Orioles stumble against A's in finale
07/19/2006
BALTIMORE -- The temperature was in the mid-90s for the third consecutive day at Camden Yards, but Barry Zito was able to cool things off -- the Orioles bats, at least.
The Orioles dropped their second straight game, ending their seven-game homestand the way it started. Baltimore scored one run in each of the first two games following the All-Star break, and managed only a run in Wednesday's series finale, as the A's won, 5-1.
Oakland has dominated the Orioles over the past two seasons, winning eight of the last nine games in Baltimore, and 11 of the last 13 overall.
Starter Kris Benson lost his fourth straight game, giving up three home runs in six innings. Benson also gave up three homers June 28 against the Phillies.
"He had good life on his fastball, but his command wasn't quite there and his offspeed pitches weren't great today either," manager Sam Perlozzo said.
Benson gave up nine hits and five runs while striking out three and falling to 1-3 lifetime against the A's. After going 3-1 with a 3.23 ERA in June, Benson has struggled in three of his four starts this month.
Oakland scored twice in the first on a two-out single by Frank Thomas, the third A's hit of the inning. Benson said he struggled with the command of his slider in the first few innings, and that's the pitch Thomas was able to hit through the left side of the infield.
Up 3-0 in the sixth, Eric Chavez hit a home run to right field and two pitches later, Thomas hit a ball more than 400 feet into the left-field stands for back-to-back homers. Benson threw changeups on both home-run balls.
"They went there and got them," Benson said. "Of course, they could've been better pitches. I threw a handful of them in the same spot and they missed them. It was just the luck of the draw there and like I said, they got them up in the air and hit them out."
Meanwhile, Zito allowed one run in seven innings, marking the seventh straight outing in which he's given up three runs or less. Zito limited the Orioles to five hits, and his ERA fell to 3.20, which is sixth-best in the American League.
"He's a good pitcher. He throws the ball where he wants," said Miguel Tejada, who played with Zito from 2000-03 in Oakland. "We swung at a lot of bad pitches, too."
Zito picked up his 10th victory, giving him double-digit wins in six of the last seven seasons. He improved to 3-2 with a 1.51 ERA in six career starts at Camden Yards.
"He mixed his pitches," said Kevin Millar, who was 1-for-3 off Zito with a double. "He just kept us off-balance enough and we could really never get anything going off him. When he's throwing all of his pitches in any kind of sequence, he makes it tough. He's one of the better ones out there."
With the loss, Baltimore fell to 9-23 against left-handed pitchers this year. The Orioles are batting an American League-worst .234 against southpaws this season.
The only serious threat for the Orioles was in the seventh inning. Kevin Millar doubled and scored on a Ramon Hernandez single. With Hernandez on first, Corey Patterson reached base on an error by first baseman Mark Kotsay, who made another error trying to flip the ball to Zito, allowing Hernandez to go to third.
Chris Gomez worked a 3-1 count and thought he had walked on a close pitch toward the inside of the strike zone, but it was called strike two. On Zito's next throw, Gomez grounded into his second double play of the afternoon.
Baltimore went 3-4 on its homestand, losing the first two, then scoring 17 runs in three straight wins before dropping two against Oakland. The Orioles begin a six-game road trip Friday in Tampa Bay.
Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/
BALTIMORE -- The temperature was in the mid-90s for the third consecutive day at Camden Yards, but Barry Zito was able to cool things off -- the Orioles bats, at least.
The Orioles dropped their second straight game, ending their seven-game homestand the way it started. Baltimore scored one run in each of the first two games following the All-Star break, and managed only a run in Wednesday's series finale, as the A's won, 5-1.
Oakland has dominated the Orioles over the past two seasons, winning eight of the last nine games in Baltimore, and 11 of the last 13 overall.
Starter Kris Benson lost his fourth straight game, giving up three home runs in six innings. Benson also gave up three homers June 28 against the Phillies.
"He had good life on his fastball, but his command wasn't quite there and his offspeed pitches weren't great today either," manager Sam Perlozzo said.
Benson gave up nine hits and five runs while striking out three and falling to 1-3 lifetime against the A's. After going 3-1 with a 3.23 ERA in June, Benson has struggled in three of his four starts this month.
Oakland scored twice in the first on a two-out single by Frank Thomas, the third A's hit of the inning. Benson said he struggled with the command of his slider in the first few innings, and that's the pitch Thomas was able to hit through the left side of the infield.
Up 3-0 in the sixth, Eric Chavez hit a home run to right field and two pitches later, Thomas hit a ball more than 400 feet into the left-field stands for back-to-back homers. Benson threw changeups on both home-run balls.
"They went there and got them," Benson said. "Of course, they could've been better pitches. I threw a handful of them in the same spot and they missed them. It was just the luck of the draw there and like I said, they got them up in the air and hit them out."
Meanwhile, Zito allowed one run in seven innings, marking the seventh straight outing in which he's given up three runs or less. Zito limited the Orioles to five hits, and his ERA fell to 3.20, which is sixth-best in the American League.
"He's a good pitcher. He throws the ball where he wants," said Miguel Tejada, who played with Zito from 2000-03 in Oakland. "We swung at a lot of bad pitches, too."
Zito picked up his 10th victory, giving him double-digit wins in six of the last seven seasons. He improved to 3-2 with a 1.51 ERA in six career starts at Camden Yards.
"He mixed his pitches," said Kevin Millar, who was 1-for-3 off Zito with a double. "He just kept us off-balance enough and we could really never get anything going off him. When he's throwing all of his pitches in any kind of sequence, he makes it tough. He's one of the better ones out there."
With the loss, Baltimore fell to 9-23 against left-handed pitchers this year. The Orioles are batting an American League-worst .234 against southpaws this season.
The only serious threat for the Orioles was in the seventh inning. Kevin Millar doubled and scored on a Ramon Hernandez single. With Hernandez on first, Corey Patterson reached base on an error by first baseman Mark Kotsay, who made another error trying to flip the ball to Zito, allowing Hernandez to go to third.
Chris Gomez worked a 3-1 count and thought he had walked on a close pitch toward the inside of the strike zone, but it was called strike two. On Zito's next throw, Gomez grounded into his second double play of the afternoon.
Baltimore went 3-4 on its homestand, losing the first two, then scoring 17 runs in three straight wins before dropping two against Oakland. The Orioles begin a six-game road trip Friday in Tampa Bay.
Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/
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