The Orioles secured third series win in a row in the young 2009 season against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night. It is the first time since 1998 that the O’s have started with three series wins and they did so in a dramatic 10 inning game.

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Image Courtesy of the Associated Press

Alfredo Simon made the start, but he left in the 2nd inning with right elbow discomfort. After giving up 3 earned runs, on separate solo shots from Young, Cruz, and David, Simon was out.

Dennis Sarfate took over for the next 3.1 innings and kept the Rangers from crossing the plate. Despite a collision with Aubrey Huff in the bottom of the third, Sarfate’s stuff was virtually un-hittable and his play kept the O’s in the game.

Chris Ray, Jamie Walker, and Jim Johnson finished the next 4.1 innings and shut down the Rangers through the 9th inning.

It looked as though the high scoring game O’s fans enjoyed on Monday was a thing of the past against the Rangers, but the bats heated up in Arlington later in the game.

Adam Jones picked the perfect time for his first homerun of the year, that came in the 10th inning, a 2 run shot to left field. Then Luke Scott hit a 2 run double to give the O’s a 7-3 lead after 10.

George Sherrill gave up 2 runs in the 10th and with runners on the corners Nelson Cruz hit a deep shot to the warning track, but it wasn’t enough.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
BAL 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 7 9 1
TEX 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 13 0