Orioles ride Bass to beat Blue Jays in 7

BALTIMORE -- A rainy night ended perfectly for the Baltimore Orioles, who didn't even have to work nine innings to snap their 10-game losing streak.

Brian Bass pitched six strong innings, and the Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 in a game halted by rain in the seventh.

Umpires asked for the tarp after Lyle Overbay snapped an 0-for-23 skid with a leadoff double off Lance Cormier in the seventh. About an hour later, the grounds crew began preparing the field for play. But the rain started again, and the game was called after a total delay of 1 hour, 30 minutes.

"Mother Nature helped us and Lord knows, we needed all the help we can get," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "We'll take it."

One night earlier, the Blue Jays won a game called by rain in the seventh inning. So Toronto manager Cito Gaston had no complaints, except that a victory would have assured his team at least 86 wins.

"It was getting real slippery out there for the guys, so I guess it was the right thing to do," Gaston said. "The only thing is, we'd certainly like to finish 10 games over and this is a two-game swing. But hey, I guess we kind of got one last night, so what goes around, comes around."

The loss left Toronto at 85-76.

Bass (4-4) allowed one run and three hits. The right-hander struck out three and walked none in earning his first win in four starts since coming to the Orioles in a trade with Minnesota on Sept. 5.

"No secret. Just attacked the zone, attacked guys," he said. "I had a little better planning for guys the second time around and was able to execute tonight."

Bass retired his final 13 batters; only two of them got the ball out of the infield.

It rained for much of the day in Baltimore, but the sky turned blue in the early evening and the game started on time. The rain returned in the fifth inning and intensified in the sixth, drenching many in the small but spirited crowd.

Brandon Fahey scored a run and drove in one for the Orioles, whose 10-game losing streak was their the longest since a 12-game skid in August 2004. Baltimore had also lost 29 of 35 and was 4-19 in September.

"There was a mini-celebration before you guys got in," Bass told reporters.

"You know, it's good to get a win," Trembley said. "It's been a while."

John Parrish (1-1) allowed two runs and nine hits in five innings for the Blue Jays. Toronto was 5-0 in his five previous starts.

"He gave us a chance to win. We just couldn't score any runs for him," Gaston said.

Said Parrish: "I had a good changeup today and I used it a lot. I felt good about the start."

The loss did nothing to ruin a year in which he proved he could start as well as pitch in relief.

"It was a good season for me," Parrish said. "I didn't come into the season thinking I was going to start. Now I have options."

Brad Wilkerson gave Toronto a 1-0 lead in the second inning with his fourth home run, the first since June 10. Travis Snider and Gregg Zaun followed with singles before Bass began his run of 13 straight outs by retiring John McDonald on a fielder's choice.

The Orioles tied it in the third when Fahey hit a leadoff double and scored on a single by Melvin Mora.

A double by Ramon Hernandez, a single by Alex Cintron and a sacrifice fly by Fahey made it 2-1 in the fourth.

Game notes
Mora picked up his 103rd RBI, one short of matching his career high set in 2004. ... Overbay's hitless streak was the longest of his career. ... It was Baltimore's first one-run win since July 29. ... Jay Payton batted leadoff for the first time with the Orioles.