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CLEVELAND // This time, it took only four pitches for the Orioles' suddenly vulnerable bullpen to turn a lead into a sizable deficit and for an important slump-breaking win to turn into another gut-wrenching loss.
Brought in to preserve a one-run sixth-inning lead that starter Steve Trachsel had worked so hard to preserve, Jeremy Guthrie gave it up in no time, allowing a go-ahead, two-run single to Josh Barfield and a three-run, inside-the-park homer to Grady Sizemore that cost the Orioles the game.
Advertisement The Cleveland Indians' five-run sixth inning was followed by more missed opportunities that sent the Orioles to a 5-4 defeat before 20,484 at Jacobs Field, their fifth straight loss and the home team's sixth straight victory.
"They scored five runs in four pitches," a stunned Guthrie said. "I never got settled in. Boom, there it was, and it was over."
This is the Orioles' first five-game losing streak since Aug. 9-15 last year, and the defeat dropped them back under the .500 mark at 11-12. The loss, the third straight in which the bullpen inherited a lead or a tie and turned it into a deficit, left Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo as annoyed as he has been all season.
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