Orioles Win for 11th Time in 12 Games

The bloopers are dropping between outfielders, the bunts are rolling foul at just the right time and the ball is finding its way over the fence with alarming regularity.

Suddenly, everything seems to be falling into place for the resurgent Baltimore Orioles.

Albert Belle hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning Tuesday night at Baltimore and the Orioles used a little bit of luck for their 11th victory in 12 games, 5-3 over the Boston Red Sox.

Baltimore trailed, 3-1, before rallying in a four-run eighth that showed just how dramatically things have turned around for the Orioles over the past two weeks.

After Charles Johnson singled and took second on a single by Brady Anderson, Mike Bordick twice fouled off a planned sacrifice bunt. With two strikes, Bordick grounded a single to left off Mark Guthrie (0-1) to load the bases for B.J. Surhoff, who hit a sacrifice fly.

Belle then drove a 1-2 pitch from John Wasdin into the left-field seats, his 14th homer of the season and the Orioles’ 12th in five games.

“I think our talent is finally coming through,” Oriole first baseman Will Clark said. “Not only that, but also there’s a lot of luck involved. What wasn’t going right for us early is now going right. We couldn’t get a bloop hit earlier in the year, now we’re getting things like Mike hitting a key single after failing to lay down a bunt.”

Surhoff went 0 for 3, ending a career-high hitting streak at 21 games, but the Orioles won their fourth in a row and moved within five games of .500 (32-37) for the first time since April 17.

Before the game, Belle had a new sign next to his locker, right under the one requesting that reporters refer all questions to his Web site. The new sign asked for signatures from players wishing to boycott an Aug. 28 exhibition game at triple-A Rochester.

The sign had one name: Belle’s. And it was gone before the end of batting practice.

The Red Sox got some bad news before the game, learning that reliever Tom Gordon has been told by doctors to rest his ailing right elbow for at least five weeks. Gordon was placed on the disabled list June 14 because of an elbow strain.

The Red Sox plan to activate Bret Saberhagen from the disabled list today and start him against the Orioles. Saberhagen was placed on the disabled list on June 12, retroactive to June 8, after cutting his left foot during a pool party.

New York 7, Tampa Bay 0--Bernie Williams went four for five at St. Petersburg, Fla., and Orlando Hernandez pitched a three-hitter for the Yankees’ first complete game of the season.

Shane Spencer hit a solo homer off Alan Newman, and Hernandez (8-6) helped the Yankees improve to 12-1 against Tampa Bay in the last two seasons.

Bobby Witt (3-4), who hasn’t won in nine starts since May 1, allowed four runs, five hits and walked three in 1 1/3 innings.

Toronto 4, Cleveland 3--Shawn Green hit a two-run homer and Kelvim Escobar (7-4) allowed two runs in seven innings at Toronto as the Indians lost for only the third time in 13 games.

Tony Fernandez went 0 for 2 with two walks for the Blue Jays, dropping his major league-leading average to .411. Fernandez’s 11-game hitting streak was stopped by Dwight Gooden (2-3) and two relievers.

Cleveland, averaging a major league-best 6.8 runs, scored fewer than four runs for the first time in 13 games since June 8.

“To be honest I was sitting back and waiting for them to explode,” Toronto catcher Darrin Fletcher said.

Chicago 6, Minnesota 1--Jim Parque (8-5) allowed six hits in eight scoreless innings at Chicago and Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko homered as the White Sox stopped a three-game losing streak.

Thomas, who was two for 22 in five games coming in, connected on an 0-and-2 pitch in the first for his eighth homer.

LaTroy Hawkins (3-8) allowed five runs and 11 hits over seven-plus innings as the Twins lost their fourth in a row. Terry Steinbach hit an RBI double off Keith Foulke in the ninth.

Kansas City 4, Detroit 2--Jeremy Giambi had three RBIs, including an eighth-inning single that broke a 2-2 tie at Kansas City, as the Royals stopped a three-game losing streak.