Athletics 5, Orioles 4

BALTIMORE – Erubiel Durazo hit three homers and drove in all five of Oakland’s runs, and Mark Mulder became the majors’ first 16-game winner by pitching the Athletics to a 5-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

The A’s trailed 4-0 before Durazo hit a two-run homer in the fourth and a two-run shot in the sixth. He then connected off B.J. Ryan (3-3) in the eighth to break the tie and put Mulder in position to win his 16th.

It was the second three-homer game of Durazo’s career, the first coming in 2002 when he played for Arizona. He singled in his first at-bat and finished 4-for-4.

Mulder (16-4) pitched allowed four runs and six hits in eight innings, but gave up only one single over his final five innings.

Octavio Dotel worked the ninth for his 12th save.

The victory enabled the first-place A’s to complete a three-game sweep and climb 16 games over .500 (68-52) for the second time this season. Oakland has won five straight on the road, their longest streak since a 10-game run in 2002.

Down 4-0, the A’s got started against Sidney Ponson in the fourth when Scott Hatteberg drew a leadoff walk and Durazo homered.

The A’s wasted Eric Chavez’s two-out double in the fifth when Jermaine Dye was called out on strikes, but Oakland used a familiar formula to draw even in the sixth. Hatteberg hit a leadoff single and Durazo drove Ponson’s next pitch over the right-field wall for his 17th homer.

Ponson then gave up two infield hits before ending his stint by striking out Mark McLemore on his 104th pitch of the night.

Vying to win his sixth straight decision, Ponson gave up four runs and nine hits in six innings. It was the first time since June 24 that he yielded as many as two homers in a game.

The Orioles surpassed their run total of the first two games of the series by scoring two in the second.

Miguel Tejada hit a leadoff double and scored on a one-out single by B.J. Surhoff, who took second on the throw to the plate. After Darnell McDonald beat out an infield roller that moved Surhoff to third, Jay Gibbons drove in a run with a grounder that bounced high off the plate.

Oakland loaded the bases with two outs in the third before Ponson retired Dye on a grounder to short.

Baltimore made it 4-0 in the bottom half. After Tejada singled in a run for his major league-high 108th RBI, Melvin Mora crossed the plate before the A’s could complete a double play in which Hatteberg stepped on first base after fielding a grounder by Rafael Palmeiro and threw to second, where shortstop Marco Scutaro tagged out Tejada.

Notes: The start of the game was delayed for 57 minutes by rain. … Orioles CF Jerry Hairston will miss the remainder of the season with a broken ankle, an injury he sustained Tuesday night. … The A’s activated LHP Arthur Rhodes from the disabled list and optioned RHP Jairo Garcia to Triple-A Sacramento. … McDonald was recalled from Triple-A Ottawa before the game, and the Orioles put OF Larry Bigbie (groin) on the 15-day DL.

AP-ES-08-18-04 2238EDT