By Dave Sheinin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday April 10, 2000; Page D1

BALTIMORE, April 9 – Having flown in from sunny Florida Saturday night, Baltimore Orioles starter Jose Mercedes looked lost today amid the 29-degree wind chill at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and almost didn't make it out of the first inning of his first start in nearly two years.

But the rest of the new, improved Orioles continued to look right at home regardless of the situation, overcoming a three-run, first-inning deficit and taking the lead by the second in an 11-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers, completing a three-game sweep and earning their fifth straight win.

On the heels of a taut 2-1 victory in 10 innings Saturday, today's win again demonstrated that the Orioles (5-1) are capable of winning just about any type of game. "We've shown the ability to win with the long ball," Manager Mike Hargrove said, "and to win playing fundamental baseball."

The Orioles embark on their first road trip of the season Tuesday in Kansas City, having completed a week during which they ascended into first place in the American League East and moved four games over .500 for the first time since September 1998.

The Orioles scored at least 11 runs three times and hit a combined .319 with nine homers for the week. They hit in balmy weather. They hit in cool rain. And they hit today when the flags in the outfield snapped and popped in the frigid wind.

The only way to stop the Orioles' offense seems to be to start ace Mike Mussina. The Orioles are averaging 1½ runs in Mussina's two starts; 10½ runs in their other four games.

Today, the Orioles pounded Tigers starter C.J. Nitkowski (0-2) for 11 runs on 11 hits, six of those runs coming in the second inning. Rich Amaral, Albert Belle and Jeff Conine each had three hits, and B.J. Surhoff and Mike Bordick extended their hitting streaks to six games apiece.

If the Orioles needed a reminder of how far they have come in a year, they needed only to look across the field. After his team was swept today, Tigers Manager Phil Garner held a closed-door meeting with his players, then ripped them to the media. The whole scene would have reminded the Orioles of their own tumultuous state a year ago.

"The pitching has to improve, the defense has to improve and the hitting has to improve. What else is there?" Garner said, and then proceeded to rip the Tigers' base running.

Mercedes, 29, who made the Orioles' rotation after a phenomenal spring in which he impressed Hargrove and pitching coach Sammy Ellis with his pinpoint command, looked like a pitcher who had no concept of the strike zone.

In the first inning, he fell behind 2-0 or 3-1 to four batters, walked one, gave up three hits, threw 48 pitches and forced Hargrove to get the bullpen ready. Hargrove ascribed the problems to adrenaline, Mercedes to the change in weather from Sarasota, Fla., where he was tuning up for his first start.

"A week or 10 days ago he couldn't throw a ball off the plate," Hargrove said. "Today in the first couple of innings, he was a little erratic, obviously. It was just excitement. It was his first big league start since 1998."

Mercedes (1-0) was released by the Milwaukee Brewers in December 1998 after his season was cut short by rotator cuff surgery. Today, he said part of his motivation was playing against the manager, Garner, who was in Milwaukee when the Brewers gave up on him.

"You always want to show them that you can still do it," Mercedes said. "[But] I was kind of worried [in the first inning]."

In a way similar to how he handled Sidney Ponson during a shaky second inning on Wednesday night, Hargrove let Mercedes work his way out of trouble in the first inning today, and Mercedes settled in to pitch five serviceable innings, allowing only a solo homer to Dean Palmer after the first.

Asked if he was close to pulling Mercedes during the interminable first, Hargrove said, "Yes and no. Yes, because we had somebody up. No, because he still had two or three hitters [until a move had to be made]. And he did his job."

Hargrove then kicked the media out of his office. The Masters golf tournament on television above his head was coming down to the final holes, and Hargrove had a cigar, a comfortable chair and a first-place team.