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Guthrie, Orioles beat Indians for 3rd straight win

May 15, 2010 - 4:20 AM BALTIMORE(AP) -- Jeremy Guthrie received ample offensive and defensive support. Justin Masterson was left to ponder another fruitless outing.

Guthrie allowed two singles in eight innings, Miguel Tejada drove in three runs and the Baltimore Orioles extended Masterson's losing streak with an 8-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Friday night.

"Guthrie was good. He was under control the whole game," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said.

Guthrie (2-4) walked one, struck out five and retired 16 consecutive Indians following Jhonny Peralta's RBI single in the first inning. He has won two in a row after failing to win in his first six starts.

The Orioles matched a season high with their third straight victory and no defensive play was bigger than left fielder Corey Patterson's inning-ending grab in the top of the third with Cleveland ahead 1-0.

Patterson, who cut down the potential tying run at the plate to conclude Thursday's win over Seattle, leaped at the left field wall to snag Shin-Soo Choo's drive, then ignited a two-run rally with a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning.

"It keeps the momentum on our side and gives us even a burst of momentum that we may not have had if we made a routine play or that ball goes out," Guthrie said. "Corey's been a big spark for us."

Masterson (0-4), who dropped his 10th consecutive decision, is winless in 14 starts since beating Oakland on Aug. 9, 2009. He allowed six runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings, walking five and hitting two batters.

The right-hander managed to keep Cleveland at 2-1 until the Orioles scored four runs in the sixth.

"The ball that inning wasn't going where it was supposed to go," Masterson said. "No matter how much I tried to love and caress it and tell the ball where to go, it just wouldn't go."

Luke Scott had two RBIs for Baltimore. Patterson, Scott and Ty Wigginton each had three hits.

After a storm delayed the start of the game for 1 hour, 7 minutes, Cleveland used a two-out rally to grab a 1-0 lead in the first. Choo drew a walk, Travis Hafner was hit by a pitch in the right arm and Peralta followed with an RBI single to left.

After his leaping catch denied Choo, Patterson singled to lead off the bottom of the third when a sliding Choo couldn't snag his dying liner in right-center.

"I always get more pumped on a good defensive play rather than a home run or a base hit. I think it can carry over to the offensive part of the game. ... I'll take that any day over a home run, because pitching and defense wins games," said Patterson, who is 6 for 13 since being summoned from Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday.

Adam Jones followed by lacing a tying, opposite-field triple into the right-field corner. Tejada was hit in the left thigh and, one out later, Scott poked a single through second for a 2-1 lead.

The Orioles knocked Masterson out of the game in the sixth, after he walked the bases loaded and yielded Tejada's two-run single up the middle following an intentional pass to Nick Markakis.

"It's two or three pitches a game, but it seems like when I hang them, it really does hurt me," Masterson said. "Tonight, it was kind of getting worse as it went on."

Aaron Laffey relieved and gave up RBI singles to Scott and Wigginton for a 6-1 lead.

Tejada added an RBI single off Rafael Perez in the seventh. Wigginton doubled and later scored on a wild pitch in the eighth.

NOTES: Indians OF Grady Sizemore misplayed Scott's sixth-inning single, ending a 158-game errorless streak dating to Aug. 18, 2008. . ... Cleveland released LHP Scott Lewis, its third-round draft pick in 2004. Lewis made five starts for the Indians in 2008 and 2009 and was 4-0 with a 3.49 ERA. Lewis was 2-0 in three starts at Triple-A Columbus this season. ... Hafner was plunked by a pitch an American League-leading seventh time. ... Bench coach Jeff Datz coached first base for Orioles in place of John Shelby, who missed Friday's game while being inducted into the Henry Clay High School Hall of Fame in Lexington, Ky. ... Scott, who had one multihit game in his first 26 this season, has two or more in three straight games. ... Baltimore stranded a season-high 13 runners.