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GAME LOG
BALTIMORE (AP) -- It was hardly a work of art, and it didn't
matter one bit to the Baltimore Orioles.
Delino DeShields scored the winning run in the bottom of the
ninth inning on an error by second baseman Mark McLemore, giving
Baltimore a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.
It was the second straight ninth-inning victory for the Orioles,
who hadn't won two in a row since April 28-29.
"I would have rather have gotten a hit, but we'll take it,"
Surhoff said. "When we look back at this at the end of the year,
it will be a win. It won't have an asterisk and it won't say an
error lost the game."
Baltimore had lost 15 of 17 before taking two straight from the
Mariners, assuring the Orioles their first series win since April.
Baltimore will vie for a three-game sweep Thursday night.
Edgar Martinez doubled, homered and drove in all e runs for the Mariners, who blew a 3-0 lead. Martinez has nine homers and 28 RBI in 20 games this month.
Cal Ripken, who won Tuesday's game with a ninth-inning homer,
drew a leadoff walk in the ninth from Kazuhiro Sasaki (1-3) and DeShields ran for him. Former-Oriole Arthur Rhodes then walked Will
Clark, sending DeShields to second.
After Charles Johnson struck out, B.J. Surhoff hit a grounder
that bounced under the glove of McLemore, and DeShields scored
without a throw.
"I took a chance on the double play and I missed the ball. I
was close enough to it as I needed to be," McLemore said. "B.J.'s
coming out of the box on the swing and he can run pretty good and
... I just blew it."
The Mariners, like the Orioles, have been plagued by close
losses this season. It was the ninth time Seattle has lost on the
opponent's final at-bat.
"You saw it. What do you want me to say?" Mariners manager Lou
Piniella said of the final play. "He tried to be too quick on it."
Buddy Groom (3-2) struck out the side in the ninth, only the
13th time in 41 games that the Baltimore bullpen has not
surrendered at least one run.
Seattle starter John Halama, seeking to go 6-0, allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings. He threw a season-high 97
pitches.
He was matched by Sidney Ponson, who allowed three runs and
seven hits in eight innings. Ponson is winless in six starts since
April 21, but his performance was instrumental to the victory.
"He did his job," Baltimore manager Mike Hargrove said. "He
stayed in control and was very aggressive. I thought he was
outstanding."
A single by McLemore and a double by Martinez put Seattle up 1-0
in the first inning.
In the fourth, John Olerud drew a leadoff walk and Martinez
followed with his 14th homer, a shot into the left-field seats.
That, however, was the extent of the Seattle offense.
Baltimore scored three runs in the bottom half, tying it on RBI
singles by Ripken and Johnson followed by Surhoff's run-scoring
grounder.
Stan Javier and Tom Lampkin hit singles to open Seattle's
seventh, but Ponson struck out David Bell and Rickey Henderson
before retiring McLemore on a popup.
Game notes
Ripken has 1,600 RBI. ... Seattle has outscored the
opposition 42-25 in the first inning, including 13-2 over the past
eight games. ... Surhoff went 0-for-4 and is 4-for-45 in his last
13 games. ... Martinez is 6-for-10 against Ponson. ... Mike
Bordick, who came in 6-for-7 against Halama, went 0-for-3 and hit
into two double plays against the left-hander.
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Baltimore Clubhouse
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Baltimore 4
Seattle 3
Boston 6
Toronto 3
Detroit 10
Cleveland 9
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Tampa Bay 2
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Texas 0
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