ARLINGTON, Texas - When the top of the fourth inning finally ended on Monday and the Orioles' offense had flexed its muscles one more time in this young season, Koji Uehara jogged out to the mound and offered congratulatory fist bumps to Ty Wigginton and Aubrey Huff.
There was no need for a translator. The appreciation and admiration shown by the Japanese pitcher was obvious. On a night when Uehara had all sorts of problems with the Texas Rangers' lineup, the offense the pitcher previously described as reliable and the back end of the bullpen bailed him out.
The Orioles, wearing "Baltimore" across their road jerseys for the first time since the 1972 season, saw their six-run, sixth-inning lead whittled to just a run by the end of the seventh. However, they survived as closer George Sherrill got through a tense ninth inning to save a wild, 10-9 victory over Texas in the Orioles' road opener before an announced 12,184 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
Ian Kinsler led off the ninth with a double, but he was stranded at third base when Sherrill struck out Marlon Byrd to end the game. Sherrill had help as Nick Markakis made a running catch at the right-field wall on Michael Young's drive that would have tied the score.
The top five hitters in the Orioles' order, so instrumental in the team's 5-2 start, combined to go 12-for-26 with nine RBIs, seven runs and two walks. Huff broke from a slow start to go 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Markakis and Wigginton, starting in place of the injured Melvin Mora, also drove in two runs.
Brian Roberts and No. 8 hitter Felix Pie had three hits each, with Pie belting his first home run as an Oriole. By the sixth inning, the Orioles already had 15 hits, a season high, and hitters of the top of the order had batted five times.
Uehara was the beneficiary, as he improved to 2-0, though he would likely be the first to acknowledge he didn't do well in protecting a six-run lead. The right-hander, making his second career start, looked comfortable in only about two of his five-plus innings. Presented an early 2-0 lead, Uehara gave it all back and then some by the third inning.
Young's two-run homer in the third, which came just an inning after a tape-measure solo shot by Texas first baseman Chris Davis, gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead. But as much as Uehara struggled, Rangers starter Vicente Padilla was even worse.
