Daniel Cabrera

MILWAUKEE -- As dormant as the Orioles' offense looked for six innings last night, their recent history suggested that a three-run, seventh-inning deficit to the Milwaukee Brewers was a minor hurdle on the way to another comeback victory. All it took was somebody to get it started. The latest unlikely catalyst was pinch hitter Oscar Salazar, who came off the bench in the seventh to slam a two-run homer off Brewers starter Seth McClung to cut the Orioles' deficit to one. However, there would be no more late-game heroics as the Orioles fell, 3-2, to the Brewers in front of an announced 42,251 at Miller Park and had their winning streak halted at four games.

A recap of the Orioles' 8-5 win over the Brewers last night: QUITE A START The Orioles wasted no time making their presence felt in the series, scoring four times in the first inning off Milwaukee starter Jeff Suppan, who added to his woes with shoddy defense. With one out and men on first and second, Ramon Hernandez hit a comebacker that Suppan fielded and threw into right field, scoring the Orioles' second run. A sacrifice fly by Luke Scott and RBI singles from Melvin Mora and Adam Jones accounted for the other runs.

Two batters into the game, Camden Yards was soaked in as much deja vu as sunshine. Uh-oh, went the buzz among the announced crowd of 31,000-plus. Cabrera doesn't have it today. Daniel Cabrera had retired the first Pittsburgh Pirates batter yesterday, but the second walked. The third rifled a shot to the left-field corner. The fourth sent a bullet to Brian Roberts at second for the second out. One batter later, the Orioles and Cabrera had escaped without giving up a run. On the plus side, they got out of that trouble, and part of the reason is that Cabrera lasted six innings and left trailing just 4-1, when in any previous season it would have been so much worse.

A recap of the Orioles' 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays yesterday: Not Albers' day His team leading 4-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, Orioles manager Dave Trembley brought in Matt Albers to relieve Radhames Liz. The plan was for Albers to pitch two innings, followed by one each from Jim Johnson and closer George Sherrill. However, Albers, who has excelled in his role all season, clearly didn't have it. The first batter he faced, Vernon Wells, drove his second pitch over the wall. Albers then walked Lyle Overbay and gave up a game-tying double to Rod Barajas.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Orioles manager Dave Trembley sat down three of his regulars last night, temporary adjustments made to revive his lineup. He held a closed-door meeting with his players before batting practice, herding them into the video room across from his office. Never claiming to have all the answers, he merely tried to find a few solutions. But what is a manager supposed to do when his starting pitcher can't get out of the second inning and his team falls behind by eight runs in the amount of time it takes to count heads in the meeting?

Orioles@Yankees 7 p.m., MASN The Orioles, three games above .500, begin a three-game series at Yankee Stadium with Daniel Cabrera (4-1) trying to extend his stretch of strong outings. Former Oriole Mike Mussina (above), who is 6-3 so far, starts for the Yankees.