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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Jeff Conine has obviously learned a lot from Jason Giambi.
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| Conine |
An inning after Giambi's three-run home run put Oakland ahead,
Conine hit a three-run shot of his own and the Baltimore Orioles
went on to beat the Oakland Athletics 8-4 Friday night to snap a
four-game losing streak.
"When you watch Jason Giambi, he's so patient, he's totally locked in there," Conine said. "You learn so much from watching him."
Mike Bordick singled and stole second and Jim Mecir (2-5) walked David Segui before Conine hit his sixth homer of the season.
Sidney Ponson (3-3) gave up four runs and five hits in six innings for the win. He struck out five and walked two.
Ponson is now 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA in five starts since coming
off the disabled list on May 9. The Orioles have won all of those
starts.
The A's took a 4-3 lead in the sixth. Johnny Damon singled and stole second for his 12th steal of the season. After Frank Menechino walked, Giambi knocked a full-count pitch from Ponson over the center-field fence.
"I tried to throw one pitch by him, and Giambi got his
fastball," Ponson said. "He's red-hot right now. But luckily,
Jeff and the bullpen came back and earned the win."
It was Giambi's 14th home run of the season and fourth homer in the past three games. He hit one Wednesday against Tampa Bay then added two more against the Devil Rays on Thursday.
"Right now I'm not missing a lot of mistakes," Giambi said.
A's starter Gil Heredia allowed three runs on six hits. He struck out four and walked three.
Heredia got into trouble early, loading the bases with no outs.
After Conine lined out to third, he walked Greg Myers to give the
Orioles a 1-0 lead.
"He did a great job of getting out of there with one run," A's
manager Art Howe said.
Brook Fordyce hit his second home run of the season in the
fourth inning. The shot into the seats beyond left-center field
also scored Delino DeShields.
Olmedo Saenz narrowed the gap for the A's with his solo homer in the fifth.
The Orioles added two runs in the eighth. Brady Anderson hit an
RBI double and scored on Bordick's single.
"We gave ourselves the opportunity to win tonight, but Jason took it away from us," Baltimore manager Mike Hargrove said. "Then Jeff came back and gave it back."
The Athletics had scored 25 runs and hit seven home runs in two wins over Tampa Bay going into the weekend series against the Orioles.
Despite going 18-9 in May, the third best record in the AL for the month, the A's fell 14 games behind of the Seattle Mariners, who went 20-7 in May. The Mariners won again Friday and lead the second-place A's by 15 games.
The Orioles were coming off a three-game sweep by the Mariners. Cal Ripken, who homered Thursday in Seattle, was not in Baltimore's lineup Friday night.
Game notes
The Orioles recalled LHP John Parrish from Triple-A
Rochester and optioned RHP Chad Paronto to Rochester. Parrish was
3-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 13 games for Rochester. Since moving to the
bullpen May 14, he has retired 31 of 33 batters, allowing only two
hits with 11 strikeouts over 10 1/3 innings. ... A's 3B Eric Chavez
was out of the lineup again Friday because of a strained left arch.
... The A's are 9-3 in games in which Miguel Tejada homers. When Tejada has homered over the past three seasons, the A's are 48-12.
... Ponson has the most wins among active major league pitchers
under 25-years old, with 32 victories. Seattle's Freddy Garcia
follows with 31.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Baltimore Clubhouse
Oakland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 7
NY Yankees 4
Boston 6
Toronto 4
Chi. White Sox 3
Detroit 0
Minnesota 10
Texas 7
Baltimore 8
Oakland 4
Anaheim 7
Kansas City 1
Seattle 8
Tampa Bay 4
NY Mets 11
Florida 5
Philadelphia 13
Montreal 2
Atlanta 5
Pittsburgh 1
Houston 10
Los Angeles 9
Chicago Cubs 4
Milwaukee 3
Cincinnati 5
St. Louis 1
San Francisco 11
Colorado 7
Arizona 4
San Diego 2
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