Perfect Start for Cabrera Slips Away

Daniel Cabrera insisted a sudden shower didn’t bother him as he took his perfect game into the seventh inning.

The results suggest otherwise.

Steve Finley homered in a three-run seventh, and the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks got six shutout innings from Casey Fossum in a 3-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.

Cabrera, who never pitched above the double-A level before this season, retired the first 18 batters he faced. But rain began falling in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the shower intensified before the right-hander stepped to the mound to begin the seventh.

The 6-foot-7 rookie promptly went to 3-and-0 on leadoff hitter Scott Hairston, threw a strike, then walked him.

Many in the crowd of 25,106 jeered as Hairston headed to first.

Pitching with a runner on for the first time in the game, Cabrera suddenly became vulnerable.

“He seemed to have trouble when the rain started coming,” Arizona Manager Bob Brenly said. “We finally got him in the stretch, and I think he lost a bit of his effectiveness.”

Finley tried to bunt Hairston to second, failed twice, then lined an 0-and-2 fastball over the right-field scoreboard and just inside the foul pole.

“If you mess up two bunts, I guess you better get a hit,” Finley said. “With two strikes, I’m just trying to make good contact.”

Danny Bautista followed with an infield hit and Shea Hillenbrand singled with one out. With two out, Alan Zinter hit an RBI single for a 3-0 lead.

It was the only inning in which the Diamondbacks had a baserunner.

Cabrera (3-2) did not return for the eighth, and neither did the rain.

“I wasn’t even aware that it was raining,” said Cabrera, a native of the Dominican Republic, said through an interpreter. “I just wanted to make good pitches, and I didn’t.”

Pitching in his sixth major league game, Cabrera was trying to become the first Oriole to throw a no-hitter since Jim Palmer in 1969, although four pitchers combined for one in 1991.

“It’s just a tough game to swallow when you get a pitching performance like that,” Oriole Manager Lee Mazzilli said. “We just couldn’t get a two-out hit.”

New York Yankees 10, Colorado 4 -- John Flaherty hit a grand slam and Jose Contreras got through seven shaky innings to lead the Yankees at New York.

After the erratic Contreras wasted a three-run lead, Flaherty singled home the go-ahead run and followed up with his third career slam in New York’s 13th straight interleague win.

Bernie Williams tripled and singled twice in his first three at-bats, reaching 2,000 hits for his career.

Yankee pitcher Kevin Brown was sent for medical tests on his back. Brown came out of Wednesday night’s start after two innings, saying he felt as if a “steel rod” were in his back. He did not comment on his condition before Thursday’s victory and was still having tests when the game ended.

Detroit 7, Atlanta 4 -- Held hitless by Russ Ortiz until the sixth inning, the Tigers rallied at Detroit to defeat the Braves.

Carlos Pena hit a two-run double and Dmitri Young singled in the go-ahead run for the Tigers, who took two of three in the series.

Bobby Higginson singled leading off the sixth for Detroit’s first hit against Ortiz, who wound up with a no-decision. Mike Maroth (5-3) pitched seven innings for the win.

Montreal 8-7, Kansas City 0-2 -- Tony Batista homered twice and Sun-Woo Kim (3-2) pitched 4 1/3 perfect innings in relief of an injured Tomo Ohka, leading the Expos to a doubleheader sweep at Kansas City, Mo.

Zach Day (5-6) pitched a six-hitter in the opener for his second career shutout.

Ohka was hit in the forearm by Carlos Beltran’s line drive in the third inning and taken to a hospital for X-rays. His hand is broken and he will probably be out three months.

Texas 9-10, Pittsburgh 7-4 -- Kenny Rogers earned his ninth win, Brad Fullmer hit a grand slam and the Rangers completed a doubleheader sweep at Arlington, Texas.

In the opener, Michael Young, Gary Matthews Jr. and Herbert Perry homered, and Texas took advantage of two Pittsburgh errors in the seventh inning to win.

Mark Teixeira hit a three-run shot in the third inning of the nightcap for the Rangers, who homered five times in the two games.

Rogers (9-2) is tied with Houston’s Roger Clemens for the major league lead in wins.

Minnesota 3, New York Mets 2 -- Michael Ryan’s one-out single in the 15th inning gave the Twins a victory and a three-game sweep over the Mets at Minneapolis.

Luis Rivas beat out an infield single with one out in the 15th against Ricky Bottalico (2-1), and Cristian Guzman moved him to third with single. Ryan hit the first pitch he saw to end it, and right fielder Karim Garcia kicked the ball in frustration.

Tampa Bay 5, San Francisco 2 -- Victor Zambrano took a no-hitter into the seventh inning at St. Petersburg, Fla., and the Devil Rays held on to win their first interleague series in nearly two years.

Zambrano (6-4) gave up an unearned run in the first and lost his bid for a no-hitter when Damon Minor, filling in for Barry Bonds as the Giants’ designated hitter because the six-time NL MVP was attending a funeral in California, led off the seventh with a line drive single to right.

Florida 4, Cleveland 1 -- Carl Pavano shut down the Indians into the ninth inning at Cleveland and Alex Gonzalez hit a two-run homer for the Marlins.

Armando Benitez got the final out for his 14th consecutive save and 24th in 25 chances this season. Pavano struck out seven and walked one.

Philadelphia at Chicago White Sox, ppd. -- The game involving the Phillies and White Sox was postponed because of rain. No makeup date was announced.