ANAHEIM, Calif. -- After struggling through two innings, Mike Mussina came back strong -- striking out six in a row at one point -- and got a lot of offensive support as the Orioles defeated the California Angels, 8-2, last night.
lTC Harold Baines and Mike Pagliarulo both homered and combined for seven hits and five RBI to spark an Orioles' attack that came alive in the fourth inning. Pagliarulo finished with four hits, matching a career high accomplished on three other occasions.
Baines, whose fourth-inning homer opened the scoring, also contributed a double and had a hand in the Orioles' first six runs. A long home run by Tim Salmon, the Angels' Rookie of the Year candidate, ruined Mussina's bid for a third shutout.
Making his third start since coming off the disabled list, Mussina (13-5) allowed four hits in the first two innings, but only one more, after a walk with two outs in the ninth. That brought manager Johnny Oates from the dugout to call on Todd Frohwirth, who gave up a run-scoring double and a walk to load the bases before securing the final out.
The win was the second straight for the Orioles, who lost the first two games of this nine-game road trip. Coupled with losses by Detroit and Boston, the win enabled the Orioles to move back into third place in the American League's Eastern Division race, six games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays.
With Baines and Pagliarulo leading the way, the Orioles had six extra-base hits in the 13-hit attack against right-hander Phil Leftwich (1-4) and a pair of relievers.
Leftwich allowed six hits, including the home run to Baines, and four runs in the six innings he worked.
Mussina struggled with his control and disagreed with umpire Tim Tschida's interpretation of the strike zone in the first two innings. After taking a 1-and-2 pitch that Mussina questioned, Luis Polonia singled to start the bottom of the first inning.
A strong throw by catcher Chris Hoiles caught Polonia trying to steal second base, the first time he'd been caught in 13 attempts. Chad Curtis lined a single off the glove of Pagliarulo at third base after Mussina again stared in disagreement over a call by Tschida.
Ground balls by Salmon and Chili Davis ended the first, but J. T. Snow walked to lead off the second inning as Mussina continued to disagree with Tschida. But Eduardo Perez grounded into a double play and, after Kurt Stillwell doubled, Chris Turned fouled out to end the inning.
