BALTIMORE – Luis Matos drove in Bernie Castro with a one-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2-1.

Pinch-hitter Castro led off with a single and stole second. Eric Byrnes sacrificed Castro to third, and reliever Joe Borowski (1-4) intentionally walked B.J. Surhoff. Matos then lined a single to left.

Todd Williams (5-4) pitched a perfect eighth for the win and B.J. Ryan worked the ninth for his 34th save.

The Orioles overcame their recent problems with leaving runners on base. They left seven on in the first four innings and stranded 13 overall, the 15th time they’ve left at least 10 on since the All-Star break.

The lack of key hits cost Baltimore starter Bruce Chen, who threw seven innings of two-hit ball but left with a no-decision.

Carl Crawford gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead with a homer in the fourth. Chen had held the Devil Rays hitless for the first 3 1-3 innings before Crawford lined a shot to left-center.

The Orioles tied it in bottom of the inning when Brian Roberts reached on a two-out infield single with the bases load. Roberts hit a shot back up the middle that bounced off starter Casey Fossum’s left leg and then beat the pitcher’s diving toss to first.

Fossum also gave up just one run in his six-inning stint. He scattered seven hits and worked his way out of trouble several times.

Notes: The Orioles were 69-77 heading into Saturday’s game – the same record they had after 146 games last year. … Baltimore’s Alejandro Freire had two hits and increased his streak to five games. … Crawford’s home run made him only the fifth player since World War II to get 15 homers, 15 triples and 30 doubles in one season.

AP-ES-09-17-05 1914EDT

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