Guthrie apologizes to fans and teammates for his poor outing

A somewhat despondent Jeremy Guthrie met with reporters a few minutes ago in the O's clubhouse, saying he was embarrassed by his performance and he apologized to teammates and fans for his outing tonight. "Let me start by saying, I'm embarrassed by the way the game started. I'm embarrassed by the way the game finished. I'm embarrassed that I had to run the bullpen out there for 4 1/3 innings because I was not able to keep the pitch count down. "I'm apologetic to fans that come and pay to watch the Orioles and watch us lose, in this case because of me. I'm apologetic to teammates for the inability to help them win a game in five starts. "I'm apologetic to Jorge (Posada) if he has to miss any time for yanking a pitch and hitting him. "If I break the game down, the big thing for me today was being behind in the count. "If I break the game down, quality pitches were hit. But that's because I was behind in the count 2-0 in almost every instance, except vs. Nick Swisher. Other than that I felt like my stuff was pretty effective but I was not getting ahead of hitters. That was ultimately what led to the hits and the runs that I allowed today." Guthrie allowed seven runs (six earned) over 4 2/3 and is 0-3, 4.70 on the year. "I wish I had better command. If I did I would pitch much better and we'd all see different results. If you look at the game, the first ball that Jeter hit was a fastball and I was trying to go in on him but I yanked it all the way across the plate and he hits that chopper down the line. "Jorge was the same thing. I'm frustrated because I was unable to command the pitches. It's part of the game, but I'm apologetic if he were to miss any time that is a shame that a pitch from me had that result. "I was bringing my arm slot a little bit down vs. so far over the top to generate more movement. But movement out of the zone didn't entice hitters to swing at it and I had to come into the zone. Even good pitches with movement then were hit by a team that swings the bat pretty well."