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Roberts' blast lifts Orioles over Mariners

Apr 25, 2008 - 6:55 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- The Seattle Mariners have seen two of their former players come back to haunt them in the past two days.

Brian Roberts snapped a tie in the eighth inning with a solo homer and Adam Jones had three hits against his former team as the Baltimore Orioles posted an 8-7 win over the Mariners on Thursday.

Melvin Mora, Jay Payton and Nick Markakis each had two hits and combined to score five runs for the Orioles, who have won five of their last seven games.

"We played hard tonight," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "We believed we were going to win. All we needed was to get the tying run up to the plate."

One of the biggest moves of the offseason involved Baltimore shipping ace Erik Bedard to Seattle for a package of five players that included Jones and closer George Sherrill.

So far this season, Baltimore has taken six of seven games from Seattle, and Jones and Sherrill have been big parts of the success.

The Orioles clawed their way back from a 5-0 deficit with single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before exploding for four in the seventh to pull ahead, 7-5. Jones capped the rally with a two-run double, battling back from an 0-2 count to drive the sixth pitch he saw from Mark Lowe deep into the left-center field gap to plate Markakis and Aubrey Huff.

After Ichiro Suzuki hit a two-run homer to pull the Mariners even in the bottom of the seventh, Roberts led off the eighth with his second homer of the season, driving a 1-0 fastball from Sean Green (1-1) over the wall in right field.

"We just had a rough go in the pen tonight," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "We just gave them too many pitches to hit. We just didn't get it done. It was just one of those games."

"This team amazes me, it really does," Roberts said. "We were down 5-0 early and there was no panic. You kind of chip away, and the next thing you know, it's a two- or three-run game and you have some guys come up with really big hits - Adam Jones and Aubrey. It's a fun team to be a part of right now because we play all 27 outs."

Roberts has struggled of late, coming off a homestand during which he was just 4-for-28.

"I haven't (been contributing)," Roberts said. "As long as we're winning, fine. But in a situation where you contribute and it helps win a game, it's huge. I have been working hard trying to get things right, and to finally have it pay off is nice."

Sherrill pitched a scoreless ninth for his eighth save of the season and fifth against his former team.

"It doesn't really matter who it is against, but it does have a little extra special meaning," said Sherrill. "Just because I know all the guys, it gives me a little bragging rights."

Seattle opened a 5-0 lead against Baltimore starter Adam Loewen, pounding the Canadian lefthander for five runs and four hits in just 2 2/3 innings.

Loewen admitted he is suffering from pain in his left forearm and that it seems to be getting worse.

"It starts off as a dull pain and gets sharper as I go on," said Loewen, who did not pitch after May 1 last year because of an elbow injury.

After four starts his ERA stands at 7.85.

"I haven't been pitching well, and it's a relief that we have some guys who can come in and do a better job than I have right now," Loewen said. "It hasn't got to the point where I can't throw a baseball, but it's affecting my release point."

Loewen said he would accompany the team to Chicago for its weekend series with the White Sox, then return to Baltimore to see a doctor.

"When you've got a 5-0 lead, you've got to slam the door and get it done," McLaren said. "We had a three-run lead when the bullpen took over and we just couldn't hang on."

Chad Bradford (2-1) tossed 1 1/3 scoreless frames to pick up the win.