Before Jon Lester got into his groove and remembered that he was facing a team that he abuses like no other, the Orioles actually made the Boston Red Sox ace look vulnerable for all of five minutes last night.
In the first inning, they had the bases loaded and one out, courtesy of two singles and a four-pitch walk, and one of their hottest hitters at the plate. Adam Jones played the part of rally killer by bouncing into an inning-ending double play. Starter Jeremy Guthrie then surrendered four runs in the bottom half of the inning on his way to a poor outing and the Orioles' offense was barely heard from again in a 9-3 loss in front of announced 38,106 at Fenway Park.
Interim manager Juan Samuel earned his first career ejection with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning after a spirited argument with home plate umpire Mike Everitt, who listened to various protests from the Orioles for much of the night.
The Orioles' third straight loss and their 17th in their last 19 contests here had essentially become a formality after the first inning when one team flubbed a golden opportunity against a pitcher they get very few against, and the other jumped all over a struggling Guthrie, who allowed three first-inning, RBI doubles in a four batter span.
Lester cruised after the first, winning for the 10th time in his last 11 decisions and improving to 12-0 with a 2.00 ERA in 15 career starts against the Orioles. Red Faber is the only other pitcher ever to begin his career with a double-digit winning streak against the franchise, winning each of his first 12 decisions against the St. Louis Browns from 1914 to 1916.
Lester's 12 straight wins against the Orioles is also the longest current winning streak by any active pitcher against any team.
The Orioles (24-56) did achieve a moral victory of sorts by scoring a run off Lester, snapping his scoreless streak against them this season at 16 innings with Corey Patterson's RBI single to score Matt Wieters in the fifth inning. It was Wieters' leadoff double that interrupted a stretch where Lester sat down 10 straight Orioles, starting with the Jones double play ball, which Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis salvaged by making a nice stretch to catch shortstop Marco Scutaro's throw while keeping his foot on the bag.
But Lester allowed not much else following Patterson's RBI single, giving up five hits and one walk while striking out seven over seven innings.
Meanwhile, his counterpart, struggled from the outset, and unlike Lester, Guthrie was never able to find any rhythm after his rocky first. The Orioles' right hander allowed six earned runs on hits and three walks in dropping his sixth straight decisions. He's now 3-10 on the season and those 10 losses lead the American League and are tied for the Major League lead.
Even during his disastrous 10-17 2009 season, Guthrie didn't lose his 10th game until July 31, also against the Red Sox. That was his 21st start in 2009, while he reached the 10-loss plateau this year in his 17th outing.
Guthrie, like fellow rotation members Brian Matusz and Kevin Millwood, can't shoulder all the blame for their poor win-loss records as non-existent run support and atrocious defense behind them has factored prominently in their starts.
However, it would be both impossible and foolish to let Guthrie off the hook for his outing last night even though the Orioles again struggled offensively, and they failed to turn a key double play for their starter in the decisive first inning.
After Marco Scutaro's leadoff single, Eric Patterson hit what appeared to be a double-play ball to second baseman Julio Lugo, but the Orioles couldn't turn it against the speedy second baseman.
Guthrie then walked David Ortiz and gave up an RBI double to Kevin Youkilis. J.D. Drew followed with a two-run double as the right fielder continued to torment the Orioles, going 3-for-3 with a walk last night. Then after Guthrie caught an Adrian Beltre comebacker, Daniel Nava, who won Friday's series opener with a tie-breaking single in the eighth inning, lined a double over the head of right fielder Nick Markakis to give Boston a 4-0 lead.
It grew to 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth when Guthrie allowed a leadoff single to David Ortiz and then a two-run blast to Youkilis. His 16th homer would have left the stadium had it not hit the Sports Authority sign elevated over the Green Monster.
Then things just got embarrassing in the eighth inning as Frank Mata committed a throwing error and then failed to cover first base on another groundball, leading to three Red Sox runs in the frame.
It was with Ortiz at the plate in the eighth when Samuel was tossed by Everitt, who told the Orioles' manager to get back in the dugout as Samuel stood on the top step. That further enraged Samuel, who sprinted toward the home plate umpire to get his money's worth. Crew chief Tim McClelland ultimately stepped in between the two and Samuel eventually headed back to the dugout.
He missed one of the night's few highlights for the visiting team as Jake Fox hit his first homer as an Oriole, a two-run shot off Robert Manuel. It was initially ruled a double, but the play was reviewed and reversed.
jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com