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GAME LOG
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Maybe Mike Mussina's luck is beginning to
change. He finally won his first game since April 29, and this time
it was the other pitcher who got hurt on the mound.
|  | | Paul Abbott was carted off the field and taken to a hospital for precautionary X-rays. |
Mussina allowed no earned runs and five hits in seven innings,
and the Baltimore Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the
Seattle Mariners with a 5-1 victory Thursday night.
Seattle starter Paul Abbott left in the fourth inning after being struck in the face by the broken bat of Harold Baines. As
Abbott bent over to pick up Baines' grounder, the upper part of the
severed bat struck the right-hander below the right eye.
Abbott lay on the mound for several minutes before rising and
leaving the field on a stretcher. He received eight stitches and
was diagnosed with a small fracture on the bridge of his nose.
"About the only good thing about tonight is Abbott's OK,"
Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. "I've never seen anything like
it. ... It was a scary thing."
Mussina knows a thing or two about the dangers of standing 60
feet, 6 inches from the batter. He was hit in the face by a line
drive two years ago, and he missed four starts last season after
being struck in the shoulder by a liner.
Mussina's woes this season had nothing to do with injuries. The
right-hander, winless in four starts since beating Texas on April
29, started the game with a 1-6 record in part because the Orioles
averaged 2.7 runs in his 10 previous starts.
On this night, however, Delino DeShields and Jeff Conine had two
RBI apiece and the Orioles got nine hits off four Seattle
pitchers.
As a result, Baltimore has its longest winning streak since a
six-game run April 15-22.
"These three games were big for us," catcher Charles Johnson
said. "Winning three in a row against a very club, this was a very
positive series."
Mussina (2-6) struck out a season-best nine in ending a
career-high four-game losing streak. He walked two in improving his
record against Seattle to 11-3.
It was only the second victory by a Baltimore starter in 22
games.
Mussina refused to talk to reporters after the game, continuing
a policy he began after his previous start Saturday.
"I've found Moose to be very tough mentally, but I think there
was a great deal of frustration building," Orioles manager Mike
Hargrove said. "So it was nice for him to get the win the way he
got it."
Edgar Martinez drove in the lone run for the Mariners, who have
lost seven straight to Baltimore. Martinez has at least one RBI in
nine of his past 10 games, but Seattle scored only six runs in the
series.
"They just played better baseball than we did," Mariners
shortstop Alex Rodriguez said. "Their starter did well. We got
great pitching, too. We just didn't score any runs."
After Abbott left, Frankie Rodriguez (2-1) took his place and
gave up three runs in 2 2/3 innings.
Baltimore went up 5-1 with a three-run seventh. After B.J.
Surhoff drove in a run with a two-out single off Arthur Rhodes,
Conine hit for Baines and grounded a two-run double to left on the
first pitch from Jose Paniagua.
Surhoff, who entered the game in a 4-for-45 skid, went 2-for-3
with a walk in his first multihit game since May 7.
The Orioles got a run in the third when Mike Bordick walked,
Brady Anderson doubled and DeShields hit a run-scoring groundout.
Seattle pulled even in the fourth when Martinez drove in an
unearned run with a sacrifice fly.
Baltimore used a familiar formula to regain the lead in the
fifth. Bordick walked, took third on a single by Anderson and
scored on DeShields' grounder to second.
Game notes
Mariners pinch-hitters are 3-for-22 with no RBI this year.
... Martinez has hit safely in 21 of his last 22 games. ...
Anderson has eight multihit games in his last 11 starts.
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Baseball Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Baltimore Clubhouse
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