Bad breaks for Britton in the first inning (O's trail 5-2)

If you view the glass as half full, Zach Britton didn't allow an earned run in the first inning. If you view it as half empty, the Orioles are losing, 3-0. The Orioles must have been using a dribble glass. Britton committed an error when he failed to pick up leadoff hitter Dustin Ackley's weak ground ball in front of the mound. He struck out the next two batters before Jesus Montero reached on an infield hit on a sharp ground ball that deflected off third baseman Wilson Betemit's glove. Betemit wasn't charged with an error, but he needs to make that play. Kyle Seager drove a 93-mph fastball into the seats in right-center field, and Britton was in another early hole. In his last start at Yankee Stadium, Britton allowed two runs in the first, two in the second and three in the third before being removed with his pitch count at 80. He threw 18 in the first tonight and should have been sitting in the dugout with the game scoreless. Britton shut out the Mariners on three hits over nine innings in his only career start against them. He still hasn't permitted an earned run as we head to the top of the second inning. Half full. Update: Mariners catcher Miguel Olivo homered off Britton with one out in the second. That run was earned. So was the one that followed. Munenori Kawasaki poked a single into left field and Ackley poked one into right to put runners on the corners. Trayvon Robinson grounded a single into right to score Kawasaki and bring pitching coach Rick Adair to the mound. Britton wasn't getting hit hard. The Mariners were just directing the ball where none of the infielders could reach it. Half full. Kevin Gregg began to warm, bringing more flashbacks from Wednesday's start, when he replaced Britton with two outs in the third. Britton got out of this jam without any more damage - snatching Seager's liner to the mound to leave the bases loaded - but the Orioles are losing, 5-0, to a team with no offense. Update II: OK, I'm not going to keep updating this entry after every run, but Matt Wieters led off the bottom of the second with his 14th homer, and his 11th from the left side. Wilson Betemit singled for his 13th hit in his last 30 at-bats. Mark Reynolds drew his team-leading 45th walk, putting him eight ahead of Wieters. Feel free to place your bets on that race. With runners on the corners and two outs, Nick Markakis collected his second single of the night to reduce Seattle's lead to 5-2. Markakis began the night batting .346 in 24 games as the leadoff hitter.