Orioles rally late to stun A's

Wilson Betemit hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run ninth inning and lift the Orioles to a 5-2 win over the Athletics in the finale of a three-game set on Sunday.

Betemit's game-winning homer came two batters after Matt Wieters hit a two-run double to tie the score.

A's starter Bartolo Colon pitched 8 1/3 innings but was lifted after giving up singles to J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones in the ninth.

Colon's throwing error put runners on second and third before Grant Balfour (0-1) served up Wieters' double. After an intentional walk to Chris Davis, Betemit belted his winning homer.

"That's what good teams do," said Balfour after the loss. "They make the most of bad pitches and put good swings on it and that's what happened."

Pedro Strop (3-1) earned the victory after pitching a scoreless ninth and starter Tommy Hunter allowed both runs on seven hits over seven innings as the Orioles took two straight to wrap up the series.

"That was fun," remarked Baltimore manager Buck Showalter about the ninth inning. "I thought we played a real good defensive game, which is what kept us in the game."

The A's seemed primed to score in the fifth as Kurt Suzuki launched a fly ball to left field, but Nolan Reimold leaped at the wall and robbed a potential home run to keep the game scoreless.

Oakland finally broke the tie in the sixth as Josh Reddick smacked a two-out single and Yoenis Cespedes followed with a line-drive double to left field for a 1-0 lead.

The A's added another run in the seventh on a Seth Smith solo homer, but the O's struck for five in the ninth to complete the comeback victory.

Game Notes

Colon was charged with two runs on seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts...Oakland will continue its nine-game road trek with a three-game set against the Red Sox starting Monday...Baltimore will embark on a six-game road trip against AL East foes New York and Boston, beginning on Monday against the Yankees...Jones extended his hit streak to eight games.