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Maine outduels Bush as Orioles blank Blue Jays

BALTIMORE -- Maybe the Baltimore Orioles should have
recalled John Maine a little earlier in the season.

Maine tossed five strong innings in his season debut and Miguel
Tejada drove in the game's lone run as the Baltimore Orioles
overcame a sterling performance by Dave Bush and halted the
Toronto Blue Jays' four-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory.

After winning four straight from July 9-15, the Orioles have
taken a nosedive in the American League East Division standings,
dropping 19 of 26 to go from one game out of first place to 11
1/2 behind division-leading Boston.

The Orioles had won three straight before suffering a 12-0 loss
to the Blue Jays on Friday. But Maine and three relievers
combined to keep Toronto off the board in this one.

Maine (1-0), whose only other major league appearance resulted
in a loss against Minnesota on July 23, 2004, was recalled from
Class AAA Ottawa to fill the rotation spot of the injured Sidney
Ponson. The righthander had struggled with the Lynx, going 0-7
with a 6.41 ERA in his last 10 starts.

A native of Virginia, Maine had little trouble Saturday despite
a game-time temperature of 100 degrees, limiting Toronto to two
hits and three walks while striking out three. He induced a
foulout by Russ Adams with a runner on third and two outs in the
third inning and retired Orlando Hudson and Adams with two on
in the fifth to maintain a 1-0 lead.

"I felt good," Maine said. "I was nervous the first couple
innings, and that passed. I just wanted to keep throwing
strikes, let the defense do it."

"He was much better than we'd seen him in the past," Orioles
interim manager Sam Perlozzo said. "He was working on three
days' rest and he was in a tough situation with the heat.
Johnny really came through when we needed him to, and I think
he's earned the right to stay on this ballclub for a little
while."

Tim Byrdak and Todd Williams bridged the gap to closer B.J.
Ryan, who struck out two in a perfect ninth to seal the win and
notch his 26th save.

Byrdak ran into trouble in the seventh, issuing a leadoff walk
to former Oriole Gregg Zaun and allowing a single by Alex Rios.
But after Eric Hinske lined out, Williams came on to face Reed
Johnson, who grounded into a double play to end the threat.

The Orioles scored the only run they needed in the third, when
Brian Roberts led off with a double, moved to third on a
groundout and scored when Tejada singled to right on an 0-2
pitch with two outs.

"We talked about the sequence afterward," Bush said. "In that
situation, a hitter's going to be defensive and probably look
for something out over the plate that he can punch the other
way, which is what he did. To his credit, he stayed on top of
the ball and hit it on a line. Not too many guys can do that."

It was the lone blemish against Bush (2-6), who yielded just one
run and four hits in eight innings. The righthander struck out
three without a walk en route to his second complete game of
the season and third career.

"He was on tonight," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "It
seems like we can't get our bullpen any work."

Baltimore's Rafael Palmeiro, who completed his 10-day suspension
for failing a steroid test Wednesday, sat out his third
straight game.

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