Orioles Rally Comes Too Late

Red Sox 2, Orioles 1

BOSTON, July 13 -- After weeks of defying expectations, weeks of enduring dramatic finishes, and weeks of making more talented teams sweat for nine innings at a time, the overachieving Baltimore Orioles can take a breather.

The first half of the season came to a fitting end Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, when the Orioles fell, 2-1, to the Boston Red Sox, a team with more victories, greater talent and loftier expectations. But despite the disparity, the Orioles threatened to steal another game.

After slogging through eight innings, the Orioles staged a ninth-inning comeback that brought the tying run within 90 feet of scoring before Melvin Mora lined out against closer Jonathan Papelbon, to the relief of the 37,344 in attendance. In essence, it was the type of performance that has allowed the Orioles to go into the three-day hiatus with some reason to look forward to the second half.

"We're down 2-0, with one strike to get beat here against a guy going to the All-Star Game, and I think you saw how we battled . . . ," Orioles Manager Dave Trembley said. "And we will never give in one inch at any time to anybody at any time."

With the loss, the Orioles tied their season low of three games under the .500 mark and finished 1-5 on the six-game road trip. The defeat dropped Baltimore into last place in the American League East, 10 games behind the first-place Red Sox. But the Orioles have hardly competed like a team most of the baseball universe figured was destined for a 100-loss season.

Instead, Trembley believes that the way his team has responded -- 27 comeback victories, 34 one-run games -- has drawn notice. The Orioles have shown signs of fatigue leading up to the break. After averaging nearly seven runs a game in the first nine games of July, the Orioles have scored just one run in each of the last two games. Orioles starters have struggled to pitch deep into games and several players conceded Sunday that the break is a welcome one.

"After 90 games, it's always a good time for a break, I don't care if you're first, second or last," second baseman Brian Roberts said. "It's a long first three-and-a-half months, so we're going to enjoy it."

But Trembley refused to concede that his team has been worn down. "What it does is it makes us better," Trembley said. "I think what that's done is it's made this team earn respect."

Neither Daniel Cabrera nor Red Sox counterpart Daisuke Matsuzaka brought his best to the mound. Matsuzaka walked five while allowing four hits, yet managed to pitch seven scoreless innings. Cabrera lasted only 4 1/3 innings but allowed two runs, a minor miracle after he allowed six hits and six walks.

Yet, the Orioles were stunted partly by a fluky performance by the third baseman Mora. Despite a difficult season at the plate, Mora has been the Orioles' best hitter with runners in scoring position, batting .355 in those situations.

On Sunday, Mora came to the plate with 11 runners on base -- and failed to drive home a single one. His last failure came with two outs in the top of the ninth. Aubrey Huff had singled home Roberts to slice Boston's two-run lead in half and Mora came to the plate with runners -- including Adam Jones on third -- at the corners.

But Mora could do no better than a soft liner to second baseman Dustin Pedroia. "I [messed] up," said Mora, who held up five fingers, the number of his at-bats without a hit. "It's as simple as that."

Still, the Orioles finished their first half by proving that they are battlers. Now they can rest.

"When the season started, I know a lot of people never thought we would be where we are right now. We're only [three] games under .500 and we've been struggling for the last couple of weeks," Cabrera said. "It's over, we're going to take three days off, come back and play well again."