Gritty Matusz Lifts O's To Win

Rookie Survives Rocky First Inning, Wins Third Straight

Mora Homers, Has 3 Rbis

Third baseman Melvin Mora has four more weeks left before his ninth and likely final full season with the Orioles is over. Brian Matusz's Orioles career is just starting, but he's part of a young nucleus that the organization hopes will bring better days.

With the Orioles one loss away from clinching their 12th straight losing season, the two players at vastly different stages of their careers helped push aside the inevitable for one more day. Matusz, making his sixth career start, rebounded from a rocky first and turned in seven quality innings. Mora, the longest-tenured member of the club, homered and drove in both the game-tying and go-ahead runs in the Orioles' 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers before an announced 18,028 on Saturday at Camden Yards.

"My motivation is when you see the other team in the other clubhouse, they're contending for the playoffs," said Mora, who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and made a diving catch on Ian Kinsler's bunt in the eighth inning. "When you see guys play like it's the playoffs, that comes into my body. I'm going to play like it's the playoffs, too. You have to go out there and play hard because you know they're trying to beat you."

Wearing the uniforms of the 1949 Baltimore Elite Giants, the winners of two Negro leagues championships, the Orioles broke their four-game losing streak and won for just the 15th time in 48 games since the All-Star break.

They also ended the four-game winning streak of the Rangers, who would have moved within a game of the Boston Red Sox for the American League wild card with a victory.

Mora gave the Orioles their first lead with a two-out RBI single off Kevin Millwood in the fifth, and Matusz and two Orioles relievers made the lead stand up. Matusz, Danys Baez and Jim Johnson retired the Rangers' final 14 batters.

"They pitched well," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Johnson came in and shut it down. We got beat today. I can't think of anything out there that we gave them."

Things looked good early for the Rangers as they scored three runs on Matusz before the Orioles' first at-bat. Matusz (4-2) then allowed only one run over his final six innings and faced the minimum over his final four frames. He struck out three of the final six batters he faced in winning his third straight decision.