Jeremy Guthrie gets his first win as an Oriole, Chris Ray gets his 4th save.
This was a crazy game. Adam Loewen didn’t pitch good. That said, the defense didn’t help him at all and probably was the reason he pitched as poorly as he did. The Orioles made 3 errors on one play that lead to 2 runs, plus they made boneheaded plays all night. Loewen’s final line was 3 and 2/3rds innings pitched, 3 hits, 6 runs (4 earned), 5 walks (ouch), a hit batter, and 3 strikeouts. Loewen walked in a run with the bases loaded before being lifted for Jeremy Guthrie with outs in the bottom of the 4th inning. Guthrie promptly gave up a bases clearing double to Ty Wigginton to make the game 6-0. He finally got out of the inning and pitched 2 more innings after that, only giving up one more run (the only one charged to him) on a hit and 3 walks. He had 3 strikeouts also. Chad Bradford started the 7th and gave up 2 ground ball singles and got 2 outs. The Truth (John Parrish) came in and put the fire out, striking out the only batter he faced. That makes the last 7 outs John Parrish has gotten all strikeouts. Danys Baez pitched a quick perfect 8th, striking out a batter. Chris Ray followed suit, also striking out a batter, to get the save.
The hitting was good again, pumping out 13 hits for the second game in a row. That makes 4 games in a row with at least 12 hits for the O’s. Your catalyst for the night to start the comeback? Freddie Bynum, of course. With the Orioles down 7-1, Boom Boom Bynum belted a 2-run homer, his first, to shrink the lead to 4 and the Orioles never looked back from there. He also drove in the winning run with a fielders choice ground out in the 7th. Melvin Mora (who also had a single in the game) hit a 2-run homerun (3rd of the year) in the 7th to bring the lead to 3. Aubrey Huff hit his first homerun as an Oriole in the 9th to pad the lead, he also had a double. Jay Gibbons’ only hit was a good one. He hit a 2-run double, also in the 7th, to tie the game. Brian Roberts had a stolen base, a single, and a double. Nick Markakis and Paul Bako had singles. And Kevin Millar stayed hot with a double and 2 walks. He also hit a ball that should have at least been a double, or a homer, that the umps eventually ruled a foul ball.
Player of the game: Freddie Bynum – 1-4, HR, R, 3 RBI
Tomorrow night we have to face a lefty, Casey Fossum (0-1, 7.59), and we have Steve Trachsel (0-0, 2.63) going for us. If theres one game to be scared of in this series, this is it. Go O’s.
