Matt Wieters showed the world that, yes, the hype is probably justified. Luke Scott continued to hammer the ball like a dialed-in slugger in a beer-league softball game. Jeremy Guthrie even tied a career high with 10 strikeouts, holding his own against one of the hottest and best pitchers in baseball.
But the Orioles' five-game winning streak still came to an end Saturday night at Camden Yards. Baltimore rallied from an early three-run deficit but couldn't quite overcome a career night by normally light-hitting Detroit outfielder Clete Thomas, falling, 6-3, to the Tigers in front of an announced 34,567.
Thomas - who came into the game batting .162 in his past 12 games - hit a pair of home runs and also doubled home a run in the eighth, and the Tigers' bullpen made the lead stick, cooling the Orioles' hot bats in key moments for the first time this series.
It was hard to find too much fault with the Birds' effort, though. This was a loss with an undercurrent of optimism, an emotion that has been in short supply for this franchise at times over the past decade. Baltimore fell behind 3-0 by the fourth inning but clawed back in it against Tigers ace Justin Verlander. Verlander came into the game with a 5-0 record and a 0.85 ERA in his past six starts, and looked as if he might cruise once again, giving up just two hits through the first four innings.
But Wieters, who went 0-for-4 in his major league debut Friday, started the rally and showed Baltimore the first sign of just how good he might turn out to be.
The rookie catcher led off the fifth inning with the Orioles trailing 3-0, but Verlander fell behind him 2-1 as Wieters patiently laid off a pair of breaking balls. When Verlander tried to sneak a letter-high fastball through the strike zone, Wieters hammered it to the deepest part of the ballpark, just missing a home run.
The ball bounced off the fence, just left of the 410-foot marker, and then rattled around in center field. Wieters motored into third with a stand-up triple, and the Camden Yards crowd roared in appreciation to celebrate his first major league hit.
"I don't think I ever would have envisioned a triple would be my first hit in a major league baseball game," Wieters said. "I felt like I hit it well. It wasn't like one of those where you just know. ... I was just happy to be on base at that point."
He scored his first career run minutes later when Nolan Reimold singled to left field, putting the Orioles on the scoreboard.
