Brad Bergesen goes 8 innings to win 3rd straight decision, Orioles beat Angels 3-1

Brad Bergesen pitches Orioles past Angels 3-1

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Brad Bergesen won his third straight decision with eight solid innings and the Baltimore Orioles got RBI singles from Nick Markakis and Luke Scott in a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.

Bergesen (6-9) allowed a run and four hits, struck out four and did not walk a batter. The right-hander finished August 3-0 with a 3.49 ERA in five starts after going 0-5 with a 6.32 ERA in July.

Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save and has allowed only two earned runs in 20 1-3 innings over his last 17 appearances.

Angels rookie Trevor Bell (1-4) pitched a career-high seven innings in his ninth big league start, allowing two runs and six hits while striking out three in a game that took just 2 hours, 12 minutes. The right-hander, who began the season on the disabled list because of a left hamstring strain and made his first 15 appearances out of the bullpen, is 0-3 with a 5.33 ERA in five starts this season.

The Orioles are 14-10 since Buck Showalter took over as manager on Aug. 3, including a three-game sweep of the Angels at Camden Yards in their first three games under him.

The Angels, who won the last three AL West titles, are 10½ games out of first place for the first time since 2003, when they finished 19 games behind AL West champion Oakland. They have lost the opening game in each of their last five series and are 22-20 in that department. The Orioles are 7-1 in series openers since Showalter’s arrival, after going 9-25.

Brian Roberts opened the game with a double and scored on a single by Markakis. Bergesen balked home the tying run with two outs in the bottom of the first after Howie Kendrick singled and went to third on Alberto Callaspo’s single.

Bergesen, who has three of the five balks by the Orioles’ staff, was charged with his second of the game after Torii Hunter singled with one out in the fourth. Hunter tried to advance on Hideki Matsui’s fly ball to left field and was thrown out by Felix Pie for an inning-ending double play. It was the 27th outfield assist for the Orioles, who led the AL last season with 36.

Orioles center fielder Corey Patterson delivered the defensive gem of the game, making an outstretched grab of Mike Napoli’s extra-base bid in right-center on the run and hanging onto the ball after his momentum sent him tumbling into the wall.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia and trainer Ned Bergert made two injury-related trips to the mound to check on Bell in the sixth — one of them after he threw out Patterson on a sacrifice bunt, the other when Markakis’ hard grounder struck Bell on the right foot and caromed to first baseman Juan Rivera for the out.

Scott followed with an RBI single off Rivera’s glove to drive in Josh Bell and give the Orioles a 2-1 lead. Bell took over at second base in the fourth after Roberts left the game with a left hip strain.

Cesar Izturis scored Baltimore’s third run in the eighth on a fielder’s choice grounder by Patterson.

NOTES: Perhaps closer Brian Fuentes will get a warmer reception from fans in Minnesota than he did in Anaheim — a subject the four-time All-Star addressed Friday after the Angels traded him to the Twins for a player to be named. “I came into games to a lot of boos. I felt like I was pitching on the road quite a bit. But at the same time, there’s no resentment toward the fans here,” said Fuentes, whose 71 saves (82 chances) since the start of last season are the most in the AL and two more than Mariano Rivera had during that stretch. “They come out in droves and they’re here to be entertained, one way or another — either through my frustrations or through my success. But I felt like I’ve given them a lot more success than failure. A few times I came up short, but I came out and poured it all out on the line every time I went out there. What you see is what you get. I think I was appreciated by quite a few fans, but there were some that were probably disappointed.”