The pitching was dominant, the offense was clutch and the defense was solid as the O's (shining brightly in all-orange uniforms) cruised to a 5-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.
Jeremy Guthrie turned in yet another quality start, giving up just two hits over six innings while picking up his team-leading seventh win. Guthrie wasn't as sharp as usual, walking four while fanning three, but managed to completely shut down Tampa's offense. Koji Uehara continued to impress from the 'pen, tossing two scoreless innings, and Michael Gonzalez struck out two in a scoreless ninth.
The offense gave Guthrie a cushion right out of the gate; with two outs, the Birds strung together four straight hits...Adam Jones' triple gave the O's an early 2-0 lead and the Birds led by three before Guthrie even took the mound. Luke Scott continued to punish the baseball, going 3-for-3 and smashing his team-leading 22nd homer off ex-Oriole Lance Cormier in the seventh inning. Overall, the Birds banged out 12 hits, five for extra bases (Felix Pie went 3-for-4 with two doubles) and went 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
The O's have now won 9 of their past 11 games, the best stretch the team has had in over five years, and if the Birds can win one of the next two in St. Petersburg, it will mark their first winning road trip this season...Brian Matusz takes the mound in a nationally televised game on Saturday afternoon...Go O's!
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