| Tom Morris. 19th August, 2005 - 1:47 am
 A Baltimore Orioles clubhouse, which for weeks had been trying its hardest to keep its heads from hanging down, had nowhere to look but up yesterday after completing the unlikeliest sweep of AL wild-card leader Oakland.
Luis Matos homered and had three hits, and spot-starter Eric Dubose took a no-hitter into the fifth inning for the visibly electric Orioles, who jumped to the early lead and held on for the 5 - 3 victory, their third straight and seventh of their last nine games. The loss was the fourth straight for the Athletics, who remained 2 games back of the Angels for the AL West division lead.
It was only the second Oriole appearance this season for 29 year-old Dubose (1 - 0), who was pencilled in for the start at the last minute when Daniel Cabrera became handicapped by serious back pains. He took advantage of his opportunity by shutting out the staggering A's on 6 IP, allowing just one hit and four walks, and leaving the game with a 5 - 0 lead. Sam Perlozzo joked that he may keep DuBose in the dark next time he needs to call on him, while the left-hander, who had compiled an 8 - 10 record this year playng for AA Bowie, said:
"I think that did work to an advantage today. I didn't have a chance to think about the start."
Neither did the A's, who quickly scrambled to put out a right-handed heavy line-up, yet still could not manage to find an offensive angle until the seventh inning, when they scored three runs. Jay Payton welcomed reliever Jason Grimsley with a two-run home run and later in the inning, lefty Steve Kline allowed one more to score on a Mark Kotsay groundout. Oakland's four-game losing streak is their longest since an eight-game slide May 21 - 29.
Kline went on to pitch a scoreless eighth before Todd Williams gave BJ Ryan a rest by retiring the side in the ninth, notching his first career save.
The Orioles started the scoring in the second inning, which they began by racking up four straight basehits against Dan Haren (10 - 9). Two of them came around to score, from a Jay Gibbons RBI single and a double-play ball off the bat of David Newhan. Haren kept the O's off the board after that, until the fifth frame, when Sal Fasano drove in Newhan and Matos with a double to left field.
By that point Haren was done, having pitched five innings while giving up 4 ER on eight hits. Haren lost his second straight start after a career-best nine-game winning streak:
"It's tough to keep up what we have done the last two months," he said following the game.
Former Athletic, and local favorite, Eric Byrnes flew very much below the radar over the series, going 0 -for- 13. The left-fielder is 1 -for- 24 with 1RBI over his last seven games. And Rafael Palmeiro was scratched from the line-up after hurting his ankle while running out an infield single in Tuesday's victory. He said he will be ready to play at first base Friday against the Indians.
This was the second time in a week a minor-league call-up has filled in at the last second with outstanding results. John Maine went five shutouts innings on Saturday en route to a rare Baltimore shutout against the Toronto Blue Jays. These kinds of performances will go a long way toward stalling the eventual return of injured --and inconsistent-- starter Sidney Ponson.
But questions remain about Cabrera, who felt strong back spasms five minutes into his pre-game warmup, and who later needed help from Erik Bedard putting his sandals because he could not bend down to the ground. Perlozzo has tentatively kept Cabrera scheduled for his next start, Tuesday at home against the Los Angeles Angels, but that is not certain.
For now, Baltimore is, as Perlozzo puts it, "sky high" as they head to Cleveland for a three-game set. They are 9 - 4 under their new manager, cut the wild-card lead to seven games, and are at .500 for the first time since July 29. Todd Williamson's emphatic fist-pumping at the close of the game was not only the reaction of a career minor-league closer getting his first major-league save; it was the symbolic expression of a team that still needs a few major miracles to make the playoffs, but is right now playing good, exciting baseball at exactly the right time of year. Let's see how long this run lasts |
