masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgYou could hardly blame Jim Johnson for his blown save Saturday. Not that giving up four hits and three runs in one inning is ever a good thing, but Johnson also was hurt by a key error on third baseman Ryan Flaherty in that inning.

Also, Johnson has been near-perfect in closing games for the Orioles this year and that was just his second blown save in 28 chances. Johnson saved his first 17 in a row before a blown save June 5 at Boston. He then saved nine in a row before Saturday’s…You could hardly blame Jim Johnson for his blown save Saturday. Not that giving up four hits and three runs in one inning is ever a good thing, but Johnson also was hurt by a key error on third baseman Ryan Flaherty in that inning.

Also, Johnson has been near-perfect in closing games for the Orioles this year and that was just his second blown save in 28 chances. Johnson saved his first 17 in a row before a blown save June 5 at Boston. He then saved nine in a row before Saturday’s misstep.

By the way, the Orioles won both games where Johnson did blow the save, so they are 28-0 this year in games where he is called on to close it out.

Johnson Throws White tall.jpgJohnson, predictably, called himself out during the postgame interviews, never mentioning the critical error in that inning.

“With a three-run lead, that shouldn’t happen. I got over it by about the 12th, sitting there rooting for the guys. This was a great team win,” he said.

“The biggest problem I had with blowing it was just we had to throw the extra guys out of the bullpen. That’s on me. That’s dog crap, to be nice. But it was a big day for (Taylor) Teagarden, just being activated, and (J.J.) Hardy and (Nick) Markakis. The list goes on and on.”

Here are some other notes from that win:

* It was the fourth time this season that the Orioles played at least 13 innings. That’s the most in the majors, and the O’s are a perfect 4-0 in such games. The Orioles are now 10-2 with 10 wins in a row in extra-innings games. They lead the majors this year in extra-innings wins.

* The Orioles also lead the majors in extra-inning victories the last three seasons:

31 – Orioles
28 – San Francisco
27 – Cincinnati
26 – Atlanta

* The Orioles are now a stellar 30-13 in games decided by two runs or less. They are 16-6 in one-run games and 14-7 in two-run games.

* Teagarden hit the walk-off homer in his first Orioles game and just his second O’s at-bat. This was his first big league game since last August and first big league homer since Aug. 18, 2010.

* Entering this game, the Orioles had scored just five runs in their previous four games and just two runs over their last 31 innings. Then they scored eight runs with 14 hits including four doubles and three homers.

* Total attendance for the two games in this series so far is 78,781.