ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- On a night when the Orioles' young phenom pitcher was at his most effective, their veteran second baseman hit a grand slam and their sleep-deprived closer had to hold on for four outs, it was perhaps baseball's most understated offensive weapon that halted the Orioles' five-game losing streak in an 8-7 win against the Tampa Bay Rays.
A two-out walk.
A two-out walk by the free-swinging Felix Pie, who had two strikes against him before shifting into patient zone, watching four consecutive pitches go by and trotting to first to load the bases in a 1-1 game in the sixth.
It chased Tampa Bay's starter, Orioles killer James Shields (7-10), from the game, and led to Brian Roberts' fourth career grand slam, which gave the Orioles a lead they never lost.
"I look at the ball and I said, 'Go, go, go,' " Pie said about Roberts' homer. "When Brian got to home plate, I tell him, 'You owe me dinner because I got four RBIs for you.' "
After the game, Orioles manager Dave Trembley praised Pie.
"That was the key at-bat that inning," Trembley said. "I know Roberts hit the ball out of the ballpark, but Pie worked the walk after 0-2 in a situation where a lot of times you'll see guys give that at-bat away. He didn't give it away. That's a lot of progress in his favor. ... That's a team at-bat."
Rookie Nolan Reimold added a three-run homer in the seventh, and the bullpen held the lead to hand a win to lefty Brian Matusz, who was making his fourth big league start.
Had the Orioles lost, they would have dropped below a .400 winning percentage this late in the season for the first time since September 2001.
Instead, the Orioles (49-72) ended their losing streak, avoided a sweep and won on the road against an American League East opponent for just the fourth time in 24 tries this season.
"It's always great to break through," Trembley said. The Rays "have been making one more quality at-bat and one more play in the field. Tonight, we did that."
Matusz (2-2) had a shaky first, but yielded just one run. He then retired 13 of 14, including 10 straight, before giving up a single, double and three-run homer to Ben Zobrist to bring the score to 5-4.
The rookie was charged with four runs on seven hits, but he walked none and struck out seven.
"I thought this was my best outing so far," Matusz said. "I had just one pitch I'd like to have back; otherwise I thought it was a very good outing."
