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Moore, Orioles slam Matsuzaka, Red Sox

Sep 9, 2007 - 3:16 AM By Rich Dubroff PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BALTIMORE (Ticker) - Scott Moore's grand slam off Daisuke Matsuzaka capped a seven-run third inning to give the Baltimore Orioles an 11-5 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.

Moore, who was acquired from the Chicago Cubs on August 31, connected for his first hit with the Orioles and gave Baltimore its biggest inning of the year.

The Orioles had lost 15 of their previous 17 games and a franchise-tying 11 straight home games since their 30-3 humiliation on August 22.

The Orioles third began when Gustavo Molina led off with a single. Brian Roberts doubled and Redman walked to load the bases. Matsuzaka (14-12) walked Nick Markakis to force Molina home. Miguel Tejada singled to score Roberts and Kevin Millar walked to score Redman.

With two outs, Moore hit the grand-slam to right. That knocked out Matsuzaka. The 2 2-3 innings for Dice-K was his shortest stint of the season.

"I knew (Matsuzaka) had to come to me. I had to be patient, and get a pitch to drive," Moore said.

"It took a lot to try and relax and not be jumpy and make it come to me. I fell behind and got a couple of pitches to hit."

"It comes down to my inability to throw strikes, Matsuzaka said through a translator. "I didn't give (catcher Jason) Varitek a chance to call the game."

Baltimore starter Jon Leicester pitched five innings and allowed four runs and seven hits for his first major league win since September 19, 2004.

"I felt like I was throwing some good pitches that I could make better," Leicester said. "Dice-K just wasn't himself."

The Red Sox broke on top when David Ortiz hit a two-run home run in the first inning off Leicester (1-1). Dustin Pedroia singled with one out and Ortiz deposited a 1-0 pitch into the right-center field bleachers.

Baltimore's Tike Redman cut the lead to 2-1 when he hit his first home run of the year over the right field scoreboard.

Boston, which had won six of its last seven games, scored two more runs in the second on doubles by J.D. Drew, Julio Lugo and rookie Jacoby Ellsbury.

"Well, we certainly started out good," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "You know we're scoring."

Matsuzaka has hit a rough stretch in his past five starts. He's lost four, and he's given up 15 runs in his eight innings.

"Right now, it's a testing time period for me," Matsuzaka said. "I need to be patient. I feel like I'm the one guy dragging the team down - and for that I'm apologetic."

"There's no getting around it. It was a tough inning," said Francona of the seven-run third. "You look back and he's one pitch away from getting out of it."

In the fourth, Roberts led off with a single. He moved to second on a passed ball, and scored when Lugo threw wildly to first on Redman's grounder. That made it 9-4. Markakis followed with an opposite field, two-run home run to left to give Baltimore an 11-4 lead.

Orioles manager Dave Trembley was confident his team would come back.

"We're going to outslug them," Trembley said. "If you don't think that, you shouldn't be managing the team."

Leicester, Rocky Cherry, Jim Hoey and Danys Baez allowed just four hits in the final seven innings.