NEW YORK - Orioles manager Mike Hargrove offered a solution for getting through last night's game without using the relievers that needed rest.

"Bite the bullet."

It helped that Sidney Ponson took the Yankee Stadium mound before the usual raucous crowd and didn't shoot himself in the foot.

Ponson still was standing through seven innings, and the bullpen was spared excessive wear. Hargrove couldn't call upon Rick Bauer or left-hander Buddy Groom. His preference was to avoid left-hander B.J. Ryan.

Better to skip all of them and embrace a complete game from his starter, but why get greedy?

Unable to record an out in the eighth, Ponson handed a 3-2 lead to Willis Roberts, who faced one batter. So did B.J. Ryan. Julio retired the last two batters on fly balls, the first producing the tying run, and earned the decision in a 4-3 victory.

The body count among his relievers was rising again, but at least it didn't begin until the eighth. For that, Hargrove was grateful.

"We had to have somebody take us deep in the game because our bullpen is fried," he said.

Hargrove needed only to check the radar readings at Camden Yards on Sunday to be reminded that Bauer and Groom weren't running on a full tank. Their needles were touching red.

"Bauer came out in that game and his velocity was 89 mph. He's normally 91 to 93. We followed him up with Buddy, whose velocity is 93, 94, and it was 89, 91. You just try to get through it the best you can," he said.

It's always easier when the opponent doesn't treat the World Series like a 24-hour convenience store, readily accessible to them at any time. The Orioles have three more games left in this series against the Yankees, and they must approach them in sort of a survival mode.

They could use another extended outing tonight from Scott Erickson, who will attempt to become the first Orioles starter to receive a decision since Calvin Maduro last Tuesday. Maduro has returned to the bullpen along with Chris Brock, who was activated from the disabled list yesterday to provide a fresh arm.

"A lot of the success that we've had has been due to our bullpen, and we've got to get them back to where they're rested," Hargrove said. "You certainly don't want to hurt anybody. We've got a lot of baseball still to play. We've got to be smart about the way we use them the next couple or three days."

Hargrove had intended to skip Ryan until talking to pitching coach Mark Wiley.

"B.J. told him he felt fine. He wasn't as tired as I had first thought, but I don't' know that taking him much more than one hitter would have been a very smart thing to do," Hargrove said.

"Getting a day for Bauer and Groom is real big. We'd certainly like to try to do that again."