• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Outburst in eighth leads Orioles past Indians

Aug 15, 2008 - 5:09 AM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Lou Montanez doesn't seem to be having a tough time adjusting to the majors.

Montanez and Kevin Millar each drove in two runs as part of the Baltimore Orioles eight-run eighth and the Orioles went on to defeat the Cleveland Indians, 11-6, on Thursday night.

Baltimore sent 13 men to the plate in eighth as it equaled a season-high with eight runs in an inning to earn a split of the four-game series after losing the first two games.

Fernando Cabrera (1-1) pitched a perfect seventh to pick up the win against his former team.

Montanez was called up from Class AA Bowie last Wednesday and became just the second player in the storied history of the Orioles to homer in his first at-bat. That was just the beginning for Montanez, who has gone 9-for-19 in his first eight days in the majors.

"It's been a whirlwind," said Montanez, who was leading the Eastern League in batting average, home runs, and RBI at the time of his promotion. "I went from AA to the west coast and then to the east coast. It has been a great week."

"He is swinging at strikes," said Orioles' manager Dave Trembley. "He's showing patience and hitting the ball hard. He's already had some big hits for us."

With the game tied at 3-3, Cleveland manager Eric Wedge called upon his best reliever, Rafael Perez, to keep the score tied, but Perez (2-3) didn't even record an out.



Kevin Millar singled to start the winning rally and the Orioles caught a break when third baseman Andy Gonzalez misplayed Jay Payton's potential double-play grounder.



"That opened the floodgates," Millar said.

Did it ever.

With the Indians expecting a bunt, Montanez hit an RBI double off of the wall in right-center to put the Orioles ahead.

"I was expecting the bunt sign," Montanez said. "I am glad I didn't get it and was able to get a pitch to hit."

Juan Castro followed with a two-run single to end Perez's night, but not the Orioles onslaught.



Melvin Mora added an RBI double and Ramon Hernandez drew a bases loaded walk off of Edward Mujica to increase Baltimore's bulge to 8-3.



"It got away from us," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "Perez didn't have it and Mujica didn't have it as well.

Millar followed with a two-run single and Montanez capped the scoring with a single up the middle.

"It's rare when you see two guys get two hits in the same inning," Millar said. "We just kept going."

"Even if you already have a hit in the inning, you don't want to be the guy to make the third out," Montanez said.



Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera was his normal wild-self as he allowed three runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. Cabrera walked two batters and hit two more batters to set a new Oriole record with 17 hit batters in a season.



Zach Jackson, who was one of four players acquired in the CC Sabathia deal with the Brewers, yielded three runs on eight hits in five innings in his Indians' debut after being called up from Class AAA Buffalo yesterday. The young lefthander struck out one and walked one.