Verlander Cools Down Hot O’s

Going into tonight’s game Justin Verlander had absolutely dominated the Orioles. He was 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 4 starts and 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in 3 starts at Camden Yards. Tonight he won his 6th game of the year.

Following an outstanding 8 inning start by Brad Bergesen, the O’s Ace Jeremy Guthrie took the mound. Guthrie had allowed 19 runs in the 1st and 2nd innings and just 17 from the 3rd on.

So you’ll never guess what Jeremy did tonight. How about two solo homers in the 2nd and 3rd innings, he also gave up an RBI single to Ryan Raburn in the 3rd. Guthrie finished with 6 innings of 3 run baseball, but he also struck out 10. In fact Guthrie became the first Oriole since Erik Bedard to strike out 10. Bedard fanned 11 on August 21, 2007 against the Rangers.

Matt Wieters had a double, a triple, and a run scored off Justin Verlander, he finished the day 2 for 4. Nolan Reimold drove in Wieters in the 5th, it was Reimold’s 11th RBI this year.

Luke Scott had another moon shot to write about in his diary tonight. Scott’s two run 420 foot shot to center was his 6th homerun and 14th RBI in 4 days since returning to the lineup off the disabled list. Luke is now two homers shy of Reggie Jackson’s team record of six straight games with a homerun for the O’s. Can you say AL player of the week?

After tying it up in the 6th the O’s turned to Matt Albers — Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Matt Albers — who immediately gave up a solo homerun to Clete Thomas. Clete caught Guthrie in the 3rd, had 2 homers tonight, and he scored the Tigers’ 5th run on an RBI double off Jamie Walker.

So the Orioles win streak ends at 5 games, they’re 5-1 on the 7 game home stand and look to win 3 of 4 against the AL Central leading Tigers tomorrow at 1:35.