O's Cabrera Extends His Reign Over Royals

Pitcher Eases Bullpen With Complete Game: Orioles 5, Royals 2

BALTIMORE, July 2 -- As Baltimore Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera walked off the mound after putting the final touches on a satisfying, complete-game win on Wednesday, Manager Dave Trembley met him near the top step of the dugout, where he gave his tall pitcher a bear hug.

There was plenty of reason to celebrate.

On a night when Trembley desperately needed to give his worn-down bullpen a breather, Cabrera delivered the perfect prize, a two-run gem to lift the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals before 17,909 at Camden Yards.

"Well you're probably not going to see Cabrera pitch any better than he did tonight," Trembley said of the seven-hit, no-walk, 105-pitch performance. "He had command. He got ground balls and he got great defense behind him. His poise was outstanding."

About 24 hours ago, in roughly the same spot that they shared a hug, Trembley set the stage for the events of Wednesday night.

"When I met him on the top of the stairs last night I said, 'Hey, you know, our bullpen's pretty beat up, you've got to go deep into the game tomorrow night,' " Trembley said. "And he told me he would."

The right-hander, who has not lost to the Royals in eight career starts, honored his word to the manager.

He used his fastball to devastating effect, inducing 15 ground-ball outs. The movement on his pitches was reminiscent of the outings Cabrera strung together early in the season before a disappointing June derailed his progress.

"It's good that month is over already," Cabrera said. "It's a new month, and I'll just keep working and trying to keep doing what I do."

And with that, Cabrera won his first game since May 20, snapping a streak of seven starts without a victory.

Cabrera gave up a leadoff homer to outfielder David DeJesus and allowed the Royals to score again on Mike Aviles's RBI in the third. But Cabrera settled in and denied the Royals any more, retiring 14 in a row at one point.

"He looked awesome," third baseman Melvin Mora said. "He never lost his concentration, and he was on top of everybody. He was in the strike zone, and he was outstanding."

Of course, the Orioles' recently surging offense afforded Cabrera plenty of help.

First baseman Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give Cabrera a lead. For Huff, it was his sixth homer and 18th RBI in his last 19 games. He is hitting .390 during that span and has already equaled his home run total (15) from last season.

"It feels good," Huff said. "Last year, it was a struggle all year long. This year, I just came in here and tried to relax a little bit more. Last year, I think I tried to do too much. I really can't explain it. I feel a little bit looser and a little bit more relaxed."

The Orioles also got RBI from Luke Scott, Ramón Hernández and Nick Markakis, who missed out on a homer when Royals center fielder Joey Gathright made a leaping stab at the fence. It was enough to keep the ball in the park, even though the ball popped out of Gathright's glove and Markakis ended up with a double.

But the night belonged to Cabrera. Baltimore pitchers have pitched just two complete games this season. Cabrera has both of them.

"I had good stuff today, and it was a good game," he said. "It had been a long time since I've had one like that."