Homer in 10th Thwarts Orioles

Athletics Sweep Baltimore for 1st Time Since 2005: Athletics 6, Orioles 5

OAKLAND, Calif., May 7 -- An astonishing 34 innings had passed since the slumping Baltimore Orioles held the lead in a game. But after Brian Roberts lined a two-run single to tie Wednesday's game against the Oakland Athletics, Melvin Mora followed by driving in the go-ahead run.

Mora's hit capped a three-run eighth-inning rally that transformed Baltimore's two-run deficit into a one-run lead. And for a moment, it appeared that his team's recent slide was headed the way of its stretch without a lead.

But what should have been a spirit-lifting comeback, exactly the kind the Orioles used to become one baseball's early surprises this season, instead crumbled into another dejecting defeat.

A critical error by Mora and a failed double-play chance -- both in the bottom of the eighth inning -- allowed the Athletics to force extra innings. Mark Ellis ended it in the 10th, bouncing a homer off the left field foul pole against reliever Lance Cormier, to send the Orioles to a 6-5 loss before 15,235 at McAfee Coliseum.

"It's a game of inches, that's what everybody says," Cormier said. "And that's what happened."

The Athletics swept the Orioles for the first time since August 2005 and handed Baltimore its fifth straight defeat -- each by one or two runs -- further proof of a team-wide offensive slide that has led to nine losses in 11 games.

"They got key hits when they needed to do it," Orioles Manager Dave Trembley said of the A's. "And the opposite took effect for us. That's it in a nutshell. I guess today was the epitome of that."

In the series finale, as Cormier said, the difference between magic and misery was mere inches.

With the three-run outburst in the eighth, Baltimore took its first lead in a game since going scoring two runs in the first inning at Los Angeles last Saturday.

But the Orioles promptly surrendered the advantage with an unearned run.

Third baseman Mora mishandled leadoff hitter Emil Brown's chopper, losing his grip as he picked the ball from his glove. The error allowed the A's to load the bases for slugger Frank Thomas, who hit a roller to short. With closer George Sherrill on the mound, the slow-footed Thomas appeared to give the Orioles a perfect double play ball.

But shortstop Luis Hernández -- playing a few feet deeper than normal to ensure he would keep the ball in the infield -- took too much time to make the throw to second. Jack Hannahan broke up the double play with a hard slide into Roberts at second, allowing Brown to score the game-tying run.

"I feel like it's my fault," Mora said. "In the eighth inning I [didn't] catch that ball. It could have been a different situation."

The final few difference-making inches stung the Orioles with two outs in the 10th, when Cormier elevated a cutter just high enough for Ellis to pull. The ball traveled a course parallel to the left field line before it began slicing toward foul ground. Before it could land harmlessly out of play, the baseball glanced off the side of the foul pole.

Watching all the way from the mound, Cormier needed only to see fans standing in celebration to know the ball was fair.

The Athletics streamed onto the field to celebrate Ellis's first career game-winning homer while Cormier and the Orioles walked slowly, heads down, to their dugout.

It has become a familiar pose.

"Anytime the games are close, you always feel like you're in it," Cormier said. "The emotions are just there. Then all of a sudden, stuff like this happens and it's just a huge letdown for the team, especially after it's happened over and over again."