Rapada Inn and out (updated twice)

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

April 18, 2011, 5:36pm

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Clay Rapada faced four batters tonight in his Orioles debut, and he struck out three of them. All three Twins who fanned were caught looking at the third strike. None of them agreed with the calls from plate umpire Chris Guccione, who handed Twins manager Ron Gardenhire his 53rd career ejection. Jim Thome had to be restrained from going after Guccione. The strikeouts came against three left-handed hitters. That's why Rapada is here. The one batter who didn't strike out, switch-hitting Matt Tolbert, grounded out to second. Kevin Gregg replaced Rapada and walked the first batter he faced. Instant update: Back-to-back singles by Danny Valencia and Drew Butera increased the Twins' lead to 4-2. Still only one out in the ninth and fans are booing Gregg. Former Orioles Jim Hoey retired all four batters he faced. His fastball reached 97 mph. Update II: Gregg threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded to bring home another run. He needed 34 pitches to get out of the inning. The booing got louder.