About Last Night & Tough Week Ahead...

Last night, the Orioles lost to the Minnesota Twins, 3-1, in the final contest of a four game series. They got a series split with the Twins and are 8-10 on the season.

After winning two straight with their black jerseys on, the Orioles decided to do the same for the third night in a row to continue the luck. That didn’t work.

Jeremy Guthrie – who started the game for Baltimore on the mound – was solid, but lost. He went seven innings and gave up two runs on seven hits.

As it seems for Guthrie whenever he pitches, the Orioles can never give him enough run support and didn’t get on the scoreboard until Vladmir Guerrero’s RBI infield single in the 8^th inning.

Until then, the Orioles were shutout by Twins’ starting pitcher Scott Baker, who went seven shutout innings for the win. Closer Matt Capps got the save.

Jim Thome and Michael Cuddyer each hit solo shots for the Twins, and the Orioles have only won twice in the past eleven games.

At this point, I am little concerned about Derrek Lee. He’s been a solid hitter throughout his career and a power threat; however, so far with the black and orange, he’s not done much.

We all know that Lee didn’t get much a Spring Training due to recovering from a wrist injury, but there’s not been a lot out of his bat as of yet. Let’s hope it improves.

He’s the man in third the spot of the lineup and his bat is needed – badly.

It’s not only Lee struggling at the plate, but Nick Markakis had some ugly swings last night, as did Luke Scott. Meanwhile, Mark Reynolds’ average is under .200.

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