The season was starting to slip out of control, and the Orioles were dangerously close to languishing through another frustrating loss last night.
Locked in a seventh-inning tie against the Arizona Diamondbacks, they sent the top of the order to the plate against Stephen Randolph, one of the top relievers in the National League.
And for once, this team started to follow the script.
Brian Roberts and Melvin Mora each drew a walk, and franchise shortstop Miguel Tejada followed with a three-run homer over the right-field scoreboard, lifting the Orioles to an 8-2 victory before 25,776 at Caden Yards.
It had been awhile since the Orioles could feel this satisfied. At 26-28, they have a worse record at this point than they did last year, when they were 27-27. But this one provided several positives.
Eric DuBose stabilized his place in the starting rotation, holding the Diamondbacks to two runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. He left with the score tied 2-2 with two outs in the seventh inning.
The Diamondbacks had a runner on second, but Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli turned to his bullpen, and Arizona didn't score again.
John Parrish got the last out in the seventh, B.J. Ryan pitched the eighth, and Mike DeJean pitched the ninth.
Tejada had been stuck on eight home runs since May 29, and the Orioles had only seen glimpses of the form that made him the 2002 American League Most Valuable Player.
But he stepped in against Randolph, who led all NL relievers with a .137 opponents' batting average, and unleashed his fury.
Randolph fell behind in the count, 3-0, and Tejada took a vicious swing, fouling the ball back. Randolph came back with a fastball away, and Tejada showed his strength, lifting the ball for an opposite-field home run.
It was Tejada's first three-run homer as an Oriole, and it gave him 47 RBIs for the season, which ranks him with the league leaders.
Three batters later, Arizona manager Bob Brenly lifted Randolph, and Luis Matos drilled the first pitch from Brandon Villafuerte over the center-field wall for a two-run homer - his sixth of the season.
DuBose has been searching for consistency since he rattled off three straight seven-inning starts at the end of April.
In six starts coming into this game, he had notched just one victory, and with Matt Riley pitching well at Triple-A Ottawa, it seemed he could ill afford another 90-pitch, five-inning outing.
