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By Sean Yuille

– Managing Editor

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Sep 22, 2011 – (Sports Network) – The Baltimore Orioles have relished their role of spoilers the last week. Tonight, they try to dent the Detroit Tigers’ hopes of finishing with the American League’s best record when they open a four-game series at Comerica Park.

After taking two of three from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last weekend, the Orioles ended the Boston Red Sox’ hopes of an American League East title and hurt their overall playoff chances by taking three of four at Fenway Park.

On Wednesday, Vladimir Guerrero hit a two-run single in the eighth inning to lift Baltimore to a 6-4 win.

Guerrero may have smacked the go-ahead hit, but Mark Reynolds did most of the damage Wednesday with two homers off Josh Beckett and three runs batted in.

Tommy Hunter pitched into the seventh inning for Baltimore before leaving after he tweaked his groin on the mound. He gave up four runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings. Clay Rapada (2-0) got the last out in the seventh and the first out in the eighth to earn the win.

Getting the call for the O’s tonight will be rookie Zach Britton, who is 10-10 with a 4.28 ERA. Britton won for the fourth time in five decisions on Saturday against the Angels, as he allowed a run and three hits in seven innings.

Britton, who has never faced the Tigers, can become the first O’s rookie to win 12 games tonight since Daniel Cabrera went 12-8 in 2004.

The Tigers, meanwhile, continued to roll towards the postseason on Wednesday, as Miguel Cabrera hit a go-ahead pinch-hit RBI double and Don Kelly added a two-run homer to cap a three-run eighth inning, lifting Detroit to a 6-3 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Victor Martinez drove in three runs, Kelly finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and Austin Jackson also scored twice for the AL Central-champion Tigers, who finished the road portion of their 2011 schedule with a mark of 45-36.

“This was a very long road trip, a 10-day road trip. We went 6-3, so that’s pretty good at any time of the year,” Tigers catcher Alex Avila said.

Max Scherzer lasted five innings in the start and gave up two runs on five hits. Doug Fister (10-13) got the win as he yielded just one unearned run on two hits in three innings.

The Tigers, who are 3-3 since a 12-game winning streak, are tied with the Texas Rangers, five games back of the Yankees in the race for the best record in the American League.

Hoping to get them a little closer in that category tonight, the Tigers turn to 2009 first pick Jacob Turner, who will be making his third start. Turner is 0-1 with the Tigers and has pitched to a 7.45 ERA.

Detroit has split its six games with the Orioles this season.

Read More: Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers

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By Dan Connolly

 Posted: 2:00 AM July 07, 2011

ARLINGTON, Texas — If the Baltimore Orioles are looking for a bright side to their three-game pummeling by the Texas Rangers, it’s this: They don’t have to come back here this season.

That likely won’t make a long flight to Boston, and four more games in never-friendly Fenway Park before the merciful All-Star break, any easier.

On Wednesday night, the Rangers embarrassed the Orioles and veteran Jeremy Guthrie, 13-5, to sweep a three-game series in which Texas outscored the Orioles 30-11.

The Orioles (36-48) have lost eight of nine and 17 of their past 24 games.

This one was over before half of the 31,953 fans at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington had found their seats. By the end of the first, the Orioles were already down 4-0.

Guthrie, an Ashland native, gave up a double to Ian Kinsler on his second pitch, then walked Elvis Andrus on four pitches and issued another free pass to Josh Hamilton to load the bases.

Adrian Beltre hit a sacrifice fly to put the Rangers on the board, and Michael Young followed with a double to give them a 2-0 lead. Nelson Cruz hit a two-run single, and Texas had scored four runs before the Orioles could record two outs.

Guthrie suffered through a 38-pitch inning that could have been worse if not for a strikeout-throw-him-out double play with the help of catcher Matt Wieters, who gunned down Cruz at second base. It was Wieters’ 24th runner caught stealing of the season, which leads all major league catchers.

Guthrie didn’t allow a run again until the fifth, when Beltre doubled one in and Young followed with an RBI single. Guthrie was pulled after the inning, having allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks. It was the fourth time in 19 starts this season that he has allowed at least five earned runs.

Guthrie (3-11) leads the American League in losses. His ERA jumped to 4.23, and he is 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA in his past four starts. In that span, he has allowed 31 hits, 13 walks and 18 earned runs in 24 innings.

In their past 12 games, Orioles starters are a combined 2-8 with an 8.18 ERA. After receiving a quality start Tuesday from Mitch Atkins, who was making his Orioles debut, the club was seeking consecutive quality starts for the first time since June 8-11.

That bid ended quickly with Guthrie’s rough first. It didn’t get much better when he came out.

Michael Gonzalez entered in the sixth and surrendered two runs on three hits in one inning. Brad Bergesen allowed a run in the seventh on an RBI single by Young, then served up a three-run blast to Mike Napoli.

Young was a one-man wrecking crew with three hits and three RBIs on Wednesday, his third consecutive three-hit game. For the series, he went 9-for-12 with three runs, four RBIs, two doubles and a triple.

The Rangers provided plenty of offense for 27-year-old right-hander Alexi Ogando (9-3), who rarely was in trouble. Throwing mid-90s fastballs in the 100-degree heat, Ogando lasted seven innings, giving up three runs on four hits. All the runs he allowed were on homers—Derrek Lee’s two-run shot in the second, his seventh of the season, and Vladimir Guerrero’s solo homer in the seventh.

Lee’s blast went 420 feet to deep center and also broke the Orioles’ 0-for-11 skid with runners in scoring position in this series. The Orioles were 3-for-8 in those situations Wednesday and 3-for-18 (.167) in the series.

Guerrero’s seventh homer of the season was his first since June 12 and first on the road this year.

It was the Orioles’ seventh homer in three games here—and fifth solo shot—with their first nine runs all coming courtesy of the long ball.

That trend ended in the eighth, when Nick Markakis and Guerrero had RBI singles against Texas reliever Yoshinori Tateyama.

The Rangers (47-41) tacked on a run against Kevin Gregg in the eighth on their way to their first sweep since June 2-5 at Cleveland.

ARLINGTON, Texas – If the Baltimore Orioles are looking for a bright side to their three-game pummeling by the Texas Rangers, it’s this: They don’t have to come back here this season.

That likely won’t make a long flight to Boston, and four more games in never-friendly Fenway Park [map] before the merciful All-Star break, any easier.

On Wednesday night, the Rangers embarrassed the Orioles and veteran Jeremy Guthrie, 13-5, to sweep a three-game series in which Texas outscored the Orioles 30-11.

The Orioles (36-48) have lost eight of nine and 17 of their past 24 games.

This one was over before half of the 31,953 fans at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington had found their seats. By the end of the first, the Orioles were already down 4-0.

Guthrie gave up a double to Ian Kinsler on his second pitch, then walked Elvis Andrus on four pitches and issued another free pass to Josh Hamilton to load the bases.

Adrian Beltre hit a sacrifice fly to put the Rangers on the board, and Michael Young followed with a double to give them a 2-0 lead. Nelson Cruz hit a two-run single, and Texas had scored four runs before the Orioles could record two outs.

Guthrie suffered through a 38-pitch inning that could have been worse if not for a strikeout-throw-him-out double play with the help of catcher Matt Wieters, who gunned down Cruz at second base. It was Wieters’ 24th runner caught stealing of the season, which leads all major league catchers.

Guthrie didn’t allow a run again until the fifth, when Beltre doubled one in and Young followed with an RBI single. Guthrie was pulled after the inning, having allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks. It was the fourth time in 19 starts this season that he has allowed at least five earned runs.

Guthrie (3-11) leads the American League in losses. His ERA jumped to 4.23, and he is 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA in his past four starts. In that span, he has allowed 31 hits, 13 walks and 18 earned runs in 24 innings.

In their past 12 games, Orioles starters are a combined 2-8 with an 8.18 ERA. After receiving a quality start Tuesday from Mitch Atkins, who was making his Orioles debut, the club was seeking consecutive quality starts for the first time since June 8-11.

That bid ended quickly with Guthrie’s rough first. It didn’t get much better when he came out.

Michael Gonzalez entered in the sixth and surrendered two runs on three hits in one inning. Brad Bergesen allowed a run in the seventh on an RBI single by Young, then served up a three-run blast to Mike Napoli.

Young was a one-man wrecking crew with three hits and three RBIs on Wednesday, his third consecutive three-hit game. For the series, he went 9-for-12 with three runs, four RBIs, two doubles and a triple.

The Rangers provided plenty of offense for 27-year-old right-hander Alexi Ogando (9-3), who rarely was in trouble. Throwing mid-90s fastballs in the 100-degree heat, Ogando lasted seven innings, giving up three runs on four hits. All the runs he allowed were on homers_Derrek Lee’s two-run shot in the second, his seventh of the season, and Vladimir Guerrero’s solo homer in the seventh.

Lee’s blast went 420 feet to deep center and also broke the Orioles’ 0-for-11 skid with runners in scoring position in this series. The Orioles were 3-for-8 in those situations Wednesday and 3-for-18 (.167) in the series.

Alexi Ogando pitched like an All-Star. Now he has to wait and see if he gets the call to join the AL staff for Tuesday’s game in Arizona.

Ogando allowed four hits over seven innings in his last start before the break and the Texas Rangers completed a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with a 13-5 victory on Wednesday night.

Ogando (9-3) snapped a tie with Colby Lewis and C.J. Wilson for the team lead in wins, turning in his second consecutive effective outing after losing three straight starts.

Ogando wasn’t chosen by his manager, AL skipper Ron Washington, for the original All-Star staff, but the right-hander has a chance to be a late selection because so many of the AL All-Star pitchers take the mound on Sunday.

“Of course, I’m here doing my job and I don’t have control over those things, but if those things happen, I of course, would be happy to play and represent my team in the All-Star game,” Ogando said through an interpreter.

During Ogando’s three-game slide, there had been concern over the innings total for the converted reliever. But he got back on track when he allowed two runs and five hits over 6 2-3 innings in a 15-5 victory over Florida on July 1, and followed that up with Wednesday’s effort.

For Ogando, a trip to Arizona would be nice. So would a few days’ rest, even though he insisted he isn’t fatigued despite throwing 104 2-3 innings this season.

Ogando’s workload last year was 72 1-3 innings over two minor league stops and 44 games for Texas.

“It’ll be good to have some days off, but … I feel strong,” Ogando said. “I don’t feel that I’m tired or that I show that I’m tired, but the break is always good.”

The Rangers provided plenty of support Wednesday, finishing with 19 hits.

Mike Napoli hit a three-run homer in Texas’ four-run seventh. Michael Young and Nelson Cruz also had three RBIs for the Rangers, who moved back into sole possession of first place with the help of Detroit’s 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels earlier Wednesday.

Elvis Andrus had four hits and Young scored twice, giving him 958 career runs, tying Rafael Palmeiro for the team record.

Texas outscored Baltimore 30-11 in the series.

“We knew we could hit,” Young said. “We have a talented group of guys one through nine. We feel like anyone who’s up at the plate has a chance to put up a good at-bat and find a way to be productive.”

Baltimore pitcher Jeremy Guthrie (3-11) got off to a rough start and never recovered, yielding six runs and eight hits in five innings while taking over the AL lead in losses. Four of the runs came in the first inning.

“Some of the pitches tonight were all right, but they got hit,” Guthrie said. “Others were mistakes. There’s a lot of work to do on my end. Fortunately there’s more season left to improve.”

Vladimir Guerrero homered and drove in two runs for the Orioles, who have dropped eight of nine.

Guerrero, who hadn’t had an extra-base hit in 34 at-bats since June 16, helped the Rangers reach the World Series last season, and he received an ovation from the crowd as he circled the bases on his solo shot in the seventh.

The first three Texas hitters reached against Guthrie in the first, two via walks, and Adrian Beltre’s sacrifice fly got the scoring underway. Young’s RBI double and Cruz’s two-run single made it 4-0.

Baltimore pushed across two runs in the second when Matt Wieters doubled and scored on Derrek Lee’s seventh homer, a 420-foot drive onto the grass hill behind the center-field fence.

In the fifth, Beltre’s RBI double and Young’s run-scoring single extended the lead to 6-2.

NOTES: Orioles manager Buck Showalter said RHP Mitch Atkins’ performance on Tuesday night against Texas in his first major league start (one run and eight hits in six innings) probably was good enough to earn him a second start on Sunday at Boston. “I thought he presented himself well,” Showalter said. “I’d say he’s the front-runner for Sunday.” … In the second, Texas CF Endy Chavez was hit in the back of the helmet by Guthrie’s pickoff throw to first. Chavez was face-first on the ground for about 10 seconds, but remained in the game after he was checked by trainer Jamie Reed.

BALTIMORE (AP) – Rookie Zach Britton took a four-hitter into the
seventh inning, Mark Reynolds homered, and the Baltimore Orioles
beat the skidding Oakland Athletics 3-2 on Wednesday night for a
three-game sweep.

It was the ninth consecutive loss for the Athletics, their longest skid since a 10-game run in 2008. Oakland scored only four runs in the series and never held a lead.

J.J. Hardy drove in a run for the Orioles, who have won four of five. It was their first three-game sweep of the A’s in Baltimore since July 21-23, 1998.

Britton (6-4) allowed four hits and two walks in 6 1-3 innings. The left-hander, who tied his career high with six strikeouts, was 0-3 in six starts since May 1.