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Sunday, Sep. 10 8:05pm ET
O's give Mussina one run in defeat | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- A pair of rookies were too much for hard-luck pitcher Mike Mussina. Anaheim rookies Adam Kennedy and Bengie Molina combined on the seventh-inning tiebreaking run that gave the Angels a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles and Mussina on Sunday night. Molina started the rally with a double and Kennedy finished it with a run-scoring single for the Angels' fourth win in five games. "I hope Adam gets Rookie of the Year," Molina said. "He's hit the ball well all season. He's got my vote." Both Molina, who has done the bulk of Anaheim's catching, and second baseman Kennedy were touted as defensive specialists, but both have had surprising success with the bat. Molina is hitting .278 with 12 homers and 57 RBI, while Kennedy is at .267, with eight homers and 59 RBI. Angels manager Mike Scioscia wouldn't want to choose between the two. But he'd take either over Seattle closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, who is third in the AL with 32 saves. "To me, it's a toss-up. They're two very young players who have stepped up and played a major league brand of ball with an attitude we're all proud of," Scioscia said. Molina's biggest contribution Sunday was handling six pitchers Scioscia was forced into after an elbow problem shelved scheduled starter Matt Wise. Emergency starter Al Levine's four innings started the shuttle, and the anchors were Shigetoshi Hasegawa (9-5) and Troy Percival, who earned his 28th save in 37 chances with a perfect ninth. Mike Fyhrie, Mark Petkovsek and Mike Holtz also helped derail Mussina (9-14), who entered the game ranked last in offensive support among AL starters with 3.69 runs per nine innings. "I've run out of stuff to say. I can't pitch any better than I have," said Mussina, who has a 3.85 ERA for his league-leading 219 2/3 innings. "But I can't control the offense," Mussina said. "I try not to be concerned with stuff that's out of my hands. I know the guys are doing everything they can, it's just not happening." Mussina allowed five hits and three walks, striking out six, in his sixth complete game of season. "We got 10 (runs) Saturday and today. . .that's been the story when he pitches," Baltimore manager Mike Hargrove said. The Orioles had one chance to break the game open, after Eugene Kingsale's infield grounder tied the score in the seventh. Baltimore still had Jerry Hairston on third with one out. But the left-handed Holtz came on to retire Brady Anderson on an infield pop-up, and Hasegawa entered and got Melvin Mora to ground out. Darin Erstad led off the fourth with the Angels' first hit, moved up on a walk to Scott Spiezio and scored as Mo Vaughn singled for his 108th RBI. Levine blanked the Orioles through four innings in only the third start of his career in 169 games. Levine stepped in when elbow fatigue shelved Wise and allowed four hits, with two walks and three strikeouts. Game notesWise is expected to take his next turn, pending the results of an MRI on his elbow. ... The Orioles are 4-5 on their longest road trip in four years, since a matching 13-game tour in 1996. ... The four innings raised Levine's season total to 85, matching his single-season high. ... Mussina's three walks matched his total for his previous 37 2/3 innings. ... This was only the season's second game out of 75 at Edison Field without a homer, the only other was the Yankees' 4-1 victory Aug. 13. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Baltimore Clubhouse Anaheim Clubhouse Mussina rejects Orioles' six-year, $72 million deal
RECAPS NY Yankees 6 Boston 2
Anaheim 2
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