Pie's injury added to another brutal night for the Orioles, who again were their own worst enemy. The offense managed only two runs in six innings against Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona, who entered the game with a 6.81 ERA and had given up 17 earned runs and 25 hits over his previous three starts spanning 11 2/3 innings.
"We just didn't get the hit when we needed it to break open the game," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.
The Orioles had 10 hits, including Nick Markakis' solo homer, his 17th of the season but his first since Aug. 28. But they went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on.
Their biggest missed opportunity on a night full of them came in the eighth inning after Luke Scott led off with a double. In a one-run game, Trembley opted to let Mora swing away against Jose Veras. Trembley explained his decision later by saying that he didn't want to play for a tie on the road, his bench was short-handed with Pie's exit and his bullpen hasn't been pitching well enough for him to be comfortable in a tie game.
Mora eventually worked Veras for a walk, but Ty Wigginton fouled out, Michael Aubrey flied out to move Scott to third and Cesar Izturis grounded out to end the inning.
The lack of clutch hitting was compounded by problems on the defensive end and on the mound at inopportune times. Hernandez carried a one-hit shutout bid and a 1-0 Orioles lead into the fifth inning, but he surrendered a leadoff homer to Luis Valbuena and back-to-back doubles to Andy Marte and Lou Marson. Marson's double to right field gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead.
Trevor Crowe then dropped down a sacrifice bunt that Mora fielded. The third baseman then fired an errant throw into in right field to score an additional run.
"When you're scratching for runs yourself, you really can't afford to give them the luxury of 'gimme' runs," Trembley said. "We make an error, we walk a couple of guys and those base runners scored, so that's unfortunate."
Reliever Matt Albers surrendered an insurance run in the eighth, issuing a leadoff walk and then a bases-loaded walk. It was that kind of night for the Orioles, who came up short in the battle between the American League's two worst teams.
"It seems like we're either a pitch away or a hit away," said Hernandez, who lost his fifth straight decision. "It's going to turn around. We have a good enough team where we're going to be able to compete night in and night out. It's just a matter when those pitches are being made and when the balls are falling."
Box score
for Friday's game PG 4
