O's hold on, escape in L.A.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Orioles manager Dave Trembley finally succumbed to what many people outside the team have been calling for during the past couple of weeks. In the midst of a five-hour flight to the West Coast on Thursday, Trembley decided that his slumping lineup needed a shake-up.

So he moved Kevin Millar out of the cleanup slot in favor of Aubrey Huff. He upped Ramon Hernandez to fifth in the order, one spot in front of Millar. And he flip-flopped Melvin Mora and Nick Markakis, moving Mora to third and Markakis to second.

For one night, the lineup paid big dividends, finally offering Jeremy Guthrie some well-earned support. Markakis and Mora had two RBIs each, and Guthrie pitched seven strong innings as the Orioles got their seven-game road trip off to a good start with a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels before an announced 41,515 last night at Angel Stadium.

It was Guthrie's first victory since July 27 last year, a stretch of 16 outings. And it was just the Orioles' second win in the past six games. They improved to 16-13, but the victory wasn't without its drama. The Angels scored a run in the ninth on closer George Sherrill and had runners on second and third with one out. But Sherrill retired pinch hitter Juan Rivera on an infield pop-up, and after intentionally walking Chone Figgins, he retired Reggie Willits on a pop-up to Brian Roberts to end the game and record his 11th save.

Guthrie (1-3) struggled in the first inning, allowing a run on two hits and a walk. But he rebounded to make it through seven innings. He allowed just two runs on three hits and two walks. He also struck out six.

After resisting any lineup changes for a couple of weeks, Trembley finally decided it was necessary. The Orioles lost 4-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, scoring three runs or fewer for the seventh time in 11 games - counting their game Monday against the Chicago White Sox that was suspended.

"I'm not making a big deal out of it," Trembley said. "If anything, I have to do something to make people relax and just go out there and hit. They are major league hitters. They can hit. I don't think it was particularly a concern to me what spot in the lineup they're in. We've only played 28 games.

"I don't think we're the only team that has guys in our lineup that are struggling somewhat. I see it throughout baseball. ... I just thought it was a good time with the trip starting out to mix it up."

The shake-up produced early results. Markakis drove Jered Weaver's 3-1 pitch in the first over the wall in center for his fifth home run of the season. Guthrie gave the run back in the bottom of the inning on Casey Kotchman's two-out single, but the Orioles answered with two in the third.

Jay Payton led off with a walk, and Luis Hernandez hit a bloop single. Both runners moved up a base on Roberts' groundout, and then Markakis drove in Payton with a grounder to first. The Orioles made it 3-1 when Mora caught Weaver by surprise with a bunt single to bring home Hernandez.

Mora drove in another run in the fifth with a two-out single that scored Markakis, who had doubled down the left-field line. That made the score 4-1 and gave Guthrie some margin of error.

jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com

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