Final in 13

Series: Game 4 of 4

Series tied 2-2 (as of 4/8)

Game 1: Sunday, April 4
Boston2Final
Baltimore7
Game 2: Tuesday, April 6
Boston4Final
Baltimore1
Game 3: Wednesday, April 7
Boston10Final
Baltimore3
Game 4: Thursday, April 8
Boston2Final
in 13
Baltimore3

Red Sox 2

(2-2, 2-2 away)

Orioles 3

(2-2, 2-2 home)

7:05 PM ET, April 8, 2004

Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland 

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BOS 00010000000 2 6 0
BAL 02000000001 3 7 1

W: R. Lopez (1-0)

L: B. Jones (0-1)

Jones walks four, including Lopez, to lose

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Held scoreless for eight straight innings, the Baltimore Orioles broke the drought without taking the bat off their shoulders.

Bobby Jones' fourth walk of the 13th inning forced in Javy Lopez with the winning run, giving the Orioles a 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night.

Jones (0-1) loaded the bases on walks before throwing a high fastball to Larry Bigbie on a 3-2 pitch, scoring Lopez. It was the 13th walk allowed by the Red Sox, who used six pitchers.

On a night in which they managed only seven hits, Baltimore's best weapon was the base on balls.

"Patience comes with confidence. When you feel right at the plate, you're not afraid to go deep in the count," Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli said.

Lopez led off the 13th with a walk. After Jose Bautista struck out, David Segui and Luis Matos walked to load the bases for Bigbie, who fouled off a 3-2 pitch before taking ball four.

"I don't know how I let the last one go. I swung at the first two, which were about the same height," Bigbie said. "I just figured I'd take my chances."

Jones, who pitched two innings Wednesday night, yielded five walks in 1 1-3 innings in this one.

"That kid was in a tough position," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He was going to stay out there. He was our last pitcher tonight."

Boston got two singles in the first inning, then produced only one more hit -- a solo homer by Ellis Burks -- until the 11th. Boston managed only one earned run against six Baltimore pitchers.

"We found a way to keep the game going. But we didn't do enough offensively to give ourselves a chance to win," Francona said.

Rodrigo Lopez (1-0) worked 1 1-3 innings to cap a terrific performance by the Orioles bullpen, which yielded three hits over 6 2-3 innings.

Baltimore's Matt Riley, making his sixth career start, gave up two runs, one earned, and three hits in 6 1-3 innings. The left-hander struck out five and walked four.

Segui drove in two runs for the Orioles, who gained a split of the four-game series.

"This was a big game for us. You don't want to drop three at home at the start of the season, especially against a team like Boston," Bigbie said. "Now we have a little momentum going on this nine-game road trip."

The Orioles travel to Tampa Bay, Boston and Toronto before returning home on April 20.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, won't get much rest before their home opener on Friday afternoon against Toronto.

"It's already that day, isn't it?" Francona said. "We'll be all right."

Baltimore wasted an excellent chance to win it in the 10th. Melvin Mora hit a leadoff double off Keith Foulke and took third on a wild pitch before Miguel Tejada struck out. After an intentional walk to Rafael Palmeiro, Javy Lopez hit a short fly ball to center fielder Johnny Damon, who threw out Mora at the plate for an inning-ending double play.

Boston put runners on first and third with one out in the 11th before Buddy Groom came in to retire the side.

Boston trailed 2-1 until Burks hit his first homer with Boston since 1992, a solo shot to center with one out in the sixth. The drive snapped an 0-for-7 start for Burks, signed as a free agent in February.

Riley issued three walks in the seventh to load the bases with one out, but B.J. Ryan snuffed the uprising by retiring Damon on a line drive to short and Bill Mueller on a soft liner to first.

The Red Sox went up 1-0 with an unearned run in the first. Damon hit a leadoff single, took second on a wild pickoff throw by Riley and scored on a two-out single by Manny Ramirez.

Boston starter Tim Wakefield lost control of his knuckleball and gave away the lead in the fourth. With one out, the right-hander walked the bases loaded while throwing only two strikes.

Segui then hit a sharp grounder up the middle that bounced off second base, enabling two runs to score.

Game notes


Mora botched a grounder to third in the third inning, his fourth error in four games. It's his first season as a regular at the position. ... Damon had six straight hits over two games before grounding out in the third. ... Orioles leadoff hitter Brian Roberts went 0-for-3 with two walks and is hitless in 15 at-bats this season.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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