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Olson, Orioles snap Rays' six-game winning streak

Apr 30, 2008 - 4:48 AM BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- In his zest to make a case to stay in the Baltimore Orioles' rotation, Garrett Olson gave his team just what it needed to stop the surging Tampa Bay Rays.

Olson pitched into the seventh inning in his season debut, leading the Orioles to a 7-4 victory over the Rays on Tuesday.

Recalled from the minors earlier in the day, Olson (1-0) made a strong first statement to stay in the rotation with Baltimore after going 1-1 with a 1.85 ERA with Class AAA Norfolk. The lefthander is filling the void created by an injury to Adam Loewen.

"He showed great improvement from the last time I saw him," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said. "He pitched inside better and worked faster. He challenged Tampa Bay in the middle of (its) lineup and was making guys hit the ball. After the way he pitched tonight, we're going to have to see what we can do to get him back there again."

Olson overcame five walks, allowing just two runs and four hits with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings against the Rays, who had won six straight - their longest streak since a six-game run from July 28-August 3, 2005.

"I felt like I was in more control; I wasn't getting flustered," Olson said. "When you let a pitch get away from you, you've got to just come back and make adjustments. One thing was, I wasn't afraid of contact. Get strike one and see what they do with the one after that and let your defense play behind you."

After Melvin Mora and Nick Markakis hit consecutive two-out, run-scoring singles to put the Orioles on the board in the second, Ramon Hernandez knocked ineffective starter Jason Hammel (2-2) out of the game with a two-out RBI double in the third, giving Baltimore a 3-0 advantage.

Hammel was ineffective from the very start, surrendering three runs and six hits with four walks in only 2 2/3 innings, throwing just 28 of his 61 pitches for strikes.

The Orioles increased their lead with four more runs in the sixth, highlighted by Aubrey Huff's second homer in as many days - a two-run shot that opened a 7-0 cushion.

Mora had a sacrifice fly and Kevin Millar added a run-scoring single to open the floodgates.

"We got some big hits from the middle of our lineup," Trembley said. "The two-out hits to break open the game - especially from Millar - were big. Mora also had a good game."

For Huff, this game merely continued his long history of success against the team with which he played the first 6 1/2 years of his career. With Tuesday's 1-for-3 performance, he is batting .326 with nine home runs and 20 RBI in just 86 at-bats against Tampa Bay.

The Rays mounted a strong comeback attempt with two outs in the top of the seventh. After Akinori Iwamura's RBI double signaled the end of the game for Olson, reliever Randor Bierd promptly served up a run-scoring single by Carl Crawford.

B.J. Upton then hit a 3-2 fastball over the wall in right-center field for his third homer of the season, trimming the deficit to 7-4.

However, Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker kept Tampa Bay scoreless in the eighth before handing it over to closer George Sherrill, who worked around a walk in the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.

"Today was Baltimore's day, but tomorrow is a new day," Iwamura said. "It's important that we come out and play well tomorrow - especially after losing a win streak - to make a new start."