W – Brian Matusz (3-2, 5.28) L – Justin Masterson (4-6, 4.57) SV – Jim Johnson (7)

Matusz was outstanding yesterday and finally showed what hes capable of since his first start against the Detroit Tigers. Aside from a little trouble in the 6th, he was pretty much doing whatever he wanted out there. He was pulled from the game after going 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and a walk. He struck out 8 batters. Matusz seems to be getting comfortable out there. He really had all of his pitches working for him yesterday. I think either him or Brad Bergesen will be our opening day starter next year. Danys Baez gave up a run on 3 hits in the 8th before Jim Johnson pitched a perfect 9th to pick up the save. Its good to see Johnson respond positively after his last time out, when he blew the save.

The Orioles did most of their damage on offense in the 3rd inning. Ty Wigginton singled to start the inning, one of his 2 hits in the game. After Cesar Izturis struck out, Brian Roberts singled and Wiggington scored on a throwing error by Jamey Carroll. The next batter was Felix Pie who belted his 7th homerun of the season, an opposite field shot. He also had a walk in the game. Adam Jones worked his 2nd walk in the ballgame, Nolan Reimold walked, and Luke Scott hit an RBI double to make it 4-0. Our 5th run came in the 6th inning. Matt Wieters singled and moved to third on an Izturis single. Roberts hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Wieters.

Player of the game: Brian Matusz (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, BB, 8 K, W (3-2) (5.28 ERA))

Jeremy Guthrie (9-12, 5.26) looks for his 3rd straight good start as the O’s start a series with the New York Yankees. Andy Pettite (11-6, 4.18) will pitch for them.

W – Rafael Perez (4-2, 7.57) L – Chris Ray (0-2, 6.10) SV – Chris Perez (2)

Chris Tillman was cruising along, pitching well, until the rains came and caused a 90 minute rain delay. Tillman couldn’t come back after the lengthy delay and his day was done at 5 innings. He gave up a run on 6 hits and struck out 2 batters. The only run he gave up came on a solo homerun. He was at 90 pitches after 5, so he couldn’t have gone too much farther into the game, but he would’ve at least started the 6th inning. And thats where we lost the game when Chris Ray came in after the game resumed. Its impossible to say what Tillman would’ve done, but we know Ray didn’t get the job done. He gave up a 3 run homerun to give Cleveland the lead and they never looked back. Brian Bass pitched the next 2 innings and gave up another run. Cla Meredith pitched a scoreless 9th to keep it close.

Adam Jones made his return to the field known right away. In the top of the 1st he made a great catch leaping at the wall to rob Asdrubal Cabrera of extra bases. Then in the bottom of the 1st he worked a walk in a great at bat and scored when Nick Markakis doubled. He also made another sensational catch to rob a homerun in the 9th inning. In the bottom of the 5th the rain started to get really bad. Ty Wiggington singled to lead off the inning, Chad Moeller sacrificed him to second, and Brian Roberts grounded out. With the rain in a torrential downpour, Cesar Izturis tripled to score Wiggington and give the O’s a 2-1 lead. It was just in time because as soon as the play was over, the umpire called for the tarp to be placed on the field. We scored another run in the 7th when Moeller hit a solo homerun.

Player of the game: Chad Moeller (2-2, R, RBI, HR (2) (.250 AVG))

The O’s will go for the series split this afternoon. We’ll rely on Brian Matusz (2-2, 6.46) to get the job done. Justin Masterson (4-5, 4.47) pitches for Cleveland.

W – Jason Berken (4-11, 6.33) L – Fausto Carmona (3-9, 6.20)

The offense was scorching last night. It kicked off in the 2nd when Nick Markakis and Luke Scott singled. Matt Wieters doubled Markakis in and a Cesar Izturis single scored Scott. Scott doubled to lead off the 4th and came around to score on a Wieters single. Ty Wiggington walked and Izturis moved the runners up with a bunt. Scott scored on a Brian Roberts groundout, then Felix Pie doubled to get Wieters in. Wigginton hit an RBI single in the 5th to give the O’s a 6-2 lead. We scored 3 more in the 6th, starting with a Pie solo homerun. Nolan Reimold, Melvin Mora, and Scott each walked to load the bases for Wieters, who hit what amounted to a long single trying to stretch it into a double. 2 runs scored. In the 7th Pie hit one into the gap to score Wiggington after he singled, but Felix came up limping and had to settle for a single. It looked scary at the time, but it appears to only be a bad cramp in his hamstring. Thats the last thing we need after Pie has finally been getting playing time and taking full advantage of it. Reimold singled next and Markakis brought all the runners in with his 16th homerun of the season.

Berken did a good job of limiting the damage he created for himself last night. It wasn’t pretty but he was able to get out of jams after letting men on base, for the most part. He threw alot of pitches and was only able to go 5 innings, but he struck out 5 batters. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. Thats wins in back to back starts for Berken now. Cla Meredith pitched the 6th, giving up a solo homerun, Mark Hendrickson pitched 2 scoreless innings, and Kam Mickolio gave up a run in the 9th before ending the game. It didn’t help that Robert Andino was playing center field at the end with Pie and Adam Jones both banged up.

Player of the game: Felix Pie (3-5, R, 3 RBI, double (7), HR (6) (.271 AVG))

The O’s will try to keep the momentum going tonight with Chris Tillman (1-2, 4.58) pitching. Jeremy Sowers (5-9, 4.93) goes for Cleveland.

W – Rafael Perez (3-2, 7.86) L – Jim Johnson (3-5, 3.17)

Heres what I said about Jim Johnson on Wednesday night’s game recap: “It wasn’t a save situation but JJ got the job done once again. Hes stepped into the closers role quite effectively since we traded George Sherrill, despite not having many save chances.” Well I completely jinxed him because he entered the 9th inning last night with the Orioles up by one… and he gave up a 2 run homerun with two outs and a full count to Andy Marte. Its his first blown save, we’ll see how he reacts next time out. Before that happened David Hernandez pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4. Chris Ray closed the gap with a scoreless 7th and Danys Baez allowed a run in the 8th.

Melvin Mora had a big game. I didn’t know it was possible anymore, but apparently it is because he had 3 hits including a solo homerun in the 2nd inning. The other hits were singles. We tied the game up at 2 in the 5th thanks to a throwing error on Indians second baseman Luis Valbuena. We took the lead in the 6th on an RBI double by Luke Scott and extended it in the 7th when Matt Wieters hit his 5th homerun of the season, a solo shot. Of course that lead didn’t hold, but it was a valiant effort. Felix Pie had a pair of singles and Robert Andino singled and walked.

Player of the game: Melvin Mora (3-4, 2 R, RBI, HR (5) (.259 AVG))

The O’s will try to get a lead and keep it tonight with Jason Berken (3-11, 6.49) on the mound. The Indians will do the same with Fausto Carmona (3-8, 5.92).

W – Jeremy Guthrie (9-12, 5.26) L – Nick Blackburn (8-9, 4.29)

Guthrie pitched a wonderful game last night. He won in back to back starts for the first time all season. It was nice to see the Guthrie of old back in form for at least one game. It would be a huge boost if he could keep it up. He went 7 innings, allowing just the 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 5. Danys Baez pitched a scoreless 8th, then Jim Johnson followed that up with a scoreless 9th to close the game. It wasn’t a save situation but JJ got the job done once again. Hes stepped into the closers role quite effectively since we traded George Sherrill, despite not having many save chances.

On the offensive side, it wasn’t the usual suspects that scored the runs for us last night. We scored 2 runs in the first inning when back to back singles by Cesar Izturis and Luke Scott put runners on first and second with 1 out. A Nick Markakis ground out advanced the runners, then a Nolan Reimold single scored the runners. The second run scored because of a throwing error on Orlando Cabrera. In the 4th, Felix Pie crushed his 5th homerun to dead center field. Pie also had a pair of walks in the game. Chad Moeller had a good game too. In the 6th, he doubled in a run and he walked with the bases loaded in the 8th. He also had another walk and a single in the game.

Player of the game: Jeremy Guthrie (7 IP, 6 H, ER, 5 K, W (9-12) (5.26 ERA))

Its back to Baltimore to face the Indians tonight. David Hernandez (4-6, 4.35) starts for the O’s, Aaron Laffey (7-3, 3.42) goes for Cleveland.