 when he starts.
Lester pitched the Majors' first no-hitter this season on May 19th vs. Kansas City. In that game, he walked two and fanned nine, throwing 130 pitches. It was the 18th no-hitter in Red Sox history.
Lester, Boston's second-round pick in the 2002 draft, has given up an average of .226 this season vs. left-handed batters and .277 vs. right-handed hitters. He has allowed 9 of his 11 homers to right-handed batters.
In 12 road starts this season, he is 4-3, 3.64.
Lester vs. the Orioles:
2008: 1-0, 3.50 in three starts (18IP, 19H, 7ER)
2007: 2-0, 1.38, two starts
Career: 4-0, 3.25 in six starts covering 36 innings
Orioles Hitters, 2008 vs. Boston:
Castro: 0-0
Cintron: .000-0-0 (0-6)
Hernandez: .194-1-3 (6-31)
Huff: .375-1-7 (18-48)
Markakis: .289-0-1 (13-45)
Millar: .184-0-6 (7-38)
Mora: .088-0-2 (3-34)
Payton: .280-1-8 (7-25)
Quiroz: .143-0-0 (2-14)
Roberts: .265-1-4 (13-49)
Scott: .343-3-6 (12-35)
Leave a comment