Roberts Helps Orioles Win Again

Brian Roberts put the exclamation point on the Baltimore Orioles’ remarkable April.

Roberts hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning at Baltimore and the Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-5, Saturday for their seventh consecutive victory.

“When you’ve had six or seven losing seasons, you need something to build confidence early,” Roberts said. “The way we’ve been playing, everybody seems to get big hits.”

Miguel Tejada homered for the third consecutive game and had three RBIs for the Orioles, whose streak is their longest since winning eight in a row Aug. 3-10, 2004.

An offensive surge from Tejada and Roberts helped Baltimore to 16 April wins. That matched the club record set in 1969, when the Orioles went to the World Series, and equaled in 1997, when they went wire-to-wire to win the East Division.

Roberts, who entered the season with 12 career homers, has eight. Tejada drove in 31 runs, breaking the club mark for April set by Mike Bordick in 2000.

Oakland 6, Seattle 5 -- Mark Kotsay had five hits, including a game-winning single with two out in the bottom of the 10th inning.

With two out and none on, Ron Villone (0-1) walked Nick Swisher and Marco Scutaro. Kotsay then singled to center, scoring Swisher.

Raul Ibanez’s RBI single in the ninth off A’s closer Octavio Dotel sent the game to extra innings. It was Dotel’s first blown save in six chances.

Kansas City 8, Cleveland 1 -- Ken Harvey hit his first career grand slam and Eli Marrero homered twice at Cleveland to back rookie Denny Bautista as the Royals ended a nine-game losing streak.

Harvey, an All-Star last season who began the season at triple-A Omaha, connected in a five-run third as the Royals won for the first time since beating the Indians on April 19.

Marrero followed Harvey’s homer with a solo shot and hit a two-run homer in the seventh for the Royals, who at 6-18 still have the worst record in the major leagues.

Bautista (2-1) limited the Indians to one run and five hits in six-plus innings. The right-hander is the first Kansas City starter to win since April 10, a 17-game span.

New York 4, Toronto 3 -- Chien-Ming Wang made a successful major league debut, and Tony Womack hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning to help the Yankees end April on a positive note.

The Yankees, who ended a three-game losing streak, are 10-14 -- their first losing April since 1991.

Wang, a 25-year-old right-hander from Taiwan, held the Blue Jays to six singles and two runs in seven innings. He retired the first 10 batters before Orlando Hudson’s infield single in the fourth.

Chicago 4, Detroit 3 -- Tadahito Iguchi’s RBI single capped a three-run seventh at Chicago as the White Sox rallied to end the Tigers’ five-game winning streak.

Orlando Hernandez (3-1), bailed out by the rally, yielded eight hits and three runs in seven innings to get the victory that ended the White Sox’s three-game slide.

Boston 9, Texas 2 -- Bronson Arroyo won again while appealing his suspension, and the Red Sox (12-11) ended a three-game losing streak to avoid their first losing April since 1996. They had lost five of six games.

Arroyo (3-0) went seven innings at Arlington, Texas, for his eighth consecutive victory spanning 14 starts since Aug. 21. He pitched a day after being handed a six-game suspension for his role in two bench-clearing scuffles at Tampa Bay last weekend.