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Cabrera pitches Orioles past mistake-prone Diamondbacks

Jun 23, 2007 - 5:59 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Daniel Cabrera carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and the Baltimore Orioles took advantage of several defensive miscues in a 7-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.

Cabrera (6-8) allowed one run, two hits and three walks while striking out six in six innings. The 6-7 righthander did not allow a hit until Eric Byrnes' double in the sixth.

"In the first inning I felt really strong and I felt that maybe I would have a good game," Cabrera said. "In the last game against Arizona they got me in the first two innings. Today I had everything working especially my heater."

Helped by several errors, the Orioles opened the scoring in the second when they scored four unearned runs on three Arizona errors en route to their third straight start.

Aubrey Huff began the rally with a one-out double off Diamondbacks starter Brandon Webb (7-5). Huff scored when Arizona third baseman Chad Tracy threw a routine grounder by Jay Payton over the head of first baseman Conor Jackson. Payton moved to second on the play and on the next pitch, was caught in a rundown after attempting to steal third. However Webb, who was covering third, dropped the ball trying to tag Payton out at third.

After a walk to Jay Gibbons, Chris Gomez attempted a sacrifice down the third base line. Tracy fielded the ball and threw wildly towards home, allowing Payton to score and the runners to advance an extra base. Webb struck out Cabrera before Brian Roberts plated Gibbons and Gomez with a triple.

"That was an inning where we probably shouldn't have scored any runs," Payton said. "We took advantage of a couple of misplays by them and we were able to put up a four spot and that turned out to be the difference in the game."

Baltimore extended the lead to 7-0 on a two-run double by Gibbons in the third and Roberts third home run of the season in the fourth.

Webb allowed seven runs, though only three were earned, and six hits in five innings. The defending National League Cy Young Award winner also walked two and struck out seven.

"We had an ugly second inning," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "When Webb started out it looked like he had good command of his fastball but that second inning just wasn't good."

Webb said he "felt great" and had his "best stuff" on Friday.

"It was just one of those nights where nothing was going right," he said. "There were a few errors but then I couldn't back them up and make the big pitch to get out of the inning. It just wasn't meant to be."

Tracy's two-out RBI double later in the frame accounted for the only run allowed by Cabrera, who allowed 12 runs and 13 hits in 12 2/3 innings during his two previous starts.

Baltimore's Miguel Tejada did not play in the game and saw his consecutive games streak end at 1,152 - the fifth-longest streak in history.

The Orioles placed the All-Star shortstop on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a fractured left wrist. Tejada suffered the injury when he was hit by a Doug Brocail pitch in Wednesday's game against the San Diego Padres.

"I think this is better for me and for the team to have somebody in there who can help the team. Right now, I can't help the team," Tejada said. "I'm really proud of myself to be playing so many games in a row. I don't want to end it like this. What can I say? There's nothing that I can do."

Gomez started the game at shortstop for the Orioles.

With Tejada's streak history, the longest current streak belongs to Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Juan Pierre, who has played in his 345th consecutive game Friday.

"Miguel is a superstar player and has meant a lot to this team, to baseball and to the city of Baltimore," interim manger Dave Trembley said. "We care about him and to do what we did today was not easy for him or us. We did it in the best interest of him and he did it in the best interest of him because we are looking at the big picture."