masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgTonight’s attendance: 8,208. That’s an Ed Smith Stadium record for baseball.

Mark Hendrickson only gave the Orioles two-thirds of an inning, and it included David Winfree’s three-run homer.

Yankees 8, Orioles 4.

Pitching coach Rick Kranitz instructed Jeremy Guthrie to “ramp it up” tonight in preparation for the regular season. That might explain Guthrie’s wildness.

It’s a theory.

“I wasn’t able to get in a zone like I needed to get in a zone, and the result was a lot of walks, hit…Tonight’s attendance: 8,208. That’s an Ed Smith Stadium record for baseball.

Mark Hendrickson only gave the Orioles two-thirds of an inning, and it included David Winfree’s three-run homer.

Yankees 8, Orioles 4.

Pitching coach Rick Kranitz instructed Jeremy Guthrie to “ramp it up” tonight in preparation for the regular season. That might explain Guthrie’s wildness.

It’s a theory.

“I wasn’t able to get in a zone like I needed to get in a zone, and the result was a lot of walks, hit by pitches, just balls going all over the place essentially,” Guthrie said.

“I put a little more effort into this outing. Kranny asked me if I’d ramp it up a little and make sure I was ready for my first start of the season. I don’t know if that’s the reason for the lack of control, but the ball was going all over the place for me.”

Here’s the encouraging part: Guthrie says the ball had good movement again tonight, something that rarely happened last season.

“For me, if the ball’s moving, I feel very good about it,” Guthrie said. “If I can get that location in the zone more consistently, I feel like the result will be quicker outs for me. But to see that ball move the last two outings for me is big. I felt like last year I had one or two starts when the ball moved, and when it doesn’t move, you feel like you’ve got to be perfect with your location. When it’s moving, you’ve got a little more leeway, so I feel really, really good where I am right now.”

Guthrie seems unconcerned that he hasn’t been stretched past five innings. As he noted tonight, if he’s at 85 pitches after six innings in Tampa, he’ll come back out for the seventh.

The walks hurt Guthrie, but the fastball to Robinson Cano is the one pitch he wants back.

The ball that hit Mark Teixeira was a two-seamer that “had cutting action.”

“These guys are aggressive. They go out there and attack,” Guthrie said. “When it happens like that, sometimes it’s harder to get out of the way. It’s more difficult to get out of the way when you’re ready to swing and attack like that.”

Update: Marcus Thames led off the seventh with a home run off Matt Albers. Yankees 9, Orioles 4.

The bullpen guys need to step up. And fast. Wasn’t this area supposed to be a strength?