Orioles lose another lead, Rays win 7-5 in 11 innings

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

June 11, 2011, 6:07pm

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Orioles closer Kevin Gregg blew his fourth save tonight, surrendering a two-out single to Casey Kotchman that scored Ben Zobrist and tied the game 5-5. It's not all Gregg's fault. Zobrist tripled with one out, but the ball deflected off Felix Pie's glove as he lunged for it in left field. Again, we're not talking about a routine play. Far from it. But if the ball hits the glove, it must be squeezed. Pie needs to make that catch. Isn't he normally a defensive replacement? He was a pinch-runner tonight, and he scored the go-ahead run on Brandon Snyder's walk before moving to left field. Matt Joyce walked to put runners on the corners, but Evan Longoria popped up for the second out. That's when Kotchman stepped to the plate, produced his third single and threatened us with free baseball. Please, no. Update: Jeremy Accardo has allowed two runs in the 11th inning on an RBI single by Evan Longoria and RBI double by Casey Kotchman, who has four hits tonight. The Orioles chose not to walk Longoria with a runner on third and one out. He's now 3-for-5 lifetime against Accardo. Kotchman normally would have been a better matchup, but he's collected hits in his last four at-bats tonight.