Rookie right-hander David Hernandez did all the things Trembley hoped he would not do against the Indians, falling behind hitters, putting runners on base and throwing a ton of pitches. But he showed a lot of guts by refusing to let the game slip away. The 24-year-old hung in there for six innings, dodging virtually every lightning bolt the Indians fired his way.
"It was definitely a day when I had to battle," said Hernandez, who gave up two earned runs, walked three and struck out three on 102 pitches. "After the three innings, I definitely didnt think I was going to get through six. But I made some key pitches here and there. I really haven't had my fastball the last few starts, but I was able to go to my slider to get ahead and keep the batters off balance."
The Orioles' hitters put Hernandez in position to win, thanks to some timely hits by Mora, who went 3-for-4 with a second-inning home run, and Wieters, who hit a majestic seventh-inning home run to give the Orioles a 4-2 lead.
But the Orioles' bullpen wasn't quite as adept at dodging lightning bolts as Hernandez. Although Chris Ray did throw a scoreless inning in the seventh, Danys Baez allowed Cleveland to pull within a run in the eighth by giving up an RBI double to Shin-Soo Choo.
Choo tormented the Orioles all night, going 3-for-4 with two doubles.
The Orioles, who were 44-2 this year when leading after eight innings entering Thursday night, showed some fight in the ninth after Marte gave Cleveland the lead. Felix Pie and Nolan Reimold both reached base on infield singles off Kerry Wood with two outs, but Nick Markakis struck out on a checked swing to end the game.
"We did everything we could do," Mora said. "We had Nick, our best hitter, up at the plate. That's a pretty good matchup. But Kerry Wood makes a pretty good pitch to end the game. It's disappointing because we were one pitch away."
Mora repeatedly did his part to keep the Orioles in the game. They fell behind 1-0 on a home run by Grady Sizemore on the sixth pitch of the game, but when Cumberland native Aaron Laffey - who has pitched well for the Indians this year, with a 3.42 ERA entering the game - tried to sneak a knee-high slider past Mora in the second inning, the veteran third baseman belted it 364 feet, just over the left-field fence.
Wieters also excelled, getting the Orioles out of a jam in the sixth with a perfect throw to second to nail Choo trying to steal after Travis Hafner struck out. His seventh-inning home run, which came on a full count, was a thing of beauty, traveling 380 feet to the opposite field off Indians reliever Jess Todd. It was his fifth of the season, and there was never a doubt from the moment it left his bat.
There was some doubt about Marte's home run. It briefly looked as if Reimold might be able to snag it before it reached the seats in left field, but it went just far enough - 353 feet instead of 351 - to give the Indians the victory.
INDIANS @ORIOLES
Tonight, 7:05
TV: MASN2
Radio: 105.7 FM
INSIDE
Frustrated Jones kept out again PG 5
