Orioles Sink Into the Basement

The injuries -- and perhaps a little impatience -- produced Manager Lee Mazzilli's most radical lineup of the season, with Surhoff in the No. 2 hole for the first time all year and Jerry Hairston making his first professional appearance at third base.

But Surhoff's injury left the Orioles with only one usable player on their bench -- Newhan, who entered as a pinch hitter in the ninth and promptly launched a 435-foot homer off Rockies closer Shawn Chacon in his first Orioles at-bat.

Hairston, meantime, went 3 for 4 and came within a home run of hitting for the cycle. He it hitting .324 while Brian Roberts, who is blocking Hairston's return to second base, is hitting .254 following an 0-for-5 night.

The Orioles moved into a brief 1-1 tie in the fourth inning on Rafael Palmeiro's 10th homer of the season and 538th of his career. But Ponson gave up a single run in the bottom of the fourth, then three more in the fifth. The big blow, which came four batters after Lopez's error at third base, was Todd Helton's two-run double into the spacious gap in left-center.

Orioles hitters may have been salivating at the rare opportunity to bat at this homer-happy yard, but their team-wide aversion to clutch hits failed to produce much offense. As luck would have it, Ponson was at the plate in the two most crucial situations, and struck out both times with a pair of runners on base.

"If I could give you an answer" to the lack of clutch hitting, said Mazzilli, "I'd fix it."

Orioles Notes: Newhan, 30, has played parts of four major league seasons for the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies. He is the son of Hall of Fame baseball writer Ross Newhan of the Los Angeles Times. . . .

Matos's injury stemmed from a play Monday, when he ran into the outfield wall at Cleveland's Jacobs Field chasing a fly ball. He played Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Los Angeles. Mora was injured stepping on the first base bag Thursday. . . .

The team's move to option right-hander Rick Bauer was voided, and Bauer instead was placed on the 15-day disabled list after being examined by team doctors in Baltimore on Friday and diagnosed with irritation in a nerve in his elbow. . . .

The game was delayed by rain for 27 minutes at the start, the Orioles' ninth rain delay this season, to go along with eight rainouts.