John Stefero, 1987 Donruss #541

Tonight was pretty much a wash. I picked up my sister from work, we grabbed a bite to eat, and fought through the Beltway traffic to get downtown for the Orioles game. Some Oriole alumni were signing autographs on the concourse beforehand, but we didn't get through the gates until close to 6:30, and they'd already closed off the line. So I'll have to catch Joe Orsulak, Nate Snell, and John Stefero some other time.

We had great seats in the right field bleachers, and it was a fine evening, clear and not too chilly. Jeremy Guthrie turned in his usual quality start, allowing only two runs in seven innings and battling his way through a few jams. But, as per usual, Guts was deprived of run support. Twins starter Scott Baker continued his dominance over the O's with seven shutout innings, running his career record against the Birds to 6-0. Mike Gonzalez further endeared himself to Baltimore fans by serving up a solo home run to Michael Cuddyer in the eighth inning to make it 3-0. The bright spot came in the bottom of that inning, when Vladimir Guerrero scraped out an infield single to score Brian Roberts with the lone run for the home team. However, the Orioles went quietly in the ninth, with Matt Wieters' two-out single prolonging the hope before Robert Andino struck out to end the game. So the Birds settled for a split, and I'm even more anxious for a win when I return to Camden Yards next Tuesday for the series opener against the Red Sox.

At least I got to see Jim Thome's 591st career home run. If someone had to take Guthrie deep, I'm almost glad it was him.