Guthrie Still Winless; O's Offense Sputters

The final score of the game is a bit misleading. The O's fell to Chicago 6-1, but the game was tight until the sixth inning.

Guthrie pitched well, and if Paul Konerko had been on the bench, he may have gotten a win. Konerko had two solo shots off Guthrie, one in the second inning and one in the sixth. The rest of the team combined for three hits against Guthrie, striking out five times.

Konerko's first blast gave the home team a 1-0 lead, which Brian Roberts nullified with a solo shot of his own in the third. The game remained tied until the sixth, when Konerko went deep with a lead-off homer that gave Chicago a 2-1 lead. One hit later, Guthrie was pulled.

Albers came in to relieve him, and after a weird two error play, the Sox were up 4-1. They added two more runs in the eighth off Greg Aquino. Aquino walked the first three batters he faced, then coaxed a strikeout before hitting the next batter and forcing in a run. It was the worst relief performance I've seen this season.

Robert's home run proved to be the only scoring the O's could manage throughout the game. They managed only five hits, two from Roberts. The five through nine batters went 0 for 19.

The O's are now in a three-way tie for first, along with Boston and Tampa Bay. The final game in this series starts at 2 pm; Daniel Cabrera takes the mound looking for his third straight win...

(photos courtesy of MLB.com)