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BALTIMORE(AP) The
Baltimore Orioles
had been waiting a long time.
For the past two weeks, the Orioles' offense had been dormant. Losers of 10 of their previous 12 games, Baltimore broke out
with a six-run rally in a messy seventh inning that led to an 8-4 win over the
Atlanta Braves
on Saturday night.
The Orioles scored their most runs in the past 16 games.
''We needed a big inning at some point. We needed a big game,''
Brian Roberts
said. ''It didn't necessarily have to come in one inning.''
Roberts tied a season-high with four hits.
Adam Jones
,
Melvin Mora
,
Aubrey Huff
and
Nick Markakis
had been slumping, and they all contributed.
''It's tough when you get four or five guys at the same time,'' Roberts said. ''Then, this will get us going for a month or
two.''
''I'm not going to say that every ball we've hit for the past three weeks has been hard hit - right at somebody, but we've
had good at-bats,'' Roberts said. ''I truly believe we've swung the bats better than we've looked like.''
A wild pitch, an error and two walks helped the Orioles' comeback.
Baltimore trailed 4-2 entering the seventh, but Eric O'Flaherty (1-1) allowed the four batters he faced to get on base.
Markakis drew a leadoff walk, and singles by Huff and Mora produced a run. It was Mora's first RBI in 25 games, breaking the
longest dry spell of his career.
Luke Scott
hit a tying single, but Mora was thrown out at third on the play.
Peter Moylan
relieved and gave up a single to
Nolan Reimold
and walked
Matt Wieters
. The fourth ball to Wieters was a wild pitch that scored Scott to give Baltimore a 5-4 lead.
Robert Andino
reached on an error by Moylan to load the bases, and Roberts hit a two-run double. Jones capped the burst with a sacrifice
fly.
''I eventually gave up enough runs to lose the game. There's no worse feeling,'' Moylan said.
Orioles manager Dave Trembley said that he told hitting coach
Terry Crowley
before the inning that he thought the team would score five runs in the seventh.
''This is a start,'' Trembley said. ''We were a lot more patient.''
Jones gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead with his 13th home run of the year in the first inning.
Brian Bass
(4-1) was the winner. He allowed two hits in three innings in relief of starter
Rich Hill
, who gave up four runs in the fourth.
Danys Baez
pitched a scoreless eighth and
George Sherrill
worked the ninth.
Hill, who has battled wildness the past two seasons, let five straight Braves reach base in the fourth. He walked two batters
and gave up a single that loaded the bases with one out.
Matt Diaz
hit an RBI single and
Jeff Francoeur
had a ground-rule double that scored two runs.
Kelly Johnson
's sacrifice fly made it 4-2.
Braves starter
Kenshin Kawakami
worked five innings, giving up two runs and seven hits.
NOTES: Jones' home run was the first by an Oriole other than Scott or Reimold since May 27. ... Atlanta 3B
Chipper Jones
was 0 for 5. He's hitless in his past 18 at-bats. ... RF Francoeur's nabbing of Mora was his sixth outfield assist. ... Markakis
recorded his second assist in two games. He leads American League outfielders with seven.
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