Messy seventh inning dooms Braves in Baltimore

BALTIMORE — The Braves got a bit generous in the seventh inning.

A leadoff walk by Eric O'Flaherty opened the gates for a six-run outburst as the Orioles came from behind to even the series with an 8-4 win.

The Orioles hadn't scored more than three runs in a game since May 29. They were ready. A wave broke out among the crowd of 29,645 at Camden Yards, happy to have more to celebrate than just a crab mallet giveaway.

With a runner on, Aubrey Huff had chopped a single over first baseman Barbaro Canizares for the first of three consecutive singles to tie the game 4-4. Then Peter Moylan missed his target by about three feet to allow the go-ahead run to score on a wild pitch, on ball four to Matt Wieters, the former Georgia Tech standout.

"I gave up a 75 hopper through the left side to the first guy," Moylan said. "I effectively had first base open with Wieters up, wanted to throw a slider, just completely slipped out of my hand."

Brian Roberts and Adam Jones just finished what they started in the first inning, driving in three more runs on Roberts' two-run double and Jones' sacrifice fly. Jones had homered to drive in Roberts in the first inning off Kenshin Kawakami.

"The inning was set up perfect for O'Flaherty and Moylan, and it just didn't work out," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "They've both been doing fine and let a couple hitters escape with 0-2 counts. To lead off we walked [Nick] Markakis 0-2. Next hitter hit a high hopper. If nobody's on first, there are two outs. And we just let it slip."

Kawakami had hung on to leave the game with a 4-2 lead, but a 35-pitch first inning wound up costing him. He lasted only five innings, throwing 104 pitches -- including only 59 for strikes -- and settled for a no-decision. He hasn't won a game since May 22.

"Kawakami hung tough," Cox said. "He just didn't throw a lot of strikes but he beared down as he normally does and keeps you right in the ballgame. He did well. All he's got to do is go strike one a little bit more often."

Kawakami did his best damage control to end the first inning when he struck out Wieters on a 3-2 curveball to leave the bases loaded. That was the fourth bases-loaded jam Braves pitchers had squirmed out of this series.

Moylan ended that streak when he gave up the two-run double to Roberts with the bases loaded in the seventh.

"There's nothing that ticks you off as a relief pitcher than to come in and give up other people's runs," said Moylan, who allowed one of O'Flaherty's runs to score. "And then eventually give up enough runs to lose the game. There's no worse feeling."