Bergesen shuts down LA as O's take series opener

Brad Bergesen has been pitching well in many of his recent starts and tonight was one of his best. He held Los Angeles to one run and four hits over eight innings, throwing 102 pitches, as the Orioles beat the Angels 3-1 in the weekend series opener. Bergesen is now 6-9, 5.55 in 22 starts. Over his last six starts, the right-hander is 3-0, 2.70. The O's played solid defense behind Bergesen with Cesar Izturis making several solid stops. Bergesen gave up two hits and one run in the first inning and then allowed just two more hits after that. He retired the last eight batters he faced in his first-ever outing vs. the Angels. Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless ninth to record his third save. With the win, the O's have their first four-game win streak over the Angels since 2003 when they won eight in a row. They are 4-0 vs. Los Angeles on the year and have clinched the season series for the first time since 2003. Brian Roberts left the game in the last of the fourth with a left hip strain. He went 1 for 2 with a double and is listed as day-to-day. Each team scored a run in the first inning. Roberts led off the game with a double to right and stole third base. He scored on an RBI single by Nick Markakis. Los Angeles tied the game when Bergesen was called for a balk with runners on first and third and two outs in the last of the first. The O's took a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Josh Bell, who entered in Roberts spot in the lineup, led off with a single and moved up on a sac bunt. He scored on Luke Scott's RBI single. The O's made it 3-1 in the eighth on Corey Patterson's RBI grounder. It scored Izturis, who led off with a single to snap an 0 for 20 stretch. Losing pitcher Trevor Bell, making his fifth start, is now 1-4, 5.07 after giving up two runs and six hits over seven innings. The Orioles are now 14-11 in August and need one win in their final three games of the month for their first winning August since 1997. The O's improve to 7-1 in series-opening games since Buck Showalter took over and are 14-10 overall with Showalter as skipper. More notes on the O's win vs. LA: *Josh Bell didn't start, but went 2 for 2 with a run scored, snapping a stretch where he was 1 for 14 with seven strikeouts over his last four games. *The O's improve to 7-61 on the year when scoring fewer than four runs. *Bergesen is 3-0, 2.73 in five August starts, after going 0-5, 6.32 in July. *The O's now have 16 quality starts over the last 24 outings and their starters ERA in that time is 3.37. *Torii Hunter had been 13 for 28 with 10 RBI in his last six games vs. the Orioles, but went 1 for 4 tonight. *The Orioles improved to 11-4 over their last 15 games vs. AL West teams. They are 16-17 vs. that division on the year. It's their most wins vs. any division as they have 11 vs. the East and 12 against the Central. *Koji Uehara recorded his third career save. He has allowed just one run over his last 12 innings and 2 ER over his last 20 1/3 for an ERA of 0.89. Koji has retired the first batter in 23 of his 26 outings on the season.