GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: KANSAS CITY (67-88) at BALTIMORE (66-89)

AL: KANSAS CITY at BALTIMORE

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KANSAS CITY (2) AT BALTIMORE (3) - EVENT LOG
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Kansas City Starting Lineups -- D DeJesus CF, E German 2B, R Gload 1B, B Butler DH,
M Teahen RF, A Gordon 3B, J Buck C, J Gathright LF, T Pena Jr SS, G Meche RHP.

Baltimore Starting Lineups -- B Roberts 2B, M Mora 3B, N Markakis RF, M Tejada SS,
K Millar DH, A Huff 1B, R Hernandez C, J Payton LF, T Redman CF, D Cabrera RHP.

Umpires -- Lance Barksdale (HP), Adam Dowdy (1B), Jim Reynolds (2B),
Gary Cederstrom (3B).

Gametime Weather: 83 degrees, Clear, wind left to right at 3 mph.


KANSAS CITY 1ST: D DeJesus struck out looking. E German hit a ground rule
double to deep right. R Gload grounded out to second, E German to third.
B Butler grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
BALTIMORE 0.

BALTIMORE 1ST: B Roberts flied out to left. M Mora singled to center.
N Markakis struck out swinging. M Tejada singled to right, M Mora to third.
K Millar flied out to center. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
BALTIMORE 0.

KANSAS CITY 2ND: M Teahen flied out to center. A Gordon fouled out to
catcher. J Buck flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
BALTIMORE 0.

BALTIMORE 2ND: A Huff popped out to shortstop. R Hernandez struck out
swinging. J Payton flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
BALTIMORE 0.

KANSAS CITY 3RD: J Gathright walked. T Pena Jr reached on infield single
to third, J Gathright to second. D DeJesus sacrificed to first, J Gathright to
third, T Pena Jr to second. E German struck out swinging. R Gload flied out
to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, BALTIMORE 0.

BALTIMORE 3RD: T Redman grounded out to first. B Roberts struck out
swinging. M Mora popped out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 0, BALTIMORE 0.

KANSAS CITY 4TH: B Butler struck out swinging. M Teahen singled to left.
A Gordon lined out to center. J Buck flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, BALTIMORE 0.

BALTIMORE 4TH: N Markakis struck out swinging. M Tejada popped out to
second. K Millar popped out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
BALTIMORE 0.

KANSAS CITY 5TH: J Gathright walked. T Pena Jr bunt popped out to pitcher.
J Gathright caught stealing second, catcher to shortstop. D DeJesus grounded
out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, BALTIMORE 0.

BALTIMORE 5TH: A Huff struck out looking. R Hernandez singled to right.
J Payton grounded out to second, R Hernandez to second. T Redman doubled to deep
right, R Hernandez scored. B Roberts walked. M Mora singled to center,
T Redman scored, B Roberts to second, B Roberts to third on error by center
fielder D DeJesus. N Markakis grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error)
KANSAS CITY 0, BALTIMORE 2.

KANSAS CITY 6TH: E German singled to right. R Gload grounded out to
second, E German to second. B Butler struck out swinging. M Teahen doubled to
deep left center, E German scored. A Gordon grounded out to shortstop. (1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, BALTIMORE 2.

BALTIMORE 6TH: M Tejada singled to right. K Millar popped out to second.
M Tejada to second on wild pitch by G Meche. A Huff grounded out to second.
R Hernandez grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1,
BALTIMORE 2.

KANSAS CITY 7TH: J Buck singled to left center. J Huber ran for J Buck. J
Gathright sacrificed to pitcher, J Huber to second. J Smith hit for T Pena Jr.
J Smith struck out swinging. D DeJesus intentionally walked. E German flied
out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, BALTIMORE 2.

BALTIMORE 7TH: J LaRue catching. J Smith at shortstop. J Payton grounded
out to shortstop. T Redman flied out to center. B Roberts grounded out to
first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, BALTIMORE 2.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: J Walker relieved D Cabrera. M Grudzielanek hit for
R Gload. M Grudzielanek homered to left. B Butler flied out to left. M Teahen
reached on infield single to shortstop. A Gordon grounded into double play,
first to shortstop, M Teahen out at second.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 2, BALTIMORE 2.

BALTIMORE 8TH: E German at third base. M Grudzielanek at second base.
A Gordon at first base. M Mora flied out to right. N Markakis homered to center.
M Tejada grounded out to second. K Millar grounded out to second. (1 Run,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, BALTIMORE 3.

KANSAS CITY 9TH: C Bradford relieved J Walker. S Costa hit for J LaRue.
S Costa singled to center. J Gathright sacrificed to first, S Costa to second.
J Smith grounded out to second, S Costa to third. D DeJesus grounded out to
second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, BALTIMORE 3.</div>

 

Markakis' home run lifts Orioles past Royals

<h3>BALTIMORE 3, KANSAS CITY 2</h3>BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Nick Markakis' go-ahead home run in theeighth inning lifted the Baltimore Orioles to a 3-2 victory overthe Kansas City Royals on Monday.


After Mark Grudzielanek had tied the game with a solo home runin the top half of the eighth, Markakis - who had a career-highfive RBI on Saturday - drove the 0-1 pitch from Gil Meche tostraight-away center field for his 22nd home run of the season.

Tike Redman had an RBI double and a run scored for the Orioles,who won for just the third time in the team's last 17 games atCamden Yards.


Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera was in line for his first winsince August 14, before Grudzielanek launched his first careerpinch-hit home run off Orioles reliever Jamie Walker.

Walker (3-2) completed the eighth inning for the win, and ChadBradford worked the ninth for his second save.


Cabrera pitched seven strong innings, allowing just one run andsix hits with three walks and five strikeouts.


Meche (9-13) was almost nearly as effective, pitching aneight-inning complete game and giving up three runs and sevenhits with five strikeouts.


Redman put the Orioles on the board in the bottom of the fifthinning when he lined a two-out double to right field, scoringRamon Hernandez. Two batters later, Melvin Mora singled tocenter to score Redman and push the Orioles advantage to 2-0.

The Royals answered with a run of their own in the top of thesixth. Mark Teahen hit an RBI double to left-center to scoreEsteban German and cut the Orioles lead to 2-1.

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at BALTIMORE

<div class="pre">KANSAS CITY (2) VS BALTIMORE (3) - FINAL

KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D DeJesus cf 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .264
E German 2b-3b 4 1 2 0 0 1 4 .268
R Gload 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .287
b-M Grudzielanek ph-2b 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 .300
B Butler dh 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .296
M Teahen rf 4 0 3 1 0 0 0 .285
A Gordon 3b-1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .251
J Buck c 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .229
J Huber pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J LaRue c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .150
c-S Costa ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .230
J Gathright lf 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .307
T Pena Jr ss 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 .258
a-J Smith ph-ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .203

Totals 31 2 9 2 3 5 15

a-struck out swinging for T Pena Jr in the 7th; b-homered to left for R Gload
in the 8th; c-singled to center for J Larue in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - E German (15, D Cabrera); M Teahen (30, D Cabrera). HR - M
Grudzielanek (6, 8th inning off J Walker 0 on, 0 Out). S - D DeJesus , J
Gathright 2. RBI - M Teahen (58), M Grudzielanek (51). 2-out RBI - M Teahen.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - E German 1, R Gload 2, D DeJesus 1, A
Gordon 1, B Butler 1. GIDP - A Gordon. Team LOB - 8.

BASERUNNING: CS - J Gathright (8, 2nd base by D Cabrera/R Hernandez).

FIELDING: E - D DeJesus (4, bobble).


BALTIMORE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
B Roberts 2b 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 .293
M Mora 3b 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 .276
N Markakis rf 4 1 1 1 0 2 3 .290
M Tejada ss 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .297
K Millar dh 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .255
A Huff 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .279
R Hernandez c 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 .251
J Payton lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .251
T Redman cf 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 .318

Totals 31 3 7 3 1 5 8

BATTING: 2B - T Redman (7, G Meche). HR - N Markakis (22, 8th inning off G
Meche 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - T Redman (14), M Mora (54), N Markakis (109). 2-out
RBI - T Redman, M Mora. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Hernandez
1, K Millar 1, N Markakis 1. Team LOB - 5.

FIELDING: DP: 1 (A Huff-M Tejada).


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KANSAS CITY - 000 001 010 -- 2
BALTIMORE - 000 020 01x -- 3
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KANSAS CITY ip h r er bb so hr era
G Meche (L, 9-13) 8 7 3 3 1 5 1 3.69

BALTIMORE ip h r er bb so hr era
D Cabrera 7 6 1 1 3 5 0 5.36
J Walker (W, 3-2; B, 6) 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 3.34
C Bradford (S, 2) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.41

WP - G Meche. IBB - D DeJesus (by D Cabrera). Pitches-strikes: G Meche
124-84; D Cabrera 106-60; J Walker 11-7; C Bradford 15-10. Ground balls-fly
balls: G Meche 9-10; D Cabrera 7-8; J Walker 2-1; C Bradford 3-0. Batters
faced: G Meche 32; D Cabrera 29; J Walker 4; C Bradford 4.

UMPIRES: HP--Lance Barksdale. 1B--Adam Dowdy. 2B--Jim Reynolds. 3B--Gary
Cederstrom.

T--2:35. Att--15,769.
Weather: 83 degrees, clear. Wind: 3 mph, left to
right.</div>

 

Markakis' home run lifts Orioles past Royals

<h3>BALTIMORE 3, KANSAS CITY 2</h3>BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Nick Markakis' go-ahead home run in theeighth inning lifted the Baltimore Orioles to a 3-2 victory overthe Kansas City Royals on Monday.


After Mark Grudzielanek had tied the game with a solo home runin the top of the eighth, Markakis - who had a career-high fiveRBI on Saturday - drove the 0-1 pitch from Gil Meche tostraight-away center field for his 22nd home run of the season.

"He hit a great pitch," Meche said. "I was thinking curveball. Idon't remember the last time I've seen a guy hit my curveballthat hard. He was sitting on it and he got it."


"I was frustrated in my previous at-bats against him," Markakissaid. "I had seen all his pitches and just wanted to get a goodswing on it. It was a curveball way down."


Tike Redman had an RBI double and a run scored for the Orioles,who won for just the third time in the team's last 17 games atCamden Yards.


"It was a good way to get the last week of the season started,"Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "The guys showed a lot ofhustle and enthusiasm early."


Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera was in line for his first winsince August 14, before Grudzielanek launched his first careerpinch-hit home run off Orioles reliever Jamie Walker.

"The team won," Cabrera said. "That is what matter's most."

Walker (3-2) completed the eighth inning for the win and ChadBradford worked the ninth for his second save.


Cabrera pitched seven strong innings, allowing just one run andsix hits with three walks and five strikeouts.


"He mixed his pitches a lot better and made good pitches when hehad to," Trembley said. "He threw more breaking balls andchangeups than he had in in last six or seven starts."

Meche (9-13) was almost nearly as effective, pitching aneight-inning complete game and giving up three runs and sevenhits with five strikeouts.


Redman put the Orioles on the board in the bottom of the fifthinning when he lined a two-out double to right field, scoringRamon Hernandez. Two batters later, Melvin Mora singled tocenter to score Redman and push the Orioles advantage to 2-0.

The Royals answered with a run of their own in the top of thesixth. Mark Teahen hit an RBI double to left-center to scoreEsteban German and cut the Orioles lead to 2-1.