Grand Slam From Lowell Downs O's

Baltimore Finishes Road Trip at 5-4 : Red Sox 9, Orioles 2

BOSTON, June 12 -- Despite the many surprises the Baltimore Orioles have thrown at the baseball universe this season, they had been getting pretty much what they expected from young staff ace Jeremy Guthrie.

Guthrie had remained a steady force, even as the offense behind him experienced extreme ups and downs. His 3-6 record entering play Thursday seemed more a reflection of his lousy run support this season than his actual performances on the mound. Not since Opening Day, when he gave up five earned runs on nine hits, had Guthrie failed to put the Orioles in position to win in one of his starts.

That ended Thursday night before 38,139 at Fenway Park, when the Red Sox got to Guthrie for five runs in just 4 2/3 innings, and the Orioles' mostly successful road trip ended with a 9-2 loss.

The Orioles have maintained a level of respectability by keeping opponents from putting together knockout innings. But for the second straight night, the Orioles absorbed baseball's equivalent of a haymaker. The Red Sox piled on four runs in the fifth inning, courtesy of Mike Lowell's grand slam off Guthrie, giving Boston a 5-0 lead. Even when the Orioles pushed back in the sixth inning, when Oscar Salazar and Aubrey Huff each drove in runs, Boston pounded the Baltimore bullpen for four more runs.

"You've got to stay away from the big inning," Orioles Manager Dave Trembley said.

The way Guthrie looked, especially early on, it seemed that it was only a matter of time until the potent Red Sox lineup would break out. Entering the fifth inning, Guthrie had already thrown 78 pitches and, according to Trembley, had gone to eight three-ball counts.

Guthrie called his inability to finish off batters a combination of missed spots and tough calls, though even when he found the strike zone, the Red Sox made the pitcher pay.

"I tried to made good pitches to them, sometimes too good a pitch, I think," said Guthrie, who entered Thursday's appearance on a run of six straight quality starts. "When you do throw strikes, they put the ball in play and a lot of times those are base hits. One through nine, they're very tough, and it's a tough task for any pitcher."

Baltimore was trailing 1-0 before Guthrie allowed a leadoff single to Jacoby Ellsbury and a double to J.D. Drew that brought Manny Ramírez to the plate with runners on second and third and just one out. With first base open, Trembley made the predictable move of intentionally walking the dangerous Ramírez to face Lowell.

"We're talking about one of the best hitters to ever play the game," Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts said. "I don't think anybody's ever going to complain about that move. Obviously Lowell is a darn good hitter, but you have to respect those that have done it the way Manny has done it."

In response, Lowell launched a slider into the first row of seats behind the Green Monster.

Said Red Sox Manager Terry Francona, "That's why we've got a batting order that is kind of thick."

The run support was plenty for Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester, who looked strong for six innings before the Orioles tagged him for a pair of runs in the seventh.

"He's got great stuff," Roberts said. "I don't think there's any doubt about that."

Even with the loss, the Orioles completed a nine-game, three-city road trip with a winning record (5-4), a major improvement for a team that this season has generated doubts about its ability to play well away from Camden Yards. The Orioles beat Minnesota and Toronto in three-game series and put themselves in position to do the same by beating Boston, the best team in the major leagues, in the first game of the series.

"Any time you go 5-4 on that road trip -- I mean, that's three pretty good teams -- I think we walked out with a pretty good mind-set, really," Roberts said. "Yeah, we lost the last one. It obviously makes you feel a little bit better if you win the last one before you go home, but look at the whole set of circumstances, it's pretty positive."