BALTIMORE -- About four hours before the Orioles faced the Pittsburgh Pirates, manager Buck Showalter walked up to struggling Jake Arrieta and told the right-hander he would be replacing Brian Matusz as Baltimores starting pitcher. William Moore Jersey . The element of surprise might have been a factor in Arrietas exceptional performance. Unfortunately for Showalter, its not a ploy that can be repeated. Arrieta struck out nine over seven steady innings, Wilson Betemit had a season-high three hits and drove in three runs, and the Orioles cruised past the Pirates 7-1 Wednesday night for their fourth straight victory. Demoted to the bullpen after an ineffective outing Friday night against Philadelphia, Arrieta turned out to be the logical replacement for Matusz, who fouled a baseball off his nose Tuesday during bunting practice and was at less than 100 per cent. The injury was only a bruise, but Showalter thought it was better to pitch Arrieta on four days rest and use Matusz on Friday. Good move. Arrieta (3-8) was dominant in ending a six-game losing streak. He gave up one run and seven hits, and the nine strikeouts matched a career high. It was the first win since May 2 for Baltimores opening day starter. "Im not going to overthink it," Showalter said. "I tapped him on the shoulder about 2:30 in the food room and said, Youre pitching tonight. Its kind of out of the bag. I cant do it in five days now, so thats a one-time pop." Arrieta didnt have time to think about the pressure of trying to get back on track. And that was a good thing. "I went back to doing some things I was doing when I was successful," he said. "Kind of made some things a lot more simple than they were a couple weeks ago. I wasnt thinking as much. Going out there and really executing. I think it was nice to be out there in the bullpen for a few games and just stop thinking about some things." Now hes back in the rotation, and Showalter can only hope for a repeat performance Monday against the Mets. "He had a good outing tonight and Im proud of him," the manager said. "And he served a need we had with Brian, being cautious with him. His next turn in the rotation if he took it would be on (Monday). I dont see why anything he did tonight wouldnt dictate that he wouldnt do that." Chris Davis hit a broken-bat homer and had three RBIs for the Orioles, whose four-game home winning streak is a season high. By taking two straight from the Pirates, Baltimore clinched its third successive series win. Betemit, who went 3 for 3 and gave the Orioles a 5-0 lead in the sixth inning against Kevin Correia (2-6) with his eighth homer of the year. Pittsburgh, which won five consecutive series before coming to Baltimore, has lost two straight games for the first time since May 22-23. "No. 1, we need to execute better off the mound. No. 2, when we got chances to score runs, we have to perform the offensive fundamentals to go along with that," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "The game is pretty simple when you break it down, and they have outplayed us back-to-back nights. It shouldnt be any surprise to anyone here that were down two." Pittsburgh got its lone run in the seventh on a bases-loaded groundout by Neil Walker, who struck out his first three at-bats. The Orioles made it 7-1 in the bottom half when J.J. Hardy got his third hit and Davis followed with his 12th home run, the second in two games. The top part of his bat flew into the Baltimore dugout as the baseball took a path over the right field wall. Baltimore finished with 13 hits, which made it easy to overlook the 0-for-5 performance by Brian Roberts. The Orioles leadoff hitter went 3 for 4 Tuesday in his return from a 13-month layoff with a concussion. Baltimore got a first-inning run when Hardy singled and came home on a double by Davis. After Pittsburgh wasted a leadoff double in the second, the Orioles went up 3-0 in the bottom half. Mark Reynolds led off with a single before Betemit hit an RBI double and scored on a single by Steve Pearce. The Orioles added an unearned run in the fourth following an error by Pirates left fielder Alex Presley. NOTES: Orioles OF Endy Chavez, who strained his right hamstring Tuesday night, did not play and could be placed on DL before Baltimore begins a weekend series in Atlanta. ... Pittsburgh has lost two in a row after winning four straight and six of seven. ... Former Oriole LHP Erik Bedard will start for Pittsburgh in the series finale. Tommy Hunter will start for Baltimore. ... Hardy is 5 for 9 over two games following a 1-for-15 skid. Kroy Biermann Jersey . The surgery was performed earlier Wednesday in Montreal. Bourque, acquired from Calgary last season, suffered an abdominal wall tear during his off-season training in preparation for the season. Womens Julio Jones Jersey . It marked the second best result in history for the all-CIS womens squad at the biennial event, trailing only a bronze-medal placing on home soil in 2010 in Kingston, Ont. Canadas top three finishers on Saturday amassed 46 points compared to 45 for Poland. http://www.theatlantafalconsgear.com/dunta-robinson-jerseys . Crystal Dunn beat a German defender in the area and squared a pass to Ohai, who sent a right-foot shot over goalkeeper Laura Benkarth in the 44th minute. "I saw Crystal making a run and every time she does that you know she is going to get something in the box," Ohai said. William Moore Womens Jersey . - No longer a pitching prodigy, K-Rod still is putting up prodigious numbers. Womens Tony Gonzalez Jersey . Hes dominating, and a contender just might want him. Dempster pitched four-hit ball over seven innings, and the Cubs hung on to beat team president Theo Epsteins former club, topping the struggling Boston Red Sox 3-0 on Friday. CINCINNATI, Ohio -- First baseman Joey Votto had a full workout on Friday, suggesting hes close to rejoining the Cincinnati Reds. Votto took ground balls on the field as part of his workout before the start of a series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Hes had two operations since July 17 to repair torn cartilage in his left knee. Votto was close to returning this month, but re-injured the knee while practicing sliding. He had another procedure on Aug. 10. There have been no setbacks during his second round of rehabilitation. "Ive come a long way and I feel Im not too far off," Votto said. "I cant really put a day on it. I dont think its going to be too much longer." The Reds have thrived since Votto got hurt, going 26-12 with a seven-game lead over second-place St. Louis in the NL Central heading into their series. The 2010 National League MVP was batting .342 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs when he got hurt, leading the league in doubles, walks, on-base percentage and extra-base hits. He tore the cartilage while sliding into third base duuring a game on June 29, but played for two more weeks because it was improving. Stephen Nicholas Jersey. He aggravated it again and had an MRI that found the tear, prompting surgery on July 17. He was close to being ready to play when he hurt the knee again while sliding as part of his rehab. He had a 6-minute surgical procedure to fix the cartilage again. Sliding wont be part of his latest regimen. "I dont think were going to be doing any sliding," Votto said. When Votto got hurt, he was the Reds only consistent hitter, raising concerns about whether theyd be able to score enough runs to stay in the thick of the race. "I dont think I carry a team or do anything along those lines," Votto said. "I fit in. And this is a great example of how small of an impact a player can have. You lose a quarterback in the NFL, that teams in trouble. You look at Indianapolis. And then (if) you lose a star in the NBA ... But thats not how it works in baseball. "I realize that. If I didnt realize that, this stretch has certainly shown me." ' ' '
