BALTIMORE – Rodrigo Lopez allowed one run in seven innings and Chris Ray bounced back from his first blown save of the season, pitching a perfect ninth to seal the Baltimore Orioles’ 2-1 victory over the Washington Nationals.

Melvin Mora drove in a run and scored one for the Orioles, who rebounded from Thursday’s disheartening loss to Florida.

Ray blew a four-run lead by yielding two ninth-inning homers in that game, but he got the job done in this one to earn his 19th save in 20 chances.

Lopez (5-8) gave up seven hits, struck out seven and walked none. The right-hander is 4-1 with a 3.99 ERA in his last six starts after going 1-7 with an 8.07 ERA in his first 10.

LaTroy Hawkins worked the eighth, retiring Robert Fick with two on and two outs.

A sellout crowd of 48,331 contained a few thousand Nationals fans, but it might be some time before Washington vs. Baltimore can be considered an intense rivalry.

“It’s going to take a lot of work on both sides. Time is also involved,” said Nationals manager Frank Robinson, who played for and managed the Orioles. “You can’t just have a rivalry because you’re close by. It’s got to be that both teams are going to be competitive.”

The Orioles (34-41) were more interested in stamping out the memory of the debacle against Florida than making a statement against the Nationals.

Washington (32-43) was seeking to rebound from a three-game sweep in Boston in which they were outscored 26-9.

Royce Clayton went 3-for-3 with two doubles for the Nationals, who have lost nine of 11.

John Patterson, activated from the disabled list before the game after missing 62 days with a strained forearm, allowed one earned run and six hits in six innings. Patterson (1-1) struck out three and walked none.

Washington trailed 2-0 before finally breaking through in the seventh. Clayton led off with a single, moved to third on a single by Brian Schneider and scored on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Daryle Ward.

Lopez then finished his fine effort by striking out Alfonso Soriano.

After the Nationals wasted a leadoff double by Damian Jackson in the third inning, Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half. Nick Markakis got an infield hit and advanced on a single and a bunt before Mora hit a sacrifice fly.

Clayton opened the fifth with a double, but failed to advance. In the sixth, Jose Vidro got a leadoff single before Lopez struck out Jose Guillen and Marlon Anderson, then retired Ryan Zimmerman on a grounder.

The Orioles went up 2-0 in their half. Mora reached on an error by Clayton at shortstop, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Corey Patterson.

Notes: To make room for John Patterson, the Nationals placed RHP Tony Armas Jr. (strained forearm) on the 15-day DL. … A sellout crowd pushed the Orioles over 1 million in home attendance in their 40th home game. … Eleven of Jackson’s 21 hits this season have been for extra bases. … Washington agreed to terms with RHP Colton Willems, the 22nd overall pick in the June amateur draft. … Zimmerman went 0-for-3 with a walk and is hitless in his last 15 at-bats.

AP-ES-06-23-06 2142EDT