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GAME LOG
BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles struggled for a third
straight game against a Kansas City starting pitcher, scoring only
one run in seven innings against Jeff Suppan.
Then the bullpen door opened, and the Orioles' dormant offense
suddenly came to life.
Jeff Conine doubled in the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning
to support a fine pitching performance by Sidney Ponson, and
Baltimore ended the Royals' four-game winning streak with a 2-1
victory Sunday.
The Orioles scored only two runs in 25 innings against Kansas
City starters when Suppan left the game after the seventh. Royals
manager Tony Muser turned the game over to Kris Wilson, who hadn't
allowed a run in six relief outings since being called up from
Triple-A Wichita on July 28.
Four batters later, the streak was over.
Melvin Mora, who scored both Baltimore runs, led off the eighth
with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt by Delino DeShields and an
intentional walk to Albert Belle, Conine hit a drive to center that
bounced over the wall.
"When they're intentionally walking the guy in front of you,
you want to come up big. I got a good piece of wood on it," Conine
said.
"We're not necessarily staying away from Belle. We're just
trying to get the double play," Muser said.
In his last appearance against the Orioles, Wilson (0-1) allowed
three hits in 5 2/3 innings. On this occasion, the leadoff walk to
Mora put the reliever in an immediate hole.
"That's the last thing I want to do, especially coming in the
bottom of the eighth on the road in a 1-1 game," Wilson said. "If
he gets a hit he gets a hit. But it's almost automatically a guy in
scoring position if you walk him."
Muser lauded Suppan's effort, but said the right-hander had
nothing left after his 107-pitch stint.
"At that point, we felt he'd expended himself and given
everything he had," Muser said.
Ponson (7-8), who missed his last turn in the rotation with
tendinitis in his right shoulder, yielded six hits and two walks in
eight innings to earn his second victory in seven starts. He struck out
three.
"He was absolutely golden," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove
said.
Rookie Ryan Kohlmeier worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save
in four chances, capping the Orioles' second win in nine games
against Kansas City this season.
Jermaine Dye put the Royals up 1-0 in the fourth with his 30th
homer and second in two games. It was the 24th home run allowed by
Ponson in 25 starts.
"The home run was a changeup in the zone. I hung it and he got
to it," Ponson said.
Baltimore sandwiched two hit batters around a single to load the
bases with two outs in the bottom half before Greg Myers was
retired on a fly ball.
The Orioles missed another opportunity in the fifth when Mark
Lewis was cut down at third trying to take two bases on Luis Matos'
single with no outs.
Johnny Damon extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a
leadoff single in the sixth, then recorded his career-high 37th
steal. He got to third with one out but was stranded.
Baltimore finally broke through in its half, ending a string of
20 straight scoreless innings when Mora stretched a liner to center
into a double and scored on a single by DeShields.
Damon hit into a fielder's choice with two outs and the bases
loaded in the seventh. Chris Richard got picked off third base in
the Orioles' half to kill a potential scoring chance.
"We made it tough on ourselves, with Lewis not going from first
to third on a hit-and-run and us not executing the squeeze in the
seventh," Hargrove said.
Game notes
The Orioles have committed at least one error in each of
their last 13 games. ... Dye recorded his ninth assist, high among
Kansas City outfielders, by throwing out Lewis in the fifth. ...
Damon's 37 steals lead the AL. ... Belle went 0-for-3 with two
strikeouts and is 2-for-19 over his last five games.
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