A's crush O's

Baseball Betting Lines

09/05/2008 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Braden and the Oakland bullpen held down the Baltimore offense, while the Athletics finally took advantage of suspect pitching in an 11-2 rout over the Orioles in a rain-soaked opener of a three-game weekend series.

Braden (5-3) allowed just two runs -- one earned -- on four hits in five innings, while Jerry Blevins, Joey Devine, Keith Foulke and Brad Ziegler combined to throw four scoreless relief innings in the win.

Rajai Davis hit his first career grand slam, as Oakland halted its four-game skid behind a mere seven hits. Jack Hannahan and Eric Patterson were each credited with two RBI.

Baltimore rookie Chris Waters (2-2) took the loss after serving up three runs on five hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings of work. Lou Montanez was 2- for-3, driving in a run and scoring for the Orioles, who have dropped seven straight affairs.

Before the game, the Orioles exercised manager Dave Trembley's 2009 option with an added team option in 2010.

Tied at 2-2 in the sixth, Waters was pulled in favor of Brian Bass after loading the bases. Bass, who was acquired earlier in the day from the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named or cash considerations, proceeded to walk in the go-ahead run before getting out of the inning.

The A's broke open the game in the eighth, recording eight runs while tallying just a lone hit -- Davis' slam. Two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Hannahan, who walked to plate a run. Brian Burres was replaced by Kameron Mickolio, who promptly forced in another three with free passes.

"I don't have any answers to be honest with you. I don't have any magic formula, I don't have any catch phrase, I don't have a quick fix," Trembley said. "You have to be able to throw it over the plate. It's that simple."

Randor Bierd mercifully relieved Mickolio, but Davis, who entered the game as a pinch-runner earlier in the inning, smoked a two-out drive down the left field line that barely cleared the left field wall to finish off the improbable inning.

"I was ready to hit and I got a good pitch to hit and was able to square it up and drive it a little bit," Davis said. "It's nice to score some runs and take the pressure off the pitchers. It was fun."

The O's broke a scoreless tie in the third when Montanez reached on an infield single, advanced to second on a botched pickoff attempt and scored on Brian Roberts' two-out bloop single to center.

Waters was cruising through four frames but loaded the bases with the first three hitters in the fifth. The A's then took the lead on Patterson's RBI groundout and Sweeney's sac fly, but the home team tied it in the bottom half on Montanez's run-scoring, opposite-field double.

Game Notes

The A's had scored six runs or less in their previous 40 games...The clubs will finish the three-game series with a doubleheader Saturday...The O's made several moves other Friday, selecting the contracts of Bass, catcher Omir Santos and pitcher Alfredo Simon from Triple-A Norfolk, while recalling infielder Brandon Fahey from their minor league affiliate. Santos made his MLB debut as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning and grounded out to end the game. To make room on the roster, the club released pitcher Fernando Cabrera, designated infielder Eider Torres for assignment and transferred pitcher Chris Ray from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL...Baltimore's Aubrey Huff missed the game to be with his wife, Baubi, following the birth of their first child on Thursday...Bass became the 400th pitcher used in a game for the Orioles all-time.