W – Tim Wakefield (3-2)     L – Brad Bergesen (3-5)     SV – Jonathon Papelbon (19)

Brad Bergesen got screwed last night. He pitched a great game and got the loss despite the fact that he didn’t give up the winning run. The only damage he gave up himself were two solo homeruns, both from JD Drew. Drew has the Orioles number this year. That was his second multi homer game against us this year and he has five total against on the season. He pitched 7.2 innings, officially allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. He didn’t walk a batter, struck out a career high 7 batters, and got more groundballs than flyballs (9-5). He had retired eight batters in a row entering the 8th inning and got the first two batters out before giving up a double off the green monster. It was on Bergesen’s 100th pitch and Juan Samuel decided to bring in Will Ohman to face a lefty. I would’ve left Bergesen in there for one more batter. He was pitching so well that I would let the game live or die in his hands. Unfortunately when Ohman came in the Red Sox brought in a right handed batter to pinch hit which Ohman doesn’t handle as well. A bloop single later and the Red Sox have the lead and they go on to win. Bergesen’s fine start was wasted but hopefully its a sign that hes righted the ship.

The offense was thrown off balance by the knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. We got a few hits here and there but other than Nick Markakis’ solo homerun in the top of the 4th inning they were all singles and spread out too much. We got our other run in the 5th inning on a bunch of singles. Josh Bell hit the first one and he moved to second on Cesar Izturis’ single. Corey Patterson’s single brought Bell in to give the O’s a brief lead. Our only other hits were singles by Miguel Tejada, Adam Jones, and Julio Lugo. Matt Wieters walked. It was a very quick game with both teams not taking many pitches. Hopefully that had more to do with a strategy against the knuckleball and we can get back to hitting the way we did last week.

Player of the game: Nick Markakis – 1-4, solo HR (4) (.303 AVG)

Its game two tonight with the lefty Jon Lester (9-3, 2.86) on the hill for the Red Sox. Jeremy Guthrie (3-9, 4.30)  pitches for the birds.

W – Trevor Cahill (8-2)     L – Jake Arrieta (2-2)

Josh Bell’s debut was exciting to watch. He got his first major league hit in the bottom of the 7th inning on a line drive single to the opposite field. He grounded out in his first two at bats and struck out swinging in the 9th. He got a couple plays in the field and made his first error on a wild throw to first base. You can see his arm strength though. He made a pretty nice play to start a double play in the game also. Other than getting a first look at Bell the rest of the offense was pretty boring. Our only run came in the 1st inning when Corey Patterson led off with a double, moved to third on Miguel Tejada’s groundout, and scored on a Nick Markakis sacrifice fly. Patterson also had a single and a stolen base in the game but was stranded. The rest of the offense consisted of singles from Tejada, Markakis, Adam Jones, and Matt Wieters with a walk from Scott Moore thrown in. Oakland’s Trevor Cahill is having a great year and he just got the better of our hitters last night. Hopefully they can bounce back in Boston.

Jake Arrieta showed some improvement from his last two starts but, as predicted, walks are a bit of an issue for the big right hander. He walked 4 more batters last night giving him 16 over his first five starts consisting of 26 innings. He had a rough 2nd inning but other than that was pretty effective. Overall he pitched 6 inning and gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits and those 4 walks with 2 strikeouts. I thought we’d see more strikeouts from Arrieta but I’d be alright with the lack of Ks if he wasn’t walking so many batters. Frank Mata started the 7th and removed any doubt as to who is going to be removed from the roster when Felix Pie returns from the disabled list. He was charged with 4 runs on 4 hits and a hit batter while he was only able to record one out. Matt Albers didn’t help much allowing an inherited runner to score when he came in on back to back singles. But after that he settled down and finished the 7th and tossed a scoreless 8th. Koji Uehara threw a scoreless 9th with two strikeouts although he did give up a pair of hits. Seems typical that when our hitting starts to come around our pitching is at its worst. And the defense isn’t helping matters either.

Player of the game: Corey Patterson – 2-4, R, double (8), SB (13) (.291 AVG)

The O’s set out to Boston for the weekend to start a long road trip before the all-star break. Brad Bergesen (3-4, 6.83) gives it another go against the knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (2-6, 5.21).