O’s Win A Wild One In 13 Innings 11-10

W – Koji Uehara (1-0)     L – Lance Cormier (3-2)

You knew it was going to be a crazy night when the Orioles hit back to back to back homeruns in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Ty Wiggington, Luke Scott, and Adam Jones each hit solo homeruns off of Matt Garza to give the O’s a 3-0 lead. Luke Scott hit another solo homerun in the 3rd inning to keep the lead at three after Tampa Bay got one in the top of the frame. The Rays took an 8-4 lead over the middle innings but the offense battled back. Craig Tatum and Cesar Izturis singled and advanced on Felix Pie’s groundout. Miguel Tejada doubled them both in and scored on Scott’s RBI single. The Rays tacked on one more and the O’s entered the bottom of the 9th down by two. Izturis led off with a single and Pie doubled to get runners in scoring position and Tejada had a case of deja vu with another 2 RBI double to send it into extra innings. Tampa Bay scored in the top of the 12th but the Orioles answered with a run of their own on a Scott Moore sacrifice fly after Corey Patterson doubled and moved to third on a fly ball. The game finally ended in the 13th. Izturis walked to start the inning, Pie sacrificed him to second, and Julio Lugo hit the game winning RBI single after coming in as a pinch runner for Tejada earlier in the game.

The young pitching continued its rough stretch last night although Jake Arrieta didn’t pitch as bad as Brian Matusz or Chris Tillman did. He started out ok but gave a run in the 3rd and 4th innings before losing it a bit in the 6th. A lead off double and then a single after a pop out started the inning. A wild pitch to score a run and a walk forced Juan Samuel to bring in Jason Berken. An error by Ty Wiggington allowed a run to score and a single scored another. Berken continued on in the 7th but a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and another walk was it for him. Will Ohman came in and walked the bases loaded and then gave up two runs charged to Berken on a single before getting out of the inning. David Hernandez pitched the 8th and 9th only giving up a solo homerun to Jason Bartlett. Alfredo Simon pitched a scoreless 10th and 11th but had a little trouble stretching into the 12th. Carlos Pena walked, stole second base, and advanced to third on Craig Tatum’s throwing error and then scored on a single. Koji Uehara got the last out of the inning and pitched a scoreless 13th to preserve the victory for the home team.

Player of the game: Luke Scott – 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (14) (.281 AVG)

The rubber game is in the early afternoon today. Brad Bergesen (3-7, 6.37) goes against James Shields (7-9, 4.86).