With Orioles' Guthrie, Expect the Unexpected
Yankees 11, Orioles 4
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Thursday, May 21, 2009
NEW YORK, May 20 -- Jeremy Guthrie was supposed to be the exception. Before the season began, Guthrie was billed as the one member of the rotation that the Baltimore Orioles could count on.
Sure, he wasn't expected to dominate the opposition by piling up wins and strikeouts. The Orioles would be plenty satisfied with him taking the ball every five days, getting deep into the game and giving the team chances to win. Six weeks into the season, Guthrie has left the Orioles with no idea what they're going to get from him every time he takes the mound.
On Wednesday night, with the Orioles badly in need of a strong outing, Guthrie was at his enigmatic best, giving up home runs to three consecutive New York Yankees in the second inning. He steadied himself to get through seven innings, but the five-run hole that he put the Orioles in was too much in an 11-4 loss in front of an announced 43,903 at Yankee Stadium.
The loss, the Orioles' third straight and fourth in the past five games, dropped them to a season-low eight games under .500 at 16-24. Having already been outscored 20-5 in the series, they'll try to avoid a third series road sweep Thursday with struggling right-hander Adam Eaton taking the mound.
Guthrie (3-4) salvaged his outing somewhat by closing it with four consecutive scoreless innings before leaving in favor of Danys Báez, who combined with Jamie Walker to give up six runs in the eighth inning as the Yankees again turned the game into a rout. Guthrie retired 12 of the final 13 hitters he faced with the exception of hitting Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira in the middle of the back with a fastball in the fifth inning.
However, the damage had long been done, and most of it came in the second inning, when the first three batters Guthrie faced found the right field seats. Nick Swisher and Robinson Canó connected for the first two home runs, their shots landing just a couple of rows over the hitter-friendly right field porch. Melky Cabrera then connected for the Yankees' third consecutive homer, his ball soaring into the second deck in right field.
