masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgFor a while tonight, it looked like the Orioles had this game well in hand. Jeremy Guthrie went to the mound in the top of the sixth working with a 5-1 lead on Detroit.

After needing just 58 pitches to get through five innings, Guthrie quickly recorded two quick outs on ground balls to start the sixth.

He looked to be coasting, but suddenly the Tigers produced a double, two-run homer, single, single, RBI double and two-run single and Guthrie was walking off the mound at Camden Yards trailing…For a while tonight, it looked like the Orioles had this game well in hand. Jeremy Guthrie went to the mound in the top of the sixth working with a 5-1 lead on Detroit.

After needing just 58 pitches to get through five innings, Guthrie quickly recorded two quick outs on ground balls to start the sixth.

He looked to be coasting, but suddenly the Tigers produced a double, two-run homer, single, single, RBI double and two-run single and Guthrie was walking off the mound at Camden Yards trailing 6-5.

That was the final score, Tigers win 6-5, to take the first two games of this three-game set.

Over his last three starts, Guthrie has allowed 16 earned runs and 24 hits over 19 2/3 innings as his season ERA grew from 4.18 to 4.55. He falls to 5-16 on the year.

The Orioles used a pair of homers to take a 5-0 lead in the second inning off Max Scherzer. Vlad Guerrero ended an 11-game homerless drought with a two-run shot and Blake Davis made it 5-0 with his three-run shot to left. It was his first major league homer.

But the Orioles offense didn’t do much after that big inning, picking up just four singles the rest of the way and getting just a single runner into scoring position after the second frame.

Scherzer got the win and is 12-7. Jose Valverde got the final three outs and is 35-for-35 in save chances this year.

The Orioles fall to 45-72 on the year and 2-7 on this homestand. They have lost five times on this homestand by a single run.

In the series finale, Sunday afternoon, it’s Jo-Jo Reyes (5-9, 5.49) against Doug Fister (4-12, 3.37).