By Richard Justice
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 8, 2000; Page D1

BALTIMORE, April 7 – The Baltimore Orioles were anxious about this game because they were handing the ball to a young pitcher who was making his first major league appearance in almost three years. They watched uneasily as Calvin Maduro failed to get anyone out in the fifth inning and walked off the mound after throwing 110 pitches and allowing six runs.

Yet while Maduro failed this first audition, the Orioles did get a nice consolation prize. On a near-perfect spring night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, their offense clubbed four home runs, and their bullpen was effective when it counted in a wild 14-10 victory over the Detroit Tigers before 39,415.

The victory was their third in a row and ran their record to 3-1 in the young season. While these are small landmarks, they managed to move the franchise a step further away from last season's disaster, when they needed nine games to win three times and didn't have a three-game winning streak until the first week of May.

"These games play havoc on a manager," Orioles Manager Mike Hargrove said. "As long as you get one more run than the other guy, you can feel okay. We'll just keep trucking along."

They took the lead to stay in the bottom of the fifth inning tonight when catcher Charles Johnson homered for the fourth time in three games. This one was a three-run shot off reliever Mark Johnson that broke up a 7-7 tie.

"Last year, we couldn't get that big hit to win a game," Johnson said. "I know it's early, but these games still count. It feels good."

Johnson has been the Orioles' hottest hitter in this opening week, but he has company. Albert Belle hit his second home run and drove in four runs. Mike Bordick also homered, and the Orioles collected 13 hits off four Detroit pitchers.

And Cal Ripken moved a bit closer to his 3,000th hit. His second-inning home run got the Orioles their first run and gave Ripken the 2,994th hit of his career. He grounded out twice and walked in his final three plate appearances and will have Saturday off before resuming his quest on Sunday.

Perhaps the best news of all came from the bullpen, where three relievers combined to allow just one run over the first four after Maduro's departure. The only reliever who faltered by Gabe Molina, who entered the game in the ninth hours after being recalled from Class AAA Rochester.

On the day that closer Mike Timlin was placed on the 15-day disabled list, the Orioles showed once more that their overhauled bullpen bears no resemblance to the group that blew 20 saves in the first half of last season.

Tim Worrell allowed a home run by Tony Clark in two innings, then was followed by Al Reyes and B.J. Ryan for an inning apiece.

Molina got the ball with the Orioles leading 14-7 and needed that cushion as he allowed Luis Polonia's three-run home run to get the Tigers within four runs.

Maduro retired seven straight Tigers to open the game but was in constant trouble after that. He finally departed after Dean Palmer tagged him for a two-run home run in the fifth. He trailed 6-5 at the time, but the Orioles took control of the game by scoring six times in the bottom of the fifth.

"After the second inning, every pitch was up in the strike zone," Maduro said. "I tried to correct it, but couldn't. I came in after I left the game and watched a video tape and caught in. I've got five days before my next start, and I'm going to spend a lot of time in the bullpen working on it."

Detroit's starter also struggled. Right-hander Dave Mlicki didn't get anyone out in the fifth either and was charged with seven earned runs. He was followed by reliever Mark Johnson, who allowed back-to-back home runs to Charles Johnson and Mike Bordick in his big league debut.

Johnson and Bordick hit the last of five home runs the two teams clobbered in the fifth inning to tie a major league record. It had been down 20 other times, most recently last July 31 by the Rockies and Cardinals.

Ripken got the Orioles started with a two-run home run off Mlicki in the second inning. The Tigers scored a run in the third, but with the bases loaded, Maduro struck out Palmer to end the inning.

The Orioles made it 5-1 in the bottom of the third, when Delino DeShields and B.J. Surhoff singled, and Belle hit a towering home run to left.

Juan Encarnacio's two-run home run closed it to 5-3 in the fourth. They might have had more if center fielder Brady Anderson hadn't made a nice diving catch of a liner by Polonia to end the inning.

An inning later, it got crazy. Brad Ausmus led off the inning with a home run to make it 5-4. Maduro walked Bobby Higginson, and when Palmer launched an opposite-field home run to right, Maduro was done.

Clark greeted reliever Worrell with a home run to make it 7-5. Worrell got out of the fifth with the score still 7-5, and the Orioles got the lead back in the bottom of the fifth.

DeShields led off the inning with a triple to right-center and scored when Surhoff dumped a single to right. Belle doubled to score Surhoff with the tying run.

Tigers Manager Phil Garner brought in Mark Johnson. He got Harold Baines and Ripken on infield grounders, but walked Will Clark. He then fell behind Johnson, who ripped a fastball into the left field seats to make it 10-7. Bordick followed with a home run to make it 11-7, and the Orioles finished it with three more runs in the seventh. The Tigers got three off Molina in the ninth.