Young Orioles Like the Look of Old Belle

Having finally finished reshaping the roster, the Baltimore Orioles showed off their new youthful lineup in the hours after the trading deadline.

Albert Belle ended the longest homerless drought of his career and the Orioles survived two ninth-inning errors in a shaky 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night at Baltimore.

Belle’s two-run homer in the first inning put Baltimore ahead to stay. It was his 19th of the season and first since June 29, ending a string of 27 games and 109 at-bats without a home run.

In the ninth, Oriole catcher Brook Fordyce, obtained in a trade with the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, threw a ball into center field on a steal before third baseman Ryan Minor botched a grounder to allow a run to score.

Mike Trombley then issued a walk before getting three outs for his third save.

Sidney Ponson pitched seven innings and Carlos Casimiro doubled in two runs in his first major league at-bat for the Orioles, who have won three in a row.

Boston 8, Seattle 5--Jason Varitek hit a three-run homer in the eighth as the Red Sox rallied to win at Seattle.

Trailing, 5-4, the Red Sox got singles from Scott Hatteberg and Mike Lansing against Jose Mesa (3-6) to put runners at the corners with two out. Closer Kazuhiro Sasaki came in and gave up an RBI single to Trot Nixon.

Varitek then hit a drive into the right-field bleachers for his eighth homer. It was Sasaki’s third blown save in 28 opportunities and first since June 14, a stretch of 15 consecutive successful saves.

Rich Garces (6-0) pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the victory. Hipolito Pichardo pitched two innings for his first save.

Jay Buhner of the Mariners hit a first-inning grand slam. Rickey Henderson stole three bases.

Oakland 6, Toronto 1--David Wells of the Blue Jays lost on the road for the first time this season as Tim Hudson pitched the A’s to victory.

Wells (16-4), who leads the majors in victories, was 10-0 on the road. Overall, he had won 13 in a row away from SkyDome since Sept. 7, 1999, when he lost at Seattle.

Miguel Tejada and Adam Piatt homered as the A’s won their third consecutive game. Jason Giambi put the A’s ahead to stay with an RBI double in the fifth inning.

Hudson (12-3) pitched eight innings, giving up one run and only three hits. He walked one and struck out five in winning for the 11th time in his last 12 decisions.

Wells pitched eight innings, giving up five earned runs and 12 hits. He walked two, and has walked only 24 this season.