Luis Matos

Catcher Javy Lopez hit his second home run in two games, left-hander Erik Bedard threw six scoreless innings and the Orioles beat the Florida Marlins, 5-4, last night in a game that was delayed one hour because an electrical glitch kept the stadium lights off. Bedard was responsible for the other power outage, holding the Marlins to two hits and retiring the last 13 batters he faced. "At first, I was a little anxious to get it going," said Bedard (21 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings this spring)

Though it certainly must seem longer, it was just a couple of weeks ago that everyone was drawing comparisons between the surprising Orioles of 2012 and the team that enchanted Baltimore during the magical "Why Not?" season of 1989. Now, that's starting to feel like a cruel joke. The Orioles appear to be in full retreat after a two-week slump that has knocked them off the top of the American League East standings and still threatens to send them quickly to the bottom of their tightly packed division.

Rodrigo Lopez tossed three scoreless innings, allowing only one hit, and Walter Young drove in two runs with a single to lead the Orioles to a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday. Lopez struck out three and didn't walk a batter. Kurt Ainsworth, Jay Witasick and Steve Kline each threw a scoreless inning. Young's two-run single off reliever Joel Hanrahan came after B.J. Surhoff walked and Miguel Tejada doubled with one out in the fourth inning. Luis Matos doubled twice, the first one driving in a run in the fifth inning, and Geronimo Gil's sacrifice fly in the seventh scored Enrique Wilson.

With Brian Roberts on the disabled list, the Orioles have turned to Corey Patterson as a temporary solution in the leadoff slot. That would have seemed unimaginable three weeks ago, when Patterson was usually anchored to the bench and failing to get on base when he did play. But he raised his average more than 100 points with consecutive three-hit games last week, and manager Sam Perlozzo likes his speed at the top of the lineup. "I don't know how many more options we have in that particular situation," Perlozzo said.

Batting .130 coming into yesterday's game, reserve infielder Chris Stynes delivered the tie-breaking run in the seventh inning with a triple off Boston reliever Mark Malaska, and the Orioles defeated the Red Sox, 5-3, before a sellout crowd. Tim Raines Jr. reached with one out after being hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on the triple. Former No. 1 draft pick Nick Markakis followed with an RBI single to increase the Orioles' lead to 5-3. Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera was removed with one out in the fifth after the Red Sox scored twice to take a 3-1 lead.

Luis Matos led off the first inning with a home run and came within a triple of hitting for the cycle, and the Orioles celebrated the return of Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa with a 9-3 win over the Minnesota Twins. The Orioles sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning against Twins starter Kyle Lohse. They collected five hits, including an RBI single by Palmeiro, who spent Thursday testifying before Congress on steroid use in baseball. Sosa also spoke at the hearing. Melvin Mora, who has been slowed by the flu, hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning.

Erik Bedard shut down the Red Sox for six innings and a driving rainstorm did the rest, as the Orioles beat Boston, 6-1, in six-plus innings yesterday. Bedard, the 26-year-old left-hander who entered the exhibition season projected as the No. 3 starter, continued his March mastery with a tremendous performance against a Red Sox lineup that only was missing one starter -- outfielder Trot Nixon. Bedard didn't allow a runner to second base until the fourth inning, when Manny Ramirez singled with two outs and David Ortiz drove him home with a double.

The Boston Red Sox scored four runs off Orioles reliever Steve Reed in the seventh inning to wipe out a 5-1 deficit yesterday, and the teams played to a 5-5 tie. Reed, who has been receiving treatment for a "kink" in his right shoulder, was making his first appearance since March 16. Daniel Cabrera held the Red Sox to one unearned run over 4 2/3 innings. He allowed two hits, walked two and struck out four. The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single and stolen base by Brian Roberts, a balk on Red Sox starter Jon Papelbon and a sacrifice fly by Miguel Tejada.

Stadium: Harry Grove Stadium, FrederickDirections to stadium: Take I-70 west to Frederick, then exit 54 (Market Street). Stadium is on the left.Class: Single-ALeague: CarolinaRecord last year: 64-76. Finished third and fourth in two halves of Northern Division.Manager: Andy Etchebarren, first seasonAffiliation: OriolesGame times: Monday-Saturday, 7: 05 p.m.; Sunday, 1: 05 p.m.Ticket prices: Box seats, $10 and $8; adult general admission, $6; children general admission, $3; . children 5 and under free.

Jack Cust atoned for a mental error by hitting a one-out homer off Houston reliever Taylor Buchholz in the ninth inning and giving the Orioles a 3-2 victory over the Astros. Cust launched an 0-1 pitch over the bleachers in right field for his second homer this spring. The Astros had rallied to tie the game with a run in the seventh off Erik Bedard and one in the eighth off Mike DeJean. Kurt Ainsworth shut out the Astros on four hits over five innings. A fielding error by Melvin Mora resulted in a run off Bedard, and Houston tied the game after Cust caught a fly ball in deep left field and threw to the wrong base, allowing Charlton Jimerson to advance to second.

In the last exhibition game before Opening Day, Miguel Tejada hit a two-run homer in the first inning and added an RBI single in the third to lead the Orioles past the Washington Nationals, 8-4, last night at Camden Yards. The Orioles completed their exhibition schedule with a 13-17 record. They'll hold a workout today before tomorrow's opener against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Daniel Cabrera went four innings in his final spring start, allowing three runs and five hits. Cabrera walked four and struck out eight.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Sam Perlozzo's pre-game talk with reporters yesterday started like so many of the others from the past week. Not long after walking off the field and into the dugout and picking his way through reporters to find a seat on the bench, the Orioles' manager is asked about the club's murky outfield situation. He talks fluidly about the pros and cons of several of his options without giving even the faintest hint of which direction he is leaning. "Sufficiently vague enough for you?"

Five things to look out for as the Orioles' exhibition season begins: The Mazzone influence: New pitching coach Leo Mazzone is known to be demanding on his staff, but so far he has garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews. The Orioles' rotation is essentially set, and Mazzone is impressed with the organization's stable of young arms. Pitchers will have a chance to show how much they have learned under his watchful eye over the next several weeks. Opposing hitters undoubtedly will be fed a steady diet of down-and-away fastballs, Mazzone's weapon of choice.

The Orioles gave one of their most reliable starters a five-run lead, only to watch it get erased in a couple innings. They loaded the bases in four separate innings and had only one run to show for it. They saw the potential winning run get thrown out at the plate in the 10th inning. But it was Texas center fielder Gary Matthews who finally struck the Orioles with the knockout punch last night at Camden Yards. Sammy Sosa hit his 587th career home run, moving him past Frank Robinson for sole possession of fifth place on baseball's all-time list, Javy Lopez tied the game with a dramatic two-run homer in the ninth inning, but the Orioles lost, 11-8, to the Texas Rangers when Matthews hit a three-run shot in the 11th inning.

IT WASN'T HARD to identify with Jason Gore, the walking human interest story who stepped to the first tee at Pinehurst yesterday with a chance to deliver one of the great long-shot victories in the history of the U.S. Open. It was even easier to identify with him a few hours later, when he double-bogeyed the 18th hole to finish with a final round of 84 ... a mile or so behind New Zealand's Michael Campbell, who actually did deliver one of the great long-shot victories in Open history. Gore was the guy with the perpetual smile who found himself in the highly unlikely position of being paired with defending champion and three-round leader Retief Goosen in the last group yesterday.

BOSTON - Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts was scratched from last night's lineup because of a strained right rotator cuff, and the team isn't sure of the injury's severity or how long it will keep him off the field. Roberts woke up yesterday morning and noticed the discomfort, similar to the type that caused him to miss exactly two weeks' worth of exhibition games. "He said it's similar but not to as great a magnitude," trainer Richie Bancells said. That brings little comfort to a team that has three position players on the disabled list - Javy Lopez, Larry Bigbie and Luis Matos - and went 16 games without Sammy Sosa.

Sidney Ponson blanked a Los Angeles Dodgers split squad over four innings in his first exhibition start, and the Orioles settled for a scoreless tie in a game that was halted after the 10th. Ponson gave up two hits, walked two and struck out one. He retired the last seven in a row. The Orioles had a chance to move ahead in the eighth when Luis Matos singled, stole second and moved to third on a groundout. But he didn't score. Midre Cummings led off the ninth with a double, but Sal Fasano struck out, Cummings got caught in a rundown after Walter Young bounced to the mound and Chris Stynes lined to center.

The Orioles rallied from a four-run deficit to tie yesterday's game against St. Louis, but John Mabry singled in the sixth off reliever John Parrish to score Scott Seabol and give the Cardinals a 5-4 victory. Parrish hadn't allowed a run in 6 1/3 innings before Seabol led off the inning with an infield hit and took second on a wild pitch. Mabry singled, and the Cardinals held on. Rodrigo Lopez allowed two runs in the first inning and two more in the second - one of them unearned - as the Orioles fell behind 4-0. The second inning was especially sloppy, with catcher Geronimo Gil throwing the ball into center field on a steal and Lopez firing wide of first base after fielding a bunt.

The Orioles went all of one day without having to put a key player on the disabled list. But that ended yesterday when outfielder Larry Bigbie became the third player in four days to land there because of the strained left hamstring he suffered leaving the batter's box May 12 in Chicago. The injury originally cost Bigbie five games, but he returned and played six of seven games before it got worse during the series against the Seattle Mariners, making him unavailable Friday. With Bigbie on the DL, the Orioles purchased the contract of infielder-outfielder Napoleon Calzado, who was batting .313 with six homers and 27 RBIs in 41 games with Triple-A Ottawa.

Orioles need to be more fan-friendly I am amazed at the lack of vision by the Orioles' marketing department and the fans who write about lack of attendance. As a previous full-season plan holder, I refuse to be held up by an owner who for years failed to field a quality product and continued to raise prices of season tickets while discounting single-game tickets. As time went on, he also raised the fence by the players' parking lot and told kids they couldn't wait there for autographs of their favorite players.