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  Sunday, Jul. 16 1:35pm ET
O's put halt to losing streak
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

BALTIMORE (AP) -- On a day when six pitchers struggled to get outs, the Baltimore Orioles found a way to win despite allowing runners to reach second in every inning.

The Florida Marlins simply didn't take advantage of their opportunities, and Baltimore finally got its first win after the All-Star break.

B.J. Surhoff homered in a four-run sixth inning and the Orioles avoided one jam after another Sunday in a 9-5 victory.

"We got the outs we needed to get," Baltimore manager Mike Hargrove said.

Delino DeShields hit a three-run homer for the Orioles, who were coming off three straight losses to Atlanta. Baltimore (39-51) avoided falling a season-high 14 games under .500 and improved to 3-7 against Florida since interleague play began in 1997.

Preston Wilson had three RBI for the Marlins, who went 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position and stranded 15 runners.

"It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it and try to do better tomorrow," Hargrove said. "It was a struggle, but we persevered."

The Marlins didn't go down in order in any inning and wore a path to second base, but had only five runs.

"We didn't score enough runs today," Florida manager John Boles said. "Five with all the opportunities isn't enough. This is a hitters park."

Cliff Floyd went 3-for-3 with two walks, and Marlins right fielder Mark Kotsay had three assists, one short of the major league record.

The Orioles paid a price for attempting to be aggressive on the basepaths. Two runners were thrown out trying to steal, two more were tagged out seeking to stretch singles into doubles and another was caught off first base on a flyball. It didn't matter, because the Orioles got 16 hits off five pitchers.

"Today we got the big hits we didn't get in the Atlanta series," Hargrove said.

The Marlins, on the other hand, just didn't do enough with their 11 hits.

"That's one you definitely feel you let get away," Wilson said.

Baltimore trailed 4-3 in the sixth before Surhoff homered on the second pitch from Vic Darensbourg (4-1), and three batters later Charles Johnson hit an RBI double off Ricky Bones. Ivanon Coffie then delivered his first major-league hit, an RBI single, and Brady Anderson followed with a sacrifice fly.

Mike Bordick and Albert Belle hit RBI singles in the eighth. The Marlins were 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position before Paul Bako hit an RBI single in the ninth.

Alan Mills (2-0) got the win and Mike Timlin, the sixth Baltimore pitcher, got five outs for his 10th save.

The Marlins got a run in the first inning when Floyd walked with two outs and scored on a double by Wilson.

In the third, Florida's Luis Castillo singled and scored when Floyd bounced a double past the drawn-in infield.

After having would-be base stealers thrown out in each of the first two innings, the Orioles took a more direct approach in the third, going up 3-2 when DeShields followed a pair of walks with a drive over the right-field scoreboard.

A sacrifice fly by Wilson made it 3-3 in the fifth, but the Marlins stranded runners on second and third. Kotsay threw out Anderson and DeShields at second base in the bottom half, tying a major league record for assists by an outfielder in one inning.

Florida went up 4-3 in the sixth. After Orioles starter Pat Rapp gave up a walk and a single, Chuck McElroy walked Floyd to load the bases and Mills walked Wilson on a 3-2 pitch before retiring Mike Lowell.

Game notes
Castillo recorded his major league-leading 39th steal. He went 2-for-6 and is 17-for-36 during an eight-game hitting streak. ... DeShields' homer was his first since May 7. ... Kotsay had five assists in 85 games before Sunday.
 


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