When Jacoby Ellsbury's ground ball squirted through Brandon Fahey's legs with two outs in the ninth inning Friday night, did you think the Orioles were going to let this one get away, too?

It's OK to admit it.

George Sherrill walked Dustin Pedroia to bring the tying run to the plate, but he blew away Kevin Youkilis to end the game and record his 28th save.

Sherrill worked with pitching coach Rick Kranitz in the bullpen earlier Friday and corrected a flaw in his mechanics he believes dates back to the Pittsburgh Pirates series in the second weekend in June.

"Kranny noticed something and we fixed it," he said. "In spring training, I really worked on having my shoulder and my hip closed off when I come set. For some reason, my shoulder had drifted back open."

Entering last night's game, Brian Roberts was batting .331 with 18 multi-hit games in his past 42.

"He's not going to New York as an All-Star, but he's an All-Star player for us," Trembley said. "What he does for the club and what he does to make the team go, I think speaks for itself."

We'll forget Fahey's error and concentrate on his big two-out, two-run single in the eighth. He also singled in the fifth.

"We're sitting in the dugout before the game and Fahey's sitting in there with me," Trembley said. "He says, 'Dave, remember when we were in Bowie? Remember when we were in Ottawa? And look where we are now.' There's a kid who's come up here and he's a ballplayer. He made some big plays and he got some big hits, and I feel real good about him."

Down on the farm, Tike Redman hit his first homer this season for Triple-A Norfolk and has reached base safely in 28 straight games. He has also scored runs in 12 of his past 13 games.

Double-A Bowie's Matt Wieters extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

roch.kubatko@baltsun.com

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