For the second night in a row, the Baltimore Orioles offense was listless, and in the end, the more-than-likely-playoff bound Boston Red Sox, upended them, 3-1. Young Clay Buchholz pitched his way to victory number three on the season as he went six innings and gave up a run on five hits. Jonathan Papelbon earned the save, his 37th.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Guthrie, who has struggled throughout the season, took his 15th loss of the year, which leads all of baseball. Guthrie was not terrible, but against a very strong Buchholz, he just didn’t get the job done. He labored through 5 2/3 innings, and gave up three runs — off a Casey Kotchman RBI-single in the second inning, a Jason Bay homer in the fourth — a solo shot, and Jacoby Ellsbury plated in a run in the sixth inning.
Luke Scott looks to have finally gotten hot as he hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second, his 23rd; however, that was all the offense Baltimore could really muster.On the night, the Orioles weren’t terrible, but the Red Sox found ways to execute and create opportunities when they needed to against Guthrie. One must consider that the Baltimore offense has been sapped of much of it’s firepower due to Adam Jones being hurt, Aubrey Huff being traded, and Melvin Mora’s average, RBIs, and power all but being sapped, the Orioles will more than likely have their hands full against premium teams.
Once again, Camden Yards was filled with members of Red Sox nation, and at the end of the game, it looked like Fenway South — again. In addition to the dominance in the stands, the Red Sox have literally owned the Orioles this season, taking 14 out of 16 contests against their divisional rival. Sadly, until the Orioles can find a way to compete with the Bostons and New York, it will always be an uphill struggle in the division.
Before Friday night’s game, Brooks Robinson — Hall of Famer and Oriole legend — lent his support and honored Melvin Mora, who moved into second place behind Robinson for most games played at third in Baltimore. It was a nice thing to see considering that fans don’t get to see much of the Brooks at Camden Yards, much less doing public stuff with the team; however, all things considered, it was a treat to see him out there. Maybe in the future, the team and he could do more…
Finally, it was also nice to see Melvin Mora honored before the game honoring his tenure as an Oriole. Although it is widely assumed by most that he may be down to his final games in the black and the orange, he’s had an incredible career and considering where it started, it’s quite an accomplishment. Hopefully, the remarks he made a few weeks ago about his playing time hasn’t hurt the relationship between and he the team, because he’s made himself a member of community — I think he lives in Fallston — and may be one of the few, if any, of the current Orioles aside from Markakis to make his full time home in the area.
I have pictures of some of the games this week; however, I have not had to time to parse through them since I was busy Saturday morning and stuff to do this afternoon. I might have stuff ready later tonight or late Sunday.
