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Wigginton's sac fly leads Orioles to win in 11

Jul 30, 2010 - 4:53 AM KANSAS CITY, Mo.(AP) -- Ty broke the tie between two struggling American League clubs.

Ty Wigginton's sacrifice fly in the 11th inning broke the game's final tie and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Thursday night to snap a five-game losing streak.

Corey Patterson homered with two outs in the eighth off Kansas City's Robinson Tejada and tied the score 5-5. Nick Markakis led off the third for the Orioles with his ninth home run.

"He kept throwing fastballs," Patterson said. "I knew he had a good fastball from the scouting report. But when you start to see the same pitch over and over again you get a good track on it. I was able to hit it over the wall. It feels good to do it at a critical point in the game."

Wigginton's second sacrifice fly of the game scored Brian Roberts in the 11th and was off Blake Wood (0-2), the fifth Kansas City pitcher.

"I knew I could get the run home if I could get it to the outfield. I was looking to do that," Wigginton said.

Five Baltimore relievers combined to throw 7 2-3 scoreless innings with David Hernandez (5-7), who allowed one hit and struck out three in two innings, getting the victory. Alfredo Simon logged his 15th save in 17 opportunities.

The Royals have lost five straight and 14 of 17 to fall a season-worst 18 games below .500 (42-60). The Royals have traded away Scott Podsednik and Alberto Callaspo and lost David DeJesus to a season-ending thumb injury in the past eight days.

"If we put extra pressure on ourselves, we're really hurting ourselves," Royals second baseman Mike Aviles said. "We can't really worry about trades and injuries. That's just part of baseball. You're going to lose people and gain people. We've just got to pull together and fight through the storm."

Orioles rookie left-hander Brian Matusz held the Royals hitless over the first three innings, but didn't make it out of the fourth.

The Royals sent 10 men to the plate in a five-run fourth, which included Wilson Betemit walking with the bases loaded. Aviles' sacrifice fly scored Billy Butler. Yuniesky Betancourt and Alex Gordon contributed run-producing singles in the inning, while Betemit scored on a fielding error by Adam Jones.

"I was a little surprised," Matusz said of being pulled so quickly. "It was a bloop hit by (Rick) Ankiel. I'd pitched so effectively the first three innings. I was a little bit upset. No one wants to come out. I felt like I was capable of finishing. But, you know, if I don't like it I should stop walking guys and pitch better."

Matusz allowed five runs, two hits and four walks in 3 1-3 innings before being replaced by Mark Hendrickson. He walked three in the fourth and all scored. Matusz has a 12.46 ERA in his past four starts, allowing 18 runs, 19 hits and 13 walks in 13 innings. After going 2-0 in his first three starts, Matusz is 1-11.

"The bullpen was fresh and we felt like we had enough arms down there," interim manager Juan Samuel said. "We saw Brian was laboring like he was in his last starts and we didn't want to let that get to him tonight. My mindset is not to put them in a position to lose games. I'd rather remove them earlier than late. We think he lost focus there and we didn't want to leave him in there."

The Orioles took a 3-0 lead after three innings. Roberts led off the game with a double, took third on a groundout and scored on Wigginton's sacrifice fly. Felix Pie singled in the second and moved to third on two wild pitches. He scored on Patterson's fielder's choice grounder.

"(Eight) walks hurt us and the inability to tack on runs," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Take your hat off to Corey Patterson. He put a nice at-bat on Robby to hit the tying home run. I don't get double frustrated, but it's frustrating."

Royals starter Kyle Davies left after 5 2-3 innings, allowing four runs, three earned, six hits and four walks. An error by Betancourt in the sixth led to Pie scoring an unearned run, Davies was replaced by Kyle Farnsworth.

"The bottom line is we lost the game and I walked four guys," Davies said. "That can't happen especially when they come out and score five runs for me. I thought I did a good job of limiting damage, but there are still too many walks."

Notes: The Orioles are 26-9 at Kansas City since the start of the 2001 season. ... Orioles SS Cesar Izturis singled in the sixth and is six hits from 1,000. ... The Royals promoted RHP Greg Holland from Triple-A Omaha, where he was 3-3 with a 3.81 ERA in 36 relief appearances. With the addition of Holland, the Royals have a 13-man pitching staff. ... IF Josh Bell, who hit .400 in eight games since being optioned July 21 to Triple-A, has been recalled after the trade of Tejada. He will join the Orioles on Friday.