BALTIMORE (AP) – Eric Gagne sat in front of his locker, his head down and his shoulders sagging. He wasn’t the one who gave up the game-winning home run to Kevin Millar, yet the struggling reliever heaped all the blame for Boston’s latest defeat squarely upon himself.

Again.

Millar hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning after Miguel Tejada tied it with a shot off Gagne in the eighth, leading the Baltimore Orioles past the skidding Red Sox 6-3 Sunday.

It was the fourth loss in six games for the Red Sox, whose lead over the second-place New York Yankees in the AL East shrunk to four games – Boston’s smallest margin since May 1.

“They’re playing a whole lot better than we are right now. It’s that simple,” Red Sox starter Curt Schilling said. “They’re winning and we’re not. But the answers are here in this room, and we’re going to find them.”

Obtained from Texas on July 31 to fortify the back end of the bullpen, Gagne endured another damaging performance.

Seeking to hold a 3-1 lead in the eighth, the right-hander entered with a runner on and promptly yielded a tying home run to Tejada on a 3-2 pitch.

Gagne retired the next two batters, but he has allowed seven runs in four innings over five games. On Friday, Gagne got one out while blowing a four-run lead in a 6-5 defeat.

Despite facing starters Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling, Baltimore took two of three from Boston, ending a run of 11 straight series losses to the Red Sox since July 7-10, 2005.

“We should have won three games out of three and I … blew two of them,” Gagne said in a profanity-laced rant. “They brought me in to do a job and I’m not doing it. It’s ridiculous. These guys play eight great innings and I go out there and blow it. It’s a shame.”

Corey Patterson led off the 10th with a single off Kyle Snyder (2-3) and went to third on a single by Nick Markakis. After Tejada fouled out, Markakis stole second and Millar hit a 2-2 pitch into the left-field seats.