Orioles sweep reeling M's with 5-4 victory

BALTIMORE — Aubrey Huff homered to break an eighth-inning tie, and the surprising Baltimore Orioles completed their first four-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners since 1999 with a 5-4 victory Monday.

Melvin Mora also homered, and Brian Roberts had three hits for the Orioles, an AL-best 5-1. The Mariners, last in the AL West, fell to 2-5.

If the city is excited over Baltimore's fast start, it wasn't reflected in the attendance. The second-smallest crowd in the 17-year history of Camden Yards, 10,774, came out on a chilly afternoon.

Huff connected off Eric Flaherty (0-1), whose performance was typical of the Mariners bullpen throughout series. Pitching without injured closer J.J. Putz, Seattle relievers gave up six runs over 7 2-3 innings.

The offense wasn't much better. Seattle went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position Monday and was 3-for-19 in the series.

Ichiro Suzuki opened the game with his 26th career leadoff homer and singled in the seventh for his 1,600th hit. Raul Ibanez homered and drove in two runs, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Orioles' surprisingly robust attack.

Dennis Sarfate (2-0) retired all four batters he faced and George Sherrill, who pitched for Seattle last year, worked the ninth for his fourth save -- his third in the series.

Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera overcame a shaky start to pitch six innings of five-hit ball. He allowed four runs, walked four and struck out five before leaving with the score tied at 4.

Carlos Silva went seven innings for Seattle, giving up four runs and nine hits.

Suzuki got things started for Seattle with a drive to center on a 3-1 pitch after Cabrera missed the strike zone on his first three throws. Two batters later, Ibanez delivered his second home run in as many games.

Cabrera needed 32 pitches to get out of the first, but rebounded with two straight 1-2-3 innings.

Baltimore took a 3-2 lead in the third. After Roberts doubled in a run, Mora homered on an 0-2 pitch.

A mental error by Cabrera enabled Seattle to pull even in the fourth. With runners on first and second, Jose Vidro hit a grounder to first and Cabrera caught the relay at the end of a potential 3-6-1 double play. Vidro was ruled safe, and while Cabrera was arguing, Adrian Beltre came around to score.

The Mariners used a walk and an RBI double by Ibanez to go up 4-3 in the fifth, but Baltimore tied it in the bottom half. Adam Jones, traded by Seattle in the deal that sent Erik Bedard to Seattle, hit a leadoff double and took third on a sacrifice before Roberts singled through the drawn-up infield.

In the seventh, Suzuki got to third with two outs before Sarfate entered and struck out pinch hitter Mike Morse on four pitches.

Notes: Nick Markakis went 1-for-4 with a double against Silva and is 7-for-12 with three homers and three doubles against the right-hander. ... Baltimore's Kevin Millar went 0-for-4, his first hitless game of the season. ... Suzuki reached 1,600 hits in only 1,125 games.