Baldelli keeps Ray rolling

Ninth-inning double too much for Orioles

STAR TRACKED - David Beckham was a marked man, here by Jay Heaps (left), as the Galaxy and Revolution played to a 2-2 tie. D3 (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)

Rocco Baldelli's career nearly came to an end during spring training. Five months later, he's delivering key hits to spark Tampa Bay's surprising playoff drive.

Baldelli hit a game-winning RBI double in the ninth inning as the AL East-leading Rays came back from a four-run deficit to beat visiting Baltimore, 10-9, yesterday.

Baldelli, a Rhode Island native, missed most of the season due to with a mitochondrial disorder, a condition that slows muscle recovery and causes fatigue. His return was uncertain, and after missing much of the last few seasons because of hamstring injuries, his career was very much in question.

"I didn't think in spring training that I'd be part of anything like that," said Baldelli, who was mobbed by teammates after his first career walkoff hit. "I wanted to, but I didn't think it was a possibility. Sometimes you get things that you don't expect. So it was nice."

Baldelli started the season on the disabled list and was activated Aug. 10. In part-time duty, he is hitting .294 with two homers and six RBIs in 12 games.

"I know that the guys were pulling for him," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I know that everybody feels especially happy for him. He looks really comfortable out there and I like that."

Carlos Pena drew one-out in the ninth off Rocky Cherry (0-2) and scored on Baldelli's double down the third base line.

Nick Markakis hit a game-tying solo home run with two outs in the ninth off Rays reliever Dan Wheeler (3-5), who blew his third save in 13 opportunities.

The Rays, a major league-best 51-19 at home, have won the first two games of the three-game set and improved to 12-0-1 in series play since the All-Star break.

"Our guys are really aware of what's going on," Maddon said. "You can tell by the intensity."

Tampa Bay went up 9-8 in the seventh when Orioles reliever Alberto Castillo hit Baldelli with a pitch with the bases loaded.

Jay Payton and Aubrey Huff homered for Baltimore, which has lost nine of 11. Huff's homer was his 30th, making him the first Orioles' player to have 30 homers in a season since Miguel Tejada (34) in 2004.

After Huff's homer gave the Orioles a 5-3 lead in the third, Ramon Hernandez increased the lead to 7-3 in the fifth with an RBI single. But the Rays came right back, pulling within two on Dioner Navarro's RBI double and a run-scoring grounder by Gabe Gross in the bottom of the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, Pena tied it at 7 with a two-run double off Dennis Sarfate, and the Rays then took an 8-7 lead on a double-play grounder by Willy Aybar.

Baltimore pulled even at 8-all on a seventh-inning sacrifice fly by Hernandez.

Andy Sonnanstine, who failed in his bid to tie Rolando Arrojo's team single-season win total of 14 set in 1998, allowed six runs and seven hits in 3 1/2 innings.

Orioles rookie starter Chris Waters, who resides about 50 miles away from Tropicana Field in Lakeland, Fla., started off poorly, walking four straight batters in the first. He gave up five runs and eight hits in 4 1/2 innings.

"Little bit of nervousness in my first game in my hometown," Waters said. "Thirty people here to see me and I just let it overwhelm me."

Baltimore pitchers have walked 18 and allowed 24 runs over the past two games.

Athletics 3, Twins 2 Bobby Crosby and Emil Brown both scored on a throwing error by Minnesota closer Joe Nathan in the bottom of the ninth inning as Oakland beat Minnesota.

Huston Street (5-5) pitched two scoreless innings for the win and the A's rallied for their 10th walkoff win of the season and second in three days. Kurt Suzuki hit a game-winning double in the ninth inning Thursday in a 3-2 win over the Twins.

Crosby singled off Nathan (0-1) leading off the ninth before the Minnesota right-hander hit Brown to put runners on first and second.

Ryan Sweeney then attempted a sacrifice bunt, but Nathan fielded the ball and tried to throw to third. The ball skipped past Twins' third baseman Brendan Harris and into foul territory and Crosby raced home, with Brown scoring behind him.

Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 2 Manny Ramirez homered twice and visiting Los Angeles ended an eight-game losing streak.

"I play the game, go have fun," said Ramirez, who could become a free agent after this season. "I'm on vacation. I don't got nothing to lose. I got one more month left, you know, go to the house, relax, and see what my situation is going to be."

Ramirez, who is 18 of 33 (.545) in his career against Arizona, went deep in the third for the Dodgers' first run off Dan Haren (14-7) and hit the right-field foul pole in the seventh for his ninth homer with Los Angeles.

Marlins 4, Mets 3 Aaron Heilman issued a bases-loaded walk to Josh Willingham in the ninth inning as New York's sputtering bullpen failed again in a loss at Florida.

Mike Pelfrey worked 6 1/2 solid innings before handing a 3-2 lead to the bullpen, which has blown 11 of 26 save opportunities since the All-Star break. and is second in the NL with 24 blown saves overall.

Duaner Sanchez gave up a tying homer to Mike Jacobs in the eighth, setting the stage for Heilman's collapse in the ninth.

New York's NL East lead was trimmed to one game by Philadelphia, which beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2 on Saturday.

The Marlins avoided slipping to .500 for the first time since they were 3-3.

Angels 4, Rangers 3 Torii Hunter stole a home run from visiting Texas for the second straight game, and Los Angeles rallied for a victory that reduced its magic number to nine for clinching its fourth AL West title in five years.

Phillies 5, Cubs 2 Jayson Werth homered twice, Ryan Howard hit his major league-leading 37th home run, and visiting Philadelphia ended Chicago's seven-game winning streak and a three-game skid of its own with a 5-2 victory Saturday.

Werth also hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the sixth for the Phillies, who got a nice effort from their bullpen and ended a three-game skid.

Howard and Werth connected against Neal Cotts in the eighth to make it 5-1, and reliever J.C. Romero cut off a Cubs rally in the bottom half by striking out the side - including Geovany Soto with the bases loaded.

The NL Central-leading Cubs , who rallied to win Thursday and Friday, opened the bottom half of the eighth with consecutive singles from Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez to trim the lead to 5-2.

Romero replaced starter Brett Myers and struck out pinch hitters Reed Johnson and Ronny Cedeno before walking Kosuke Fukudome to load the bases. He then got a called third strike past Soto to end the threat.

Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth for his 32d save in as many chances.

Myers (8-10) allowed 11 hits and two runs in seven-plus innings with no walks and eight strikeouts. He is 5-1 in eight starts since being recalled from the minors on July 20.

The 6-foot-4 right-hander didn't given up a run in his two previous starts and had his scoreless inning streak snapped at 17 when the Cubs got three straight singles from Mark DeRosa, Fukudome (a bunt) and Soto with one out in the second to take a 1-0 lead.

Ted Lilly (13-8) retired 12 straight before Werth led off the fifth with his 19th homer. Lilly lost another matchup with Werth in the sixth, surrendering a two-out single that scored Chase Utley easily and Howard on a nice slide around Soto.

Brewers 11, Pirates 3 Corey Hart and Mike Cameron homered, Jeff Suppan won his fifth consecutive decision, and visiting Milwaukee handed Pittsburgh its ninth straight loss.

Cameron drove in four runs, Suppan allowed three hits over seven innings, and Hart, J.J. Hardy and Jason Kendall each had three hits as the Brewers improved to 10-1 this season against Pittsburgh, including the last eight meetings. Milwaukee has won seven of eight overall.

Brandon Moss hit a two-run homer for the last-place Pirates.

Milwaukee moved within 5 1/2 games of the Chicago Cubs, who lost to the Phillies, in the NL Central. The Brewers extended their lead in the NL wild-card race to 5 1/2 games over St. Louis.

Astros 8, Cardinals 5 Ty Wigginton and Hunter Pence hit home runs during a six-run first inning and host Houston held on to beat St. Louis.

The Astros won their fourth straight and improved to 20-9 in the month of August, third best in the National League behind Chicago and Milwaukee.

Blue Jays 7, Yankees 6 Vernon Wells hit a two-run homer and Gregg Zaun drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as visiting Toronto rallied off New York's tired bullpen.

Joe Inglett and Jose Bautista each drove in a pair of runs for the Blue Jays, who came back from four down and might well have dashed the Yankees' fading postseason hopes. New York began the day six games back of the Boston Red Sox in the AL wild-card race with 28 to play.

The Yankees had a chance in the ninth, putting runners on first and second with no outs off closer B.J. Ryan. But struggling slugger Alex Rodriguez grounded to third base and Bautista stepped on the bag, then fired across the diamond to get A-Rod by a step. Cody Ransom then flew out to finish Ryan's 25th save.

Mariners 4, Indians 3 Raul Ibanez singled in the go-ahead run to spark visiting Seattle's two-run 10th inning as the Mariners beat Cleveland.

Seattle took a 2-0 lead into the ninth, but Shin-Soo Choo's two-run homer off J.J. Putz tied the game.

Ichiro Suzuki walked to start the 10th off Jensen Lewis (0-4). After a force play, Adrian Beltre's single moved Jeremy Reed to third. Ibanez singled through the right side on a 1-1 pitch, scoring Reed.

Ibanez was 3 for 5 and is batting .398 (43 for 108) in 27 games this month.

Royals 13, Tigers 3 Billy Butler homered twice and drove in four runs in his first career multihomer game to help visiting Kansas City end a four-game losing streak.

Reds 7, Giants 6 Corey Patterson tripled in Jay Bruce in the eighth inning and host Cincinnati beat San Francisco after blowing a three-run lead.

Nationals 9, Braves 8 Elijah Dukes walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning and Washington beat Atlanta for its season-high fifth straight win.

Padres 9, Rockies 4 Brian Giles drove in two runs during host San Diego's six-run fourth inning and Josh Geer won his major league debut subbing for Jake Peavy.