JOSH WEIR
CLEVELAND — The Jeremy Guthrie the Indians envisioned when they drafted him 22nd overall in 2002 showed up Wednesday at Progressive Field.
It should be noted he was wearing a Baltimore Orioles uniform.
Guthrie pitched seven strong innings to lead the Orioles to a 6-1 win, denying Cleveland its season-best sixth straight victory.
Cleveland manager Eric Wedge explained that the Indians simply ran out of time on Guthrie two years ago. Out of options for him after the 2006 season, the Indians were unable to clear him through waivers and get him to the minor leagues. The Orioles claimed him in January of 2007.
Now the 29-year-old’s time appears to have arrived.
He allowed just one earned run for the fourth consecutive start, improving his record to 10-8 and lowering his ERA to a sparkling 3.18. The Stanford grad has won seven of his last eight decisions.
The Indians could only muster four hits against Guthrie, who walked one and struck out four. The Tribe’s Ryan Garko caught Guthrie during their days as Cardinal teammates and periodically through the minors.
“It’s the same Jeremy I’ve seen my whole life,” said Garko, who was hitless in three at-bats vs. him. “We had some chances. He just made some tough pitches.”
Guthrie’s talent never was questioned. His ability to harness his skill was always the problem.
“He’s definitely commanding the ball better,” Wedge said, compared to his Indian days. “He’s keeping the ball down, repeating his delivery, throwing harder. More action on the baseball, more life in the zone. He looks good out there. He has some presence to him.
“The stuff was there obviously, but the way he threw the baseball where he wanted to throw it, made the baseball do what he wanted it to do, that was pretty impressive.”
Guthrie, who was rocked in two relief appearances early last season in his first return to Cleveland, didn’t take any special satisfaction in hand-cuffing his old team.
“It always feels good to get a win,” Guthrie said.
Cleveland starter Anthony Reyes (1-1) wasn’t as sharp as his Indians’ debut in Toronto on Friday, but his performance Wednesday was enough for a win on most nights. Reyes went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits.
“He’s had two very good outings,” Wedge said. “He was throwing a little harder tonight, so that was good to see.”
Baltimore got both runs off Reyes in the second inning. Aubrey Huff led off with a homer that Grady Sizemore and right fielder Franklin Gutierrez both made an attempt at. Kevin Millar singled and later scored on a Jay Payton groundout to make it 2-0.
Guthrie didn’t allow a runner to third base through the first four innings. In the fifth, Sizemore slammed a two-out RBI double off the wall in left, scoring Andy Marte, who had doubled earlier.
With first base open, the Orioles were pitching around Sizemore. But Sizemore went up and out of the strike zone to get Guthrie’s offering.
Down 2-1, the Tribe put the tying run in scoring position with two outs in the eighth, but Kelly Shoppach struck out. When Shoppach was thrown out at first after the third strike got away from catcher Ramon Hernandez, Shoppach slammed his helmet in frustration. He has one hit in his last 19 at-bats.
The O’s scored four runs with two outs off Brendan Donnelly in the ninth to put the game away.
