Guthrie pitches O's past Tampa, 8-4

The Orioles ended their first three-game losing streak of the Buck Showalter era in resounding fashion tonight. Jeremy Guthrie pitched seven strong innings to gain his 9th win while the O's had 15 hits in an 8-4 win over Tampa. The victory was the 900th of Showalter's managerial career. He becomes the 64th manager in baseball history to reach the 900 mark and is 9th among active managers in wins. The Orioles are 18-13 since Showalter took over on August 3rd.

Guthrie gave up just two runs and six hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings, throwing 117 pitches. He is 2-2, 2.73 in four starts this year vs. Tampa. Guthrie is 6-3, 2.51 in ten starts since the All-Star break and is now 9-13, 3.89 on the year. Orioles pitchers have produced 20 quality starts over the last 31 games, working to an ERA of 3.21 in that stretch. Nick Markakis hit a two-run homer in the first and Matt Wieters had a two-run double in the third as the O's moved out to an early 5-1 lead. Felix Pie added two RBI and seven Orioles had two-hit games. The O's improved to 4-10 on the season vs. Tampa, including a mark of 2-6 at Camden Yards. They are 13-40 vs. the AL East. In the series finale, Sunday afternoon, Chris Tillman (1-4, 7.92) faces Wade Davis (11-9, 4.29). The Orioles can win their first series of the year vs. Tampa after going 0 and 4 to date. In the minors on Saturday night, Bowie and Harrisburg both lost, so they remain tied for the final Eastern League playoff spot with two regular season games to play. Richmond pushed across an eighth-inning run vs. Chad Thall to beat Bowie 4-3 while Harrisburg lost 3-2 at Binghamton. Should the teams finish tied for that playoff spot after Monday's games, they will meet in a one-game playoff on Tuesday night at Bowie.