Wow, that was close. Alex Rodriguez grounded out to second with the tying run on third as the Orioles held on for a 5-4 win over the Yankees. The narrow victory gives the Orioles two wins in a row -- and doubles their win total to four. The O's are now 4-16 but have played a little better the last few games.
The O's pounded out seven hits and walked six times. They even managed to get a few hits with runners in scoring position late in the game.
Cesar Izturis of all people led the O's with two hits, a walk, and three runs batted in. Rhyne Hughes (making his third straight start at first) and Nolan Reimold each had a hit and an RBI, and Luke Scott had a hit, walked twice, and scored two runs. Matt Wieters also walked twice, and Adam Jones doubled.
The Yankees made Kevin Millwood throw a lot of pitches, but he still had a decent performance: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 3 BB, 1 HR, 112 PC. Going into the ninth, the O's bullpen had done a solid job -- Alberto Castillo and Jim Johnson combined for 2.2 scoreless innings. Then Alfredo Simon, just promoted from Norfolk today, came in for the save and nearly allowed the Yankees to tie the game. Simon allowed two hits and walked a batter, but both of the runs he gave up were unearned because of an error by Izturis on a ground ball by Brett Gardner. Izturis tried to hurry to get the speedy Gardner, but the ball took a tough bounce and skipped right over his glove.
Still, Simon was able to retire Rodriguez and the O's held on for a nice win.
By the way, it looks like the Orioles have found a role for Julio Lugo: pinch-runner. He had a stolen base and scored in the eighth -- a run that ended up being rather important.
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