Indians fall to Orioles rally

Indians fall to Orioles rally

Published Jun. 29, 2012 11:01 p.m. ET

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Cleveland Indians wasted a season-high 16 hits and twice gave away the lead, yet that wasn't even the worst of it.

Clearly, the most damaging aspect of Cleveland's 9-8 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night was the injury that will sideline third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall from 4-6 weeks.

Chisenhall fractured a bone in his right forearm after being struck by a pitch from Baltimore reliever Troy Patton. He was immediately removed from the game in the fifth inning and probably won't return to action until August.

"I had a bad feeling about it," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "It's bad news for us, especially a young kid like him. It's always tough seeing a young guy getting his feet wet, getting better and then all of a sudden, an injury like that."

Acta said Chisenhall will be sent back to Cleveland and will probably undergo surgery next week.

Indians starter Derek Lowe gave up seven runs, four earned, in 5 1-3 innings. He didn't take the loss, but took the blame because the three-run homer he gave up to Matt Wieters put Cleveland in a 7-5 hole in the sixth inning.

The ball landed on Eutaw Street, in front of the B&O Warehouse and far beyond the right-field wall.

"When it hit the warehouse, I was pretty sure it wasn't coming back," Lowe said. "I take full responsibility for us losing. I threw the dumbest pitch I've thrown in a long time to Wieters. It was my call to throw a sinker inside. You have to make him hit the ball the other way. It was the single most frustrating pitch I've thrown all year."

Ryan Flaherty singled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh for the Orioles, who broke out of their offensive funk at the expense of Lowe and the Cleveland bullpen.

On a steamy night in which temperatures reached 100 degrees, both teams worked up a sweat circling the bases. Cleveland outhit Baltimore 16-10, but the Orioles scored just enough runs to secure their third win in 10 games.

"It was a battle," Wieters said. "We haven't been able to come out on top of those, and we really worked to get that win."

Chris Davis started the Orioles' seventh-inning uprising with a two-out single off Joe Smith (5-2). After Wieters walked, Flaherty delivered an RBI single to right.

Xavier Avery hit his first major league homer in the eighth to make it 9-7.

The Orioles went 3 for 12 with runners in scoring position after going 3 for 52 in that situation over their previous 10 games. It was the first time in 11 games that Baltimore scored more than three runs.

"I was so proud of the guys tonight. They just kept grinding," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "They were not going to be denied."

Matt Lindstrom (1-0) got the last out in the top of the seventh, Pedro Strop worked a perfect eighth and Jim Johnson earned his 23rd save despite giving up a ninth-inning run.

Wieters and Cleveland's Asdrubal Cabrera of the Indians both homered onto Eutaw Street. It was only the second time in the 21-year history of Camden Yards that two balls landed on Eutaw Street in the same game; Rafael Palmeiro did it twice on April 11, 1997.

The Orioles trailed 5-4 before Wieters connected against Lowe in the sixth inning. The lead vanished in the seventh, when the Indians pulled even on an RBI double by Shelley Duncan and a run-scoring double play.

Duncan entered in the fifth as a pinch runner for Chisenhall.

Orioles starter Jake Arrieta gave up five runs and eight hits in 3 2-3 innings, but Baltimore's comeback enabled him to avoid becoming the first 10-game loser in the majors this season.

After going six straight games without an error, Cleveland made two in the bottom half that put the Indians in a 3-1 hole. Brian Roberts reached on a poor throw by first baseman Casey Kotchman and scored when shortstop Cabrera mishandled an RBI grounder by J.J. Hardy. Wilson Betemit followed with a run-scoring double.

Cabrera hit his 11th home run, the second in two games, to make it 3-2 in the third.

A fielding gaffe by the Orioles fueled a three-run fourth that put Cleveland up 5-3, but Baltimore closed to 5-4 in the fifth when Robert Andino walked, stole second and scored on a groundout by Avery.

NOTES: Roberts snapped a 0-for-16 skid with a second-inning single. He also scored for the first time in 12 games. ... Patton's run of seven straight scoreless outings ended. ... Acta said C Carlos Santana (sore back) will likely be held out of the lineup until Sunday and will return as a DH. Santana hasn't played since Wednesday. ... Betemit had his fifth straight multihit game. ... Dana Eveland will start for Baltimore on Saturday against Josh Tomlin, who's 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA this month.

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