|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Baltimore's biggest inning of the
year carried the Orioles to another victory over the Tampa Bay
Devil Rays.
|  | | Sidney Ponson came off the DL on Wednesday, and helped the Orioles end their six-game slide. |
Cal Ripken keyed a six-run seventh inning with a two-run single,
and the Orioles, hitting .226, held on Wednesday night to win 8-6
and end a six-game losing streak.
"Any time we score six runs in a game, it's pretty good for
us," manager Mike Hargrove said of the most productive inning the
Orioles have had all season. "It was all done with two outs, which
is unusual in itself for anybody."
This is the fourth series between the teams, who play 13 times
in the first 35 games. Half of Baltimore's 14 victories have come
against the Devil Rays and half of Tampa Bay's 10 wins are against
the Orioles.
Delino DeShields drove in the first two runs of the seventh
against Ryan Rupe (2-4), who entered the game with a 4-2 lead.
Ripken's hit put the Orioles ahead 6-4, and Melvin Mora, who
began the inning with a bunt single, followed with a two-run double
to give Baltimore a four-run lead.
Reliever Josh Towers (1-0) replaced starter Sidney Ponson and
allowed two runs and four hits in three innings to get his first
major league victory. Ponson came off the disabled list earlier in
the day after missing three weeks because of inflammation in his
right elbow.
"Josh has got a lot of promise, and eventually he's going to
get his shot at pitching a lot of ball games in the big leagues,"
Hargrove said. "Hopefully, they'll all turn out like this one
did."
Towers settled down after giving up RBI singles to Russ Johnson
and Ben Grieve, giving Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead after five innings.
"Just pitching in the big leagues is what I imagined growing up
... To have my first major league win is also nice, but I feel that
I'm going to have many of them, so it's not a real big smile on my
face," Towers said.
"What I'm more excited about really is snapping a six-game
losing streak and finally getting a win."
Rupe made his first career relief appearance against Cleveland
on Sunday, allowing six runs and seven hits in one inning. He gave
up six runs in just two-thirds of an inning this time.
"We let one get away," Devil Rays manager Hal McRae said. "We
were in good shape going into the seventh. We just didn't pitch
well enough to get the job done."
Fred McGriff's two-run homer off Buddy Groom cut Baltimore's
lead to 8-6 in the eighth. Mike Trombley replaced Groom and got the
last five outs for his second save.
Greg Vaughn hit a two-run homer off Ponson for Tampa Bay, which
twice blew two-run leads after Devil Rays starter Albie Lopez
limped off the mound with strained right groin after pitching 3 1-3
perfect innings.
Lopez, who beat the Orioles with a three-hit shutout on April 13
at Camden Yards, retired all 10 batters he faced before leaving
with a 1-1 count on Mike Bordick.
The right-hander consulted with a trainer and pitching coach
Bill Fischer before throwing a warmup pitch and determining he
could not continue.
"It's tough to let one get away, but we can't use the fact that
we lost Lopez early as an excuse," McRae said. "We had the lead
going into the seventh inning. Everything fell right into place
(for the bullpen) and we didn't get it done."
Mike Judd replaced Lopez and allowed Baltimore's first hit when
Chris Richard singled to lead off the fifth.
Mora and Brook Fordyce drew two-out walks to load the bases, and
Jerry Hairston singled to drive in the runs that erased the 2-0
lead Tampa Bay took on Vaughn's homer.
Ponson, pitching for the first time since losing to the Devil
Rays on April 15, allowed two runs and three hits in four innings.
Game notes
Lopez's injury is not considered serious. He is listed as
day to day. ... The Orioles' losing streak was their longest since
June 17-25 of last season, when they dropped nine in a row. ...
After making a major league-leading 32 errors in April, the Devil
Rays have made only one in seven games this month. ... DeShields is
just 3-for-31 since hitting safely in all nine games of Baltimore's
last road trip.
 Send this story to a friend
| |
RECAPS
Seattle 10
Boston 5
Cleveland 5
Kansas City 1
Detroit 3
Texas 2
NY Yankees 2
Minnesota 0
Oakland 8
Toronto 5
Baltimore 8
Tampa Bay 6
Chi. White Sox 6
Anaheim 5
Houston 7
Philadelphia 6
Chicago Cubs 6
Milwaukee 3
St. Louis 6
Pittsburgh 2
Colorado 6
NY Mets 0
Arizona 5
Cincinnati 2
Atlanta 3
San Diego 0
Los Angeles 3
Florida 2
Montreal 8
San Francisco 0
|
