Ripkin's HR Leads Orioles

In a matchup between two surging teams, the Oakland Athletics were no match for the Baltimore Orioles.

Cal Ripken hit a three-run homer and Mike Mussina won his first start in three weeks as the Orioles snapped Oakland's five-game winning streak with a 13-6 victory Tuesday night.

Charles Johnson went 4-for-4 to help Baltimore extend its winning streak to a season-high eight games. The Orioles had 16 hits, half for extra bases.

"We just got beat today. We won't lose any sleep over it," Oakland manager Art Howe said. "We scored enough runs to win on a normal night, but it was not a normal night."

Ripken's second homer in two games and 18th of the season highlighted a seven-run fifth inning that staked the Orioles to an 11-3 lead. Ripken, who also singled, has 11 hits in his last six games and needs 16 over the next 17 games to get his 3,000th career hit this season.

"It's going to happen sooner or later, whether it's this year or next," Mussina said. "But we all hope it happens this year. It would be nice for him not to be sitting on 2,997 all winter."

Mussina (16-7) allowed three runs and four hits in five innings. It was his first appearance since being struck in the right shoulder by a line drive off the bat of Chicago's Brook Fordyce on Aug. 22.

Mussina struck out six, including Rich Becker three times, before being pulled with Baltimore ahead by eight runs.

"As soon as I left after five, I was done. It was mutually decided," said Mussina, who threw 8 pitches. "My shoulder feels fine, but tomorrow and the next day will be the real barometer."

B.J. Surhoff hit two doubles in the fifth, when Baltimore sent 11 players to the plate. Surhoff was on base when Ripken homered and later doubled in two runs. In between, Brady Anderson singled in a run and another scored on a wild pitch.

Oakland closed to 11-5 against Jim Corsi in the sixth when Matt Stairs hit his 35th home run and Scott Spiezio followed with his eighth, but Baltimore aborted any hope of a comeback by scoring twice in the bottom half.

"There's no big difference between (a loss) now and in June. It's a wake-up call," Stairs said. "You just have to put it behind you and come back tomorrow. We can't come back moping because we our butts kicked tonight."

The Orioles, who long ago dropped out of contention, derived little pleasure out of playing the role of spoiler.

"We just want to try to finish strong," Johnson said. "It doesn't make a difference who we play."

Oakland got a run in the second when rookie Eugene Kingsale misplayed a triple to center by Matt Stairs, who scored on a grounder by Ben Grieve. The Orioles scored four runs against Mike Oquist (9-10) in their half, the key blow a bases-loaded triple by Mike Bordick.

The A's made it 4-3 in the fourth. Spiezio hit an RBI double and Ben Grieve drove in a run with a grounder before Mussina recorded two straight strikeouts with a runner on third.

Notes