O's needed this win for many reasons

The Orioles earned a much-needed victory over the division rival Red Sox Sunday afternoon to avoid the sweep and put an end to an absolutely dreadful 10-game losing streak. Once again, Brian  Matusz pitched well enough to win but got another no-decision but the bullpen held the Red Sox off long enough to allow Nick Markakis to knock in the game-winning run in the 11th inning of Sox' reliever Hideki Okajima.

"Obviously it's been rough the past 1o games," Markakis said after the 4-3 win. "We've had some battles, been in games and lost them... but we didn't let this one get away. Our bullpen did a great job. Hernandez came in and did as good a job as you could ask for late in the game under the circumstances. It was a good team win."

And for the team morale?

"Anytime you're in a losing streak it's wearing on you mentally and physically," said Hernandez, who threw two shutout innings in relief and earned the win. "It's tougher to want to come to the ballpark when you're not winning."

The Orioles will now play six straight games against the two New York teams, three against the Yankees followed by three against the Mets as interleague play resumes in MLB. With the team feeling good about themselves and interim manager Juan Samuel earning his first win as O's skipper, this would be a good time for the O's to put the worst behind them and focus on what good may be ahead.

"We started this week off 1-0 so lets pick it up from there," added Hernandez.