Another Lost Opportunity for the O's Bullpen
By DAN STAMM
Updated 8:30 PM EST, Sun, Jul 5, 2009
The Orioles bullpen couldn’t hold a lead as Baltimore dropped their second straight game in L.A.
Vladimir Guerrero hit tying two-run homer in his first game back in right field, and Angels took advantage of the wild Orioles bullpen to rally for a 9-6 win Sunday.
Guerrero, who played in the outfield for the first time this season after missing 35 games with a torn pectoral muscle, hit home runs in back-to-back games for the first time since last season.
After Guerrero's homer to left tied it in the fifth, Matt Wieters homered to give the Orioles the lead in the sixth. But Howie Kendrick scored on a double by Erick Aybar to make it six-all in he bottom half.
The Orioles scored runs in the first, third, fourth and sixth, with Brian Roberts driving in three runs -- including a leadoff homer in the first.
But, it wasn’t enough.
The Angels took control in the seventh with three runs off Matt Albers (1-3). Bobby Abreu walked, Torii Hunter doubled then Albers walked three straight batters -- Guerrero, Juan Rivera and Mike Napoli -- to give Los Angeles an 8-6 lead.
Kendry Morales added another run with a sacrifice fly one batter later.
Darren Oliver (3-0) worked 1 1-3 innings for the win. Brian Fuentes, a 2009 All-Star, struck out two in one inning of work for his league-leading 24th save.
For the second straight game, Baltimore held the lead, but squandered it. This time the Angels got to starter Rich Hill. He gave up six runs in 5.1 innings.
On Saturday, Baltimore led 4-0 but gave up 11 runs in an 11-4 loss. On Sunday, they were up 4-0 after three innings.
The Orioles dropped to a dismal 12-26 on the road.
The only good news for the O’s Sunday was that centerfielder Adam Jones was named to his first All-Star team.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Washington
First Published: Jul 5, 2009 7:14 PM EST
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