Orioles hold on for elusive victory against Boston
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BOSTON (AP) — Rhyne Hughes singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning Sunday and Matt Wieters followed with a two-run single, helping the Baltimore Orioles snap a 10-game losing streak against the Boston Red Sox with a 7-6 victory that was their third win of the season.
Miguel Tejada added a two-run homer for Baltimore, which overcame a 4-1 deficit to avoid its fourth straight series sweep against the Red Sox.
Jim Johnson (1-1) allowed two runs in the bottom of the 10th, and had to leave with runners on first and second. Cla Meredith got the final two outs for his first save.
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Kevin Youkilis had a double and two singles for the Red Sox, who went 4-6 on their 10-game homestand.
The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs against Scott Atchison (0-1) before Hughes, who struck out with two runners on in a 7-6 loss Saturday in his first major league game, singled to right. Wieters then grounded one up the middle and through a drawn-in infield, just past shortstop Marco Scutaro's diving bid.
J.D. Drew doubled in a run and scored on Bill Hall's single, but Boston's rally ran out of gas. Darnell McDonald fouled out and Scutaro hit a liner to second baseman Ty Wigginton to end the game.
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Boston starter Tim Wakefield left with a runner on first and a 4-1 lead in the seventh, but Hideki Okajima gave up Nick Markakis' RBI double and Tejada's tying homer that caromed off the left-field foul pole.
With speculation that Wakefield will be taken out of the rotation when Daisuke Matsuzaka returns from the disabled list next weekend, the 43-year-old knuckleballer was charged with two runs and seven hits, and was saluted with a standing ovation when he left after 6 2-3 innings.
Manager Terry Francona hasn't identified which starter Matsuzaka will replace.
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Unlike Wakefield's last start when the Texas Rangers set a club record with nine steals, the Orioles had just one.
Boston chased David Hernandez during its four-run sixth. Youkilis — Hernandez's last batter — tied it at 1 with a single to center. After hitting a long foul high off the Green Monster, David Ortiz, who entered with a .156 average, hit a tiebreaking RBI single off Mark Hendrickson.
Drew added a sacrifice fly and pinch-hitter Mike Lowell hit an RBI double off Jason Berken to make it 4-1.
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Hernandez gave up three runs and four hits and five-plus innings.
The Orioles grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second on Craig Tatum's RBI single.
Boston third baseman Adrian Beltre had a very busy first inning. Nolan Reimold, the game's first batter, hit a grounder that bounced off his chest for what was initially called an error, but later changed to a hit. Beltre then booted a grounder from Adam Jones — the second batter — for an error before making a nice backhanded stab on Tejada's roller down the line, saving at least one run.
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Beltre also made a good play on Tejada's hard grounder in the fifth. Tejada raised both arms in disbelief as he ran down the line.
NOTES: Orioles RHP Koji Uehara, on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, is scheduled to make a rebhab start for Double-A Bowie on Tuesday. ... Youkilis, trotting down the first-base line with his head down, collided with 1B Hughes on a popup in the second. The ball fell, but Youkilis was ruled out by plate umpire Jeff Kellogg for interference. ... Matsuzaka, sidelined with a strained neck since spring training, is scheduled to throw a four-inning simulated game in Toronto on Monday, the last test before he's ready to return to the rotation.