• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Markakis, Guthrie help Orioles avoid third straight loss

May 3, 2008 - 6:28 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Nick Markakis homered and drove in a pair of runs and Jeremy Guthrie tossed seven stellar innings as the Baltimore Orioles held on for a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Friday.

Melvin Mora also had two RBI for the Orioles, who avoided their third consecutive defeat in the opener of a three-game series that started the club's 10-game road trip.

"I think it's great for our club to start the road trip. Fundamentals, pitching and defense pay off, and doing the little things is what it's all about," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "We come to a place like this and the game speeds up. We just got to have confidence in your ability and go after them."

Torii Hunter and Casey Kotchman both had RBI singles for the Angels, who managed just four hits before the ninth inning.

Anaheim nearly rallied for the win in the ninth, scoring a run and putting runners on second and third with none out. But George Sherrill managed to get out of the jam and register his 11th save of the season after sandwiching a pair of popouts around an intentional walk.

"It was exciting. I fell behind and gave up some hits, had to buckle down and make some pitches," Sherill said. "Playing with Seattle, we came here a lot and it's a really tough place to get a win, and it was a real big win for us."

Markakis gave Baltimore an early 1-0 advantage when he blasted a shot over the center field wall off Anaheim starter Jered Weaver (2-4) in the first inning.

Markakis, who also doubled, plated Jay Payton with a groundout in the third to snap a 1-1 tie, and Mora followed with an RBI bunt single to give the Orioles a two-run lead.

"(Markakis) is a great hitter," Payton said. "We mixed it up today and it worked out for us. We haven't been swinging the bats great as a team, and we were able to push enough runs across."

Mora added another RBI single in the fifth to extend Baltimore's lead to 4-1.

Guthrie (1-3) yielded two runs and three hits with two walks and six strikeouts en route to his first win of the season.

"We played a great all-around game," Guthrie said. "We hit the ball when we needed to, played good defense and the whole staff made great pitches. I still made some mistakes, and fortunately, they didn't leave the yard."

Two relievers bridged the gap to Sherrill, who allowed the first three batters he faced to reach before inducing a pair of infield popouts to end the contest.

Weaver lasted seven innings, allowing four runs and six hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

"Some bad luck, things didn't go my way," Weaver said. "I threw some good pitches and they went down and hit them. It's frustrating. I threw the ball well, kept their guys off-balance and kept the damage to a minimum. Just got to go back out there and do the same thing next time."