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Bedard stellar again as Orioles beat Athletics

Jul 21, 2007 - 6:40 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- If the Baltimore Orioles can take any positives out of the 2007 season, it is the emergence of lefthanded ace Erik Bedard.

The 28-year-old Canadian tossed seven superb innings as the Orioles cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night.

Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts provided all the support Bedard needed, combining for three RBI and a pair of hits for Baltimore, which is 14-12 under interim manager Dave Trembley.

"For the most part, everybody's out there having fun and is relaxed," Markakis said. "That's the most important thing, is go out there, have fun. And when you have good pitching and you're swinging the bats, it's even more fun."

Bedard (9-5) walked three and struck out 11, allowing just a solo homer by Mark Ellis with two outs in the sixth. The blast ended a string of 21 straight scoreless frames for Bedard, who leads the major leagues with 167 strikeouts.

"I'm not trying to get a no-hitter, so it doesn't really matter," Bedard said. "I was just throwing strikes and try to get them off-balance. Strikeouts come as they come, and I was just trying to pound the strike zone."

"The guy is dominating and he's making it look easy and he's throwing all his pitches for strikes," Trembley said. "When he's pitching, the guys know they're going to have a chance to win."

Ellis' homer also ended Bedard's bid for a no-hitter. The last time a no-hitter was thrown by the Orioles, four pitchers combined to keep Oakland without a hit in July 1991.

"We had to be aggressive because everybody is 0-2 all night," Ellis said. "He threw a great game and he left it over the middle of the plate a little bit and I was able to drop the head on it."

Hall of Famer Jim Palmer was the last Baltimore pitcher to accomplish the feat without assistance, also vs. the Athletics on August 13, 1969.

The Orioles took the lead in the first. Corey Patterson hit a one-out single and stole second before scoring on a base hit by Markakis, who increased his team-leading RBI total to 59.

Baltimore doubled the advantage a inning later thanks to a miscue by Oakland left fielder Shannon Stewart.

Two outs after a leadoff single by former Athletic Jay Payton, Stewart misplayed a base hit by Luis Hernandez. Instead of cutting off the ball, Stewart kicked it away from him, allowing Payton to score.

The Orioles added single runs in the fourth and fifth before Roberts drove in a pair in the sixth. Baltimore put runners at the corners before Roberts lined a ball to left-center.

Center fielder Nick Swisher tried to make the play but ran head-first into the outfield wall and was down for a few minutes.

After being attended to by trainer Larry Davis and manager Bob Geren, Swisher remained in the game. He finally left in the seventh with a sprained right shoulder.

Starter Joe Blanton (8-7) dropped his third straight decision, surrendering six runs - five earned - and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings. The righthander has allowed 14 earned runs during his skid.

"I don't know how many runs were with two outs, but I think quite a few," Blanton said. "It was like I was almost getting out of it, but not quite. I didn't do a good job getting the leadoff hitter out. You can't be effective doing that, makes it too easy for teams to score runs that way."

The A's have lost 10 of their last 11 games, including seven of eight since the All-Star break.

"Now that we're not swinging the bats well, it just gets magnified when you have a performance like that from a guy on the other team," Ellis said. "But we've got to find a way. Whether the guy's a good pitcher or not, we've got to find a way to get it done."