masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgTommy Hunter said it was simple. He issued what he called a couple of bad walks that put him in what he called a pretty sticky situation.

But with the O’s up 4-2, the bases loaded and one out in the seventh, he got Josh Hamilton to hit a ground ball, but Chris Davis threw late to second as a run scored to make it 4-3.

The situation, as he said, was still pretty sticky as Hunter faced Albert Pujols with the bases still loaded. He got ahead 0-2 in the count and threw a high fastball right by…Tommy Hunter said it was simple. He issued what he called a couple of bad walks that put him in what he called a pretty sticky situation.

But with the O’s up 4-2, the bases loaded and one out in the seventh, he got Josh Hamilton to hit a ground ball, but Chris Davis threw late to second as a run scored to make it 4-3.

The situation, as he said, was still pretty sticky as Hunter faced Albert Pujols with the bases still loaded. He got ahead 0-2 in the count and threw a high fastball right by the slugger. He followed that by getting Mark Trumbo to ground out, and the O’s still had a one-run lead that turned into a one-run win.

“Throw it by him,” Hunter said of his approach in facing Pujols. “Why not? That was it. Go up, trust in yourself and get the job done. Throw the first two and hopefully you can sneak one by him.

“That’s a pretty good lineup over there. Having Hamilton, Pujols and Trumbo come up with the bases loaded and one out is probably not a situation any pitcher wants to see himself in. But get a great defensive play by (Ryan) Flaherty up the middle, and you get out of something like that, but hopefully I don’t put myself or the team in that situation again.”

The Orioles had taken a 4-2 lead with a two-run last of the sixth in a downpour. Nate McLouth started that rally with a bunt single.

mclouth-watches-ball-sidebar.jpg“(Jered) Weaver is tough, and I had never faced him before and did not see him well my first two at-bats, so I figured I had a good opportunity to do that on a wet field. So that played into that.”

What about the playing conditions in that sixth inning tonight before the rain delay?

“They were horrible before the delay,” McLouth said. “I’ve never seen anything like that. We couldn’t play anymore in those conditions, but the grounds crew did an absolutely unbelievable job to get that field playable and in really good shape after the delay.”

Adam Jones’ two-run homer in the fourth helped the O’s pin a loss on Weaver, a pitcher who was 4-0 with an ERA of 1.82 in his last four starts against Baltimore.

“We kept fighting him,” Jones said. “He was really good tonight, tough as usual. But that sixth inning was big. To fight and get two runs off Weaver there was very important.”