Guthrie Struggles As Orioles Fall To Blue Jays 7-4
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Leaving the bullpen for his start against the Toronto Blue Jays, Jeremy Guthrie had no clue that he was in store for a very difficult afternoon.
"My warmup pitches went well, as well as my pregame routine," the Baltimore Orioles right-hander said.
He retired the first two batters, which turned out to be equally deceptive.
Guthrie gave up six runs and nine hits in five innings, and the Orioles lost 7-4 Sunday -- their seventh defeat in nine games since reaching the .500 mark on May 26.
Guthrie allowed at least one hit in every inning, including a three-run homer to Yunel Escobar and a solo shot to Adam Lind. He began his outing by retiring Escobar and Corey Patterson on fly balls, but very little went right after that.
"I had it for four pitches; two outs on four pitches," Guthrie said. "The next 85 didn't go as successfully as those first few."
It was only the third time in 12 starts that Guthrie (2-8) didn't make it past the fifth inning.
"Jeremy wasn't carrying normal stuff. It was kind of a struggle for him most every inning," manager Buck Showalter said. "He was kind of wild in the strike zone and paid the price."
Mark Reynolds hit a ninth-inning home run and Robert Andino had two of Baltimore's six hits. But the Orioles went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position and stranded six.
"We were always just one pitch away," Showalter said.
Lind went 4 for 4 with two homers and three RBIs, and Edwin Encarnacion had three hits for the Blue Jays, who took two of three from the last-place Orioles.
Lind missed nearly a month with a sore back before being activated from the DL after Friday night's game. He went hitless on Saturday before getting two singles and two solo homers in the series finale.
"When you look at today's game, it looks like he hasn't even missed any time," Toronto manager John Farrell said. "What a
beautiful swing. ... He was on every pitch today."
It was Lind's second multihomer game of the season and the sixth of his career. Eight of his nine home runs have come in his last 13 games.
"I felt good today. I didn't miss my pitches," Lind said. "It was just nice to feel good all game."
Jo-Jo Reyes (2-4) allowed three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings to earn his second straight victory after going 28
consecutive starts without a win. The left-hander walked four and struck out three.
Guthrie, meanwhile, fell to 2-7 lifetime against the Jays.
"It was just one of those days when you don't feel like you have it all together," he said. "I had no command down. I could
throw strikes, but they were typically up."
After Guthrie gave up an RBI single to Aaron Hill in the first inning, Baltimore used an RBI double by Vladimir Guerrero and a run-scoring groundout by Derrek Lee to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom half.
In the third inning, Patterson singled and Jose Bautista walked before Lind tied it with an RBI single.
Escobar made it 5-2 in the fourth with his seventh home run, a drive to left with two on and two outs. He hit four homers last season.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
