Orioles Avoid Being Swept!!

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Nice one! :thumbsup:

Sounds like Jay Gibbons is back with a vengeance!!! :cheer:

Orioles 8, White Sox 7
O's rally in ninth to avoid sweep
Javy Lopez's bases-loaded single caps two-run comeback
By David Ginsburg
The Associated Press
Originally published July 30, 2006, 6:39 PM EDT

The Baltimore Orioles were on the brink of losing yet another close game to the Chicago White Sox when the unimaginable happened: Down by a run in the ninth inning, they rallied to beat All-Star closer Bobby Jenks.

Javy Lopez's bases-loaded single capped a two-run ninth, and the Orioles averted a three-game sweep with an 8-7 victory Sunday.

Baltimore lost the opener Friday night on a ninth-inning grand slam by Ross Gload, then dropped a 13-11 decision on Saturday. The Orioles put themselves in position for another defeat Sunday when Todd Williams yielded a three-run homer to Jermaine Dye in the eighth, but this time Baltimore turned it around.

"A game like that keeps everybody happy. We get our groove back where we were," Lopez said. "And of course, they're battling for the wild card, so a game like this can hurt them."

Before Sunday, Baltimore was 2-51 when trailing in the ninth inning. Chicago was 51-1 when taking a lead into the ninth.

Bidding for his third save in the series, Jenks got the first out in the ninth before hitting Miguel Tejada with a pitch. Jay Gibbons followed with a single for his fourth hit, tying a career high, to move Tejada to third.

Jeff Conine then singled to score Tejada and send pinch-runner Fernando Tatis to third. After an intentional walk to Corey Patterson, Lopez grounded a single up the middle past the drawn-up infield.

Jenks (2-3) had converted 19 straight save opportunities and was an AL-best 28-for-29 (96.6 percent) this season.

"He's been so great for us all year. When he blows one, it's a major thing," White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.

Playing in his second game since returning from a lengthy stay on the disabled list, Gibbons went 4-for-4 with a homer and a walk. Tejada, the subject of trade speculation as Monday's deadline draws near, drove in two runs.

"I'm fine here," Tejada said afterward. "I can say I want to leave, but that's not what I got on my mind. I always say I want to stay here. I like it here."

Eddy Rodriguez (1-1), called up from Triple-A Ottawa before the game, worked the ninth for the win.

Dye had five RBIs, a two-run single in the sixth and the homer that gave Chicago a short-lived 7-6 lead. Paul Konerko also homered, and Pierzynski had three hits.

With Baltimore up 6-4 in the eighth, Orioles reliever Tim Byrdak got two outs, then gave up a single to Pierzynski. Williams came in and walked Konerko after getting ahead in the count 1-2, and Dye followed with his 28th homer.

But the lead wouldn't last.

"Obviously, our bullpen struggled today," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said after the White Sox blew leads of 1-0, 4-2 and 7-6.

With the score 2-all in the sixth, Tadahito Iguchi and Pierzynski hit successive one-out singles off Bruce Chen, subbing for injured starter Kris Benson. Konerko advanced the runners with a deep fly to center against Chris Britton before Dye grounded a single up the middle.

The Orioles took a 5-4 lead against Javier Vazquez in the bottom half. After Gibbons hit a leadoff homer--his 11th of the season and first since May 16--Vazquez hit Patterson with a pitch and gave up a single to Lopez. Nick Markakis then hit Neal Cotts' first pitch for an RBI single, and Brandon Fahey doubled in the go-ahead run.

A sacrifice fly by Conine made it 6-4 in the seventh. For the third time in three games, the Orioles let a lead get away. This time, however, they came back.

"It was a good day, even better how we finished," Gibbons said. "It was looking bleak there with Jenks coming in."

Chicago opened the game with three straight singles, the last one by Pierzynski to drive in a run.

After Tejada hit RBI grounders in the first and third to give Baltimore a 2-1 lead, Konerko tied it in the fourth with his 26th homer on a 3-2 pitch. It was the team-high 23rd home run allowed by Chen in 76 innings.

Notes: Pierzynski went 10-for-13 in the series to raise his batting average 18 points to .319. ... Markakis was 7-for-12 in the three games. ... Before the game, Baltimore activated Byrdak from the 60-day disabled list, optioned RHP James Johnson to Double-A Bowie, recalled Rodriguez and placed LaTroy Hawkins on the bereavement list.



Copyright © 2006, The Associated Press

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Here's more about the win! And it also sounds like Bruce Chen really came through, after having been in the bullpen for a bit! :thumbsup:

And Javy came through, too! :cheer:

Lopez caps rally in 9th as O's edge White Sox
By Childs Walker
Sun reporter
Originally published July 31, 2006

The story seemed to be unfolding exactly as it had the previous two days. Again, the Orioles had played well against the Chicago White Sox and again, a White Sox slugger - Jermaine Dye this time - had put them behind with a mammoth home run.

But yesterday, the Orioles came up with a twist.

Facing hard-throwing closer Bobby Jenks, who had saved 19 straight games, the Orioles scored two runs in the ninth inning to snatch an 8-7 win before 28,725 at Camden Yards.

Jeff Conine and Javy Lopez , forgotten men at times this season, had the game-tying and winning singles. Jay Gibbons homered and reached base five times in his second game back after missing six weeks to a knee injury.

"It was looking bleak there with Jenks coming in," said Gibbons, who contributed a bloop single to the ninth-inning rally. "I faced him last night, and he's pretty filthy. It's better to be lucky than good, and that last inning there, we got a couple of breaks."

Lopez came up with the bases loaded and shot a single through the drawn-in infield.

"This is the opportunity I've been waiting for for a while," Lopez said. "I haven't done much to help the team win. Starting today, hopefully I can start a new groove. Hopefully, that will be the start of everything."

The win saved the Orioles (48-58) from a painful sweep. They had lost Friday when Chris Ray allowed a grand slam in the ninth and had been outscored, 13-11, on Saturday despite 19 hits.

"That ballclub out there today for us was just amazing," manager Sam Perlozzo said. "They played the entire series with a vengeance."

The Orioles also got a solid outing from Bruce Chen , who hadn't started since he was pulled from the rotation due to ineffectiveness at the end of May.

"Bruce pitched great today," Gibbons said. "He kept us in the ballgame, and gave us strong innings, which we needed."

Perlozzo said before the game that he'd be happy with five solid innings from Chen, who hadn't started since May 31.

Chen gave him those solid five and opened the sixth with a strikeout. But Perlozzo pulled him after he gave up two straight singles. Reliever Chris Britton got Paul Konerko to fly out but allowed a single up the middle by Dye that scored Chen's two runners.

With four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, Chen was left with a pitching line that did not reflect the quality of his outing.

"They needed me," he said. "If I would've gone two innings, I would've felt very bad. But I went out there and felt very comfortable with all my pitches. I felt like I was throwing all my pitches for strikes. It was very positive for me."

Perlozzo didn't guarantee Chen another start but praised him. "Bruce was key," he said. "He pitched like he did last year."

Chen allowed three straight singles to open the game. The last by A.J. Pierzynski scored leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik.

The Orioles tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Brandon Fahey raced home on a groundout by Miguel Tejada . The shortstop put the Orioles ahead 2-1 with another RBI groundout in the third against Javier Vazquez, who started for the White Sox (61-42).

In the fourth, Konerko fouled off Chen's fastballs until he got one that was to his liking and deposited it in the right-field bleachers to tie the game 2-2.

The White Sox pulled ahead 4-2 with their two-run sixth but Gibbons answered with his first home run since May 16, a towering drive that stayed just inside the right-field foul pole.

"What a difference in the lineup when Jay's in there," Perlozzo said. "He gives us the balance. He gives us power. For him to come back after three or four rehab starts and play the way he has, we all know we missed him for a couple of months."

With one out, Vazquez hit Corey Patterson and allowed a single to Lopez. Nick Markakis tied the game at 4-4 with a single up the middle off left-handed reliever Neal Cotts. Fahey gave the Orioles a 5-4 lead when he doubled down the left-field line to score Lopez.

The Orioles added a run in the seventh when Tejada scored on a sacrifice fly by Conine.

Dye's three-run homer over the center-field fence off reliever Todd Williams put the White Sox ahead 7-6 in the eighth. Eddy Rodriguez (1-1) got the win for the Orioles with a scoreless ninth.


Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun