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GAME LOG
BALTIMORE -- Blake Stein pitched an eight-hitter for his
first complete game in the majors, baffling the Baltimore Orioles
in the finest effort of his brief career.
The most impressive pitching performance of the night, however,
was turned in by Pat Rapp.
|  | | Blake Stein came back strong from his horrible previous outing |
Returning to the Orioles after spending more than a week in
Louisiana with his critically ill father, Rapp retired 17 consecutive batters at one point in Baltimore's 4-1 defeat to the Kansas City
Royals on Friday night.
His gritty outing was overshadowed by Stein and ruined by an
error.
"It just felt good doing something that was easy for me instead
of what I was going through," Rapp said.
"I've found out that there are a lot of things more important
than this game. I don't know if I was focused out there or what,
because right now the game is the least of my worries."
Rapp's father has a life-threatening bacterial infection. Rapp
missed his previous start while at his father's side, but returned
to take his scheduled turn in the rotation.
Rapp (6-10) gave up singles to two of the first three batters he
faced before holding the Royals hitless over the next six innings.
He walked Gregg Zaun with two outs in the second and retired the
next 17 batters before Zaun walked on a 3-2 pitch with one out in
the eighth.
Jeff Reboulet then reached when shortstop Melvin Mora dropped a
potential double-play relay at second base, his fifth error in as
many games. Johnny Damon followed with a triple into the gap in
right-center, and Rey Sanchez chased Rapp with a run-scoring single.
"I felt like I threw the pitch I needed to get out of the
inning; we just didn't execute," Rapp said.
"It's a shame to have a guy go out there and give us the effort
Pat did and not come away with something for it," Orioles manager
Mike Hargrove said.
Stein (4-3), who allowed eight runs in 2 1/3 innings to
Baltimore last Saturday, struck out six and walked none in his 20th
major league start.
The right-hander, who missed the first half of the season
because of a fractured bone in his right forearm, came in with a
7.14 ERA in eight starts this year.
Unlike Rapp, he received solid backing from the players behind
him.
"Even though they got a bunch of hits it didn't really bother
me," Stein said. "I was throwing strikes and they were going to
put it in play. That's what they do. But the defense turned some
big double plays for me and the outfield made some great catches."
Brook Fordyce had two hits and scored a run for the Orioles, 1-6
against Kansas City this season.
Damon, who had half the Royals' four hits, is 72-for-154 (.468)
since the All-Star break. He scored twice and has 105 runs, just 28
short of the team record of 133 set by Willie Wilson in 1980.
"There wasn't too much hitting," Damon said. "Rapp was
pitching a great game. His curveball was great and we swung at it a
lot, which set up his fastball. Fortunately for us, we got the big
hit."
Kansas City got a run in the first when Damon singled, took
second on a grounder and scored on a single by Mike Sweeney, his
108th RBI of the season.
Baltimore pulled even in the third on a double by Fordyce and a
single by Luis Matos.
The Orioles put runners at second and third with one out in the
fifth before Stein struck out Ryan Minor and retired Matos on a fly
ball.
Game notes
The game was interrupted in the bottom of the fifth inning
when a water sprinkler went off behind the mound. ... The Royals
placed left-handed pitcher Paul Spoljaric on the 15-day disabled list and recalled
right-hander Jose Santiago from Triple-A Omaha. ... Fordyce has hit in 12 of
15 games since joining the Orioles on July 30. ... Albert Belle
went 0-for-4 and is 21-for-102 (.206) in his last 25 games.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Kansas City Clubhouse
Baltimore Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 6
Texas 4
Cleveland 9
Seattle 8
Detroit 10
Oakland 1
Anaheim 9
NY Yankees 8
Toronto 3
Minnesota 2
Kansas City 4
Baltimore 1
Chi. White Sox 5
Tampa Bay 2
Pittsburgh 6
Cincinnati 3
Houston 5
Milwaukee 4
St. Louis 7
Philadelphia 6
Florida 9
Colorado 8
Arizona 11
Chicago Cubs 2
Montreal 6
San Diego 3
NY Mets 5
Los Angeles 3
San Francisco 2
Atlanta 0
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