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Gibbons lifts Orioles over Royals in extra innings

Apr 13, 2007 - 4:41 AM BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- The Baltimore Orioles went to extra innings for the second consecutive game, but this time the result was different.

Jay Gibbons' two-out single in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Orioles a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

The win comes just one night after the Orioles' 4-1 loss in 12 innings to the Detroit Tigers - a game that was scoreless through 11 frames.

"Our pitching has been great and we have been wasting opportunities for them," Gibbons said. "We needed a win."

Brian Roberts led off the 10th with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice by Melvin Mora. Jason Standridge (0-1) intentionally walked Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada to load the bases.

The righthander appeared to be on his way to escaping the jam when Aubrey Huff grounded to first baseman Ross Gload, who threw home for the forceout. Gibbons, who had popped up with two outs and the lead run on second base in the eighth inning, then drove an 0-1 pitch into left field to end the game.

"I was trying not to think about that in the 10th," Gibbons said. "It has just be kind of a rough start. I have had a couple of those situations and have been able to come through and it just felt good to hit that ball."

The game-winning run, scored by Markakis was just the fourth Orioles run in their last 34 innings. Chris Ray (1-1) pitched a scoreless 10th inning for the Orioles and picked up the win. Both squads wasted strong performances by their starting pitchers. Baltimore 's Steve Trachsel allowed one run and three hits in seven innings.

"My stuff was alright," said Trachsel, who was making his Oriole Park at Camden Yards debut. "I was really happy with my location. I felt good early. I was a little a nervous but I was able to settle down."

Gil Meche pitched six scoreless innings for the Royals, allowing seven hits and one walk while striking out five. However, he was removed from the game after an apparent hamstring injury.

"There's a couple reasons why it's disappointing," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "We lost, but we're not quite sure what's going on with Gil right now, his hamstring, so we're anxious to see where that is.

"We think it's fairly mild, but we'll get a better diagnosis tomorrow I'm sure. When he came off the mound in the sixth, he said he felt something in his leg maybe a pitch or two before the end of the inning. We just weren't going to take any chances."

The Orioles' sluggish lineup, which grounded into three double plays, benefited from Meche's exit. Reliever Jimmy Gobble started the seventh and promptly allowed a single to Gibbons.

Kevin Millar followed with a double to the left-center field wall, but Gibbons tried to score from first base and was thrown out at home on a perfect relay throw from shortstop Tony Pena Jr. to catcher John Buck.

After getting a popout for the second out of the inning, Gobble gave up a double to Paul Bako, scoring Millar to tie the game. Mark Grudzielanek drove in the Royals' lone run with an RBI single in the sixth.

"It's tough to win ballgames when you only score one," Bell said.