Late Homer Lifts Baltimore Past Seattle, 3-2

Mariners starting pitcher Carlos Silva left with tightness in his right thigh in the seventh inning.

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SEATTLE - Daniel Cabrera achieved a host of superlatives Wednesday night, when he stayed around the plate all game and completed eight innings for the first time all season.

Cabrera was efficient with his pitches, didn't walk anyone for the first time in 30 starts and retired 14 of the final 15 batters he faced to lead the Orioles to a 3-2 win over the Mariners.

The best part, according to Baltimore manager Dave Trembley, is that the start didn't appear to be an aberration. Cabrera had worked into the seventh inning in each of his last two starts, and Trembley expressed the opinion that the hulking right-hander has finally found a lesson plan and a tutor that he trusts in pitching coach Rick Kranitz.

"I think he knows right now that he's headed in the right direction, [and] maybe for the first time in his career in the big leagues," said Trembley. "I've always felt that way about him. Once he got his delivery straightened out, once he got command of his fastball and once he pitches like he's capable of doing, he's going to win. He's going to win."

"One of those young guns, too, that has real good stuff," said Seattle manager John McLaren of Cabrera. "And when he's on, he's real difficult. It was one of those nights he had everything working. Usually, he has pitch-count problems like some young pitchers do. He was at 20-something pitches in the fourth inning. [And] he had really good stuff."

Cabrera has always possessed that scouting report and that kind of potential, but he's hit his best form sparingly. In fact, the right-hander hadn't completed eight innings since last June and hadn't gotten out of a start with no walks since last May. Cabrera walked zero batters in two of his 34 starts last year, and now he's walked five in his last three outings.

Part of his new approach involves establishing his fastball early and using his breaking pitches late. Cabrera (2-0) followed that plan Wednesday and only allowed one hit in the first three innings. That came to the first batter of the game, Ichiro Suzuki, who stole second base and scored on a sacrifice fly. From there, Cabrera rarely made a mistake.

"It's just one of those days where you come in and feel unbelievable," he said. "I'm just coming every day to play baseball. I've been around for a little while, so I think it's time to keep it straight and try to do everything right."

"He's like a completely different guy out there," said right fielder Nick Markakis, who hit the game-winning home run. "He's commanding his fastball and he's getting ahead of batters. He went eight innings today and he was still under 100 pitches. That speaks for itself. He was definitely out there throwing strikes."

Cabrera's greatest crucible came in the fourth inning, when he allowed back-to-back singles to Seattle's first two hitters. The next batter, Adrian Beltre, lifted a popup to short left field that dropped in between three Orioles. Instead of wilting, though, Cabrera gave up one run on a fielder's choice and escaped on a line drive and a groundout.

"I think that's the key," he said. "That's why we won the game. I just calmed down and made a pitch."

"I thought [shortstop Luis Hernandez] should be much more aggressive on that," added Trembley, speaking of the dropped popup. "And yeah, I thought it should've been caught by him."

The Orioles fought back with two late runs in the sixth inning, but they didn't take their first lead until the eighth. Seattle (11-11) went to southpaw Ryan Rowland-Smith to neutralize Markakis in the eighth, but the left-handed hitter crushed his first pitch over the right-field fence. Prior to that shot, Markakis had struck out in seven of his previous eight at-bats.

"A little bit of a relief, but the biggest part is it helped us win the ballgame," he said. "I was just looking to swing, first pitch. I was looking for a good pitch to drive, and it happened to be a good pitch middle-in to hit. I put a pretty good swing on it."

Trailing by two runs, Baltimore (12-9) wasted a scoring chance in the fifth inning because of a baserunning blunder. Ramon Hernandez drilled a shot off the left-field fence, but Adam Jones almost passed Aubrey Huff in between second and third base. Jones retreated to second, and Huff got erased at the plate on a fine relay throw from Yuniesky Betancourt.

Trembley said after the game that Huff didn't take a proper secondary lead and compensated for his mistake by making another one. Huff steamed through a stop sign by third-base coach Juan Samuel because he feared Jones might get hung up between bases, and the Orioles wound up with no runs and men at first and second.

"There were two key things in the game," said Trembley. "One, we made a baserunning blunder. We took ourselves out of an inning that way, and you don't like to give away opportunities to score -- especially after last night's game and especially on the road. No. 2, you have to minimize the damage when you make a mistake and it's a four or five-out inning.

"I've used the term before -- and maybe people will start believing me now -- but the wheels come off the wagon. Cabrera doesn't let it happen. He's found a way to minimize the damage when things go wrong for him."

Story by: Spencer Fordin

Courtesy: MLB.com

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