BALTIMORE — Luke Scott extended his recent power surge with a grand slam and a solo shot off Dontrelle Willis, and the surging Baltimore Orioles received a fine pitching performance from rookie Brad Bergesen in a 7-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.
Many in the crowd of 42,704 came to see the major league debut of Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters, who went 0 for 4. That might have been the only negative for the Orioles, who stretched their season-high winning streak to five games behind Scott and Bergesen (2-2).
Since coming off the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday, Scott has five home runs and 12 RBIs in three games. His second consecutive two-homer game included his first lifetime grand slam, a third-inning shot that put Baltimore up 5-0.
In the fifth, Scott drove a 1-1 pitch from Willis (1-2) over the right-field scoreboard to become the first Oriole to have successive multihomer games since Albert Belle in 2000. The last three of Scott’s seven career multihomer games have come against Detroit.
Willis allowed seven runs and 10 hits, his poorest outing in four starts since getting off the disabled list on May 13.
Much of the pregame hype surrounded Wieters, but another 23-year-old — Bergesen — was far more impressive. The right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits over eight-plus innings to earn his first win in seven starts since his debut on April 21.
It was the longest outing of Bergesen’s brief career, and the fewest runs he’s allowed.
Detroit managed two seventh-inning runs when Magglio Ordonez singled, Miguel Cabrera doubled and Curtis Granderson hit an RBI single before Cabrera came home on a double-play grounder. After Bergesen gave up two hits to open the ninth, Jim Johnson got three straight outs.
Although Wieters was the only Orioles starter without a hit, he did a solid job as Bergesen’s batterymate, a role he played in the minor leagues in early April and in 2008.
Wieters got involved on the game’s first pitch, picking up a bunt by Josh Anderson and firing a solid throw to first base.
When Wieters came to the plate for the first time in the second inning, the crowd stood and cheered — and remained standing through the entire at-bat. There were two runners on and no outs, but Wieters managed only an opposite-field liner to right field that turned into a double play when Melvin Mora was doubled up trying to advance.
Wieters followed with two groundouts and a strikeout.
Notes: The start of the game was delayed 26 minutes by rain. …
Ordonez extended his hitting streak to 15 games. … Orioles C Chad Moeller was designated for assignment to make room for Wieters. … Baltimore’s five-game run is its longest since an identical streak from April 2-7, 2008.
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