Game Recap: Orioles 4 - Rays 1; One down, 81 to go

One down, 81 to go. The Orioles' pursuit of their first winning season since 1997 began with a 4-1 Opening Day victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field behind a strong pitching performance by Jeremy Guthrie (8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 6 SO, 1 BB). David Price (7 IP, 5H, 4 ER, 7 SO, 1 BB) took the loss for the Rays. Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts led the way for the O's with two RBI a piece.

Box score

Hometown Take: Guthrie pitches gem as Orioles open 2011 season with 4-1 win over Rays (The Sun)

At long last, the 2011 Orioles debuted their beefed-up lineup against one of baseball's best. But David Price wasn't the best pitcher as the Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays opened their 2011 seasons at Tropicana Field, nor was the Orioles' offense the biggest story.

Jeremy Guthrie was both by a wide margin as he took command of Game 1 and relinquished it only after his team had a reasonably comfortable lead. Guthrie threw eight scoreless innings, and Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts each drove in two runs as the Orioles exacted revenge for last year's brutal season-opening loss here to beat the Rays, 4-1, before an announced sellout crowd of 34,078.

The View from St. Pete: Roberts, Markakis lead Orioles past Rays (AP Story on TampaBay.com)

Taking up where they left off during a nice two-month stretch to end last season under manager Buck Showalter, the Orioles ruined a festive evening in which the defending AL East champions hoisted their latest division title banner at Tropicana Field.

And, they did it with Guthrie outdoing last year's AL Cy Young Award runner-up.

"It's one day, but I sure like being on this end of it," Showalter said. "It's a tough place to play on opening day."

Star of the Game: The lady in the silver sequined shirt behind home plate at the Trop. What a treat for MASN viewers.

Other A.L. East Scores:
Rangers 9 - Red Sox 5
Blue Jays 13 - Twins 3

How They Stack Up: The Orioles' most recent winning season came in 1997 when the team went wire-to-wire and finished 98-64. Throughout the season, Roar from 34 will check the Birds' current results against those past results.

1997 Opener
April 2, 1997 at Camden Yards
Orioles 4 - Royals 2

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