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Matsui leads Rockies past Orioles in extra innings

Jun 10, 2007 - 3:39 AM BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Kaz Matsui's two-out RBI double in the top of the 10th inning lifted the Colorado Rockies to a 3-2 triumph over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

Rookie Chris Iannetta's one-out single off reliever Todd Williams (0-1) sparked the 10th-inning rally. Willy Taveras sacrificed Iannetta to second, setting the table for Matsui, who drove a 2-1 pitch into left field.

"(Matsui) had a pretty good swing on that pitch," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "He's definitely a good addition to our offense - handling the bat, big swing of the bat for us."

Baltimore manager Sam Perlozzo didn't blame Williams for the decisive Matsui hit.

"You can't fault it," Perlozzo said. "He didn't really hit it that hard. He flared that one out there. Matsui, he's flicking it out there, and sometimes that's what happens."

After recording the first two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, Colorado reliever Brian Fuentes hit Nick Markakis with a pitch, bringing slugger Miguel Tejada to the plate. However, the lefthander earned his 18th save of the season when he got Tejada to strike out swinging.

Jeremy Affeldt (4-1) earned the win after pitching a perfect ninth inning.

After both teams scored two early runs, the game turned into a pitching duel.

Baltimore got to former Oriole Rodrigo Lopez immediately as Brian Roberts and Markakis led off the game with back-to-back singles before pulling off a double steal. Tejada grounded out, which plated Roberts, and Aubrey Huff drove in Markakis with a single to make it 2-0.

The Rockies battled back to tie the game in their next at-bat, as Garrett Atkins led off the inning with a walk and moved to third on Brad Hawpe's double. Rookie Troy Tulowitzki's groundout scored Atkins and Ryan Spilborghs' RBI single off starter Jeremy Guthrie tied the game.

Both starters settled down thereafter and neither team was able to score until Matsui's decisive single.

Lopez allowed two runs, six hits and one walk while striking out two in seven innings. It was Lopez's first start against his former team - he pitched for the Orioles from 2002-06 before being traded away in January.

"It was fun to be out there," Lopez said. "It was a good time for me. The guys know me pretty well. I was very emotional to be out here."

In addition to a strong pitching performance, Lopez punctuated his return to Baltimore with a nice scoop and throw on a bunt by Corey Patterson to lead off the seventh inning.

"I didn't have any other options. Corey is a pretty fast guy. I thought it was my chance to be on 'Web Gems' tonight," Lopez said.

Guthrie allowed two runs, six hits and one walk while striking out six in eight innings.

The righthander lost his first start of the season on April 24 before heading to the bullpen for two weeks. Since returning to the Baltimore rotation to fill the spot of injured starter Jaret Wright, Guthrie is 2-0 with a 1.75 ERA in seven starts.

While he's kept the Orioles in games, he hasn't had a decision in five of his last six starts.

"No-decisions - they stem from a lot of things," Guthrie said. "In the end, they beat us out, but the important thing is if we're pitching well, hitting well and fielding well. You feel good about what you're doing out there."

Roberts finished with three hits for the Orioles, who fell to 6-15 in one-run games this season.

Taveras led off the game with a single to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.