Bedard not making it easy (updated twice)

Former Oriole Erik Bedard has struck out five batters over three scoreless innings tonight. He's thrown 32 strikes among his 44 pitches, and the only hit off him is Nick Markakis' single with two outs in the first. Bedard was 3-0 with a 1.09 ERA in his last five starts before tonight. He's thrown 18 consecutive scoreless innings, including the three tonight. I guess he's healthy again. If Jeremy Guthrie thought this would be the night that he'd get a generous amount of run support, well... Down on the farm, Double-A Bowie's Steve Johnson struck out six of the first seven batters he faced before taking a shot off his left ankle in the third inning. He stayed in the game and held Richmond to two runs and one hit - yes, it was a two-run homer - over eight innings. He walked one and struck out seven, and he improved to 4-1 with a 2.02 ERA. Xavier Avery hit his first home run, which tied the game, 2-2. He also singled and doubled in three at-bats. Josh Bell hit his ninth home run tonight for Triple-A Norfolk. Brandon Snyder went 3-for-5. Bell has homered in back-to-back games, and in four of his last eight. Update: You don't see many 7-5 putouts on a single into left field, but Luke Scott started to go back to second on Nolan Reimold's blooper into left field in the fifth, and he was thrown out at third for an embarrassing out. The Orioles grabbed a 1-0 lead in the sixth, but the run scored on Markakis' 6-4-3 double play. No RBI. Bedard's scoreless streak ends at 20 And the Orioles have their second lead on this road trip. Let's see if it lasts longer than the previous one - a half inning. Tonight's crowd of 11,692 is the lowest in Safeco Field history. Update II: Matt Wieters just took a curveball to the opposite field, and over the right field fence, in the seventh inning. Orioles 2, Mariners 0. Wieters hadn't homered since April 29.