The Orioles finally snapped out of their funk and got a well deserved 12-4 win over the Seattle Mariners last night in the Emerald City. Well, Tuesday’s contest seemed to be a tale of two game, as Baltimore jumped on starter and former teammate Erik Bedard for two runs in the first before he figured himself out and shut them down. However, once Bedard left, the Orioles offense took over and when all was said and done, Luke Scott ended the day with seven RBI — a career high that included a two-run single in the first and a three-run homer in the seventh.
Baltimore used a six-run seventh inning to put the game away for good, and helped Mark Hendrickson (who came into the game relieving Jeremy Guthrie) earn his fourth win of the season. Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold had two hits in the brigade.
Overall, it was a good game for Baltimore; however, you’ve have to be concerned about Guthrie. Last night, it looked to be Guthrie might have been injured, but upon further review and a few statements from the purported ace, it seems to be that he was ill.
From the Orioles.com: And it also made up for a subpar start from Jeremy Guthrie, who gave up three earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. Guthrie appeared to possibly be injured after walking Ken Griffey Jr. with two out in the first inning and was visited by the team’s training staff, but he stayed in the game, giving up a three-run homer to Gutierrez two pitches later.
After the game, he said he was feeling dizzy.
“It’s been about three days, the aches and pains and kind of flu-like symptoms,” Guthrie said. “I haven’t felt great going into it, but I did all my preparation as I normally do and didn’t have any real issues throwing the baseball. But today, warming up, the lightheadedness was really strong, to the point where I didn’t throw many pitches where I was aiming in the bullpen and it carried over into the game.
“The first couple of pitches, it felt like something that I could never describe, that I’ve never been through before, where I just was dizzy, light-headed, had no idea where the baseball was going on any pitch that I threw in the entire 2 1/3 innings.”
Who knows if Guthrie is injured or not, and the numbers don’t lie — he’s been inconsistent and not all that good in 2009. He had no strikeouts on the night, and gave up a three-run shot to Jose Lopez in the third inning.
We all know Guthrie is stand-up guy, and tries his best on the mound, but does anyone envision him in an Oriole uniform in the next few years, especially with the young pitching on the rise down on the minor leagues?
Finally, after the display last night from Luke Scott, are we sure that he should be traded? He’s one of the streakiest hitters I’ve ever seen, but he’s batting .305 with 17 home runs and 50 RBIs — which are stats that would put him at the top of pretty much every basic offensive category of anyone on the team. One could say if he didn’t get hurt for a while this season, and he played for a winning squad, Scott could conceiveably be up for All-Star merit. Furthermore, he’s not even hit arbitration yet and has several years to go before he’s a free agent — granted, he’s over 30, but does it make sense for the team to just trade him for the sake of trading him.
Sorry, if we want to get rid of someone in a trade for younger talent, look at Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, Cesar Izturis, or George Sherrill; therefore, with Scott, there’s no reason to trade him just for the sake a of a trade.
