Orioles awarded a run .......... three innings after the fact !!

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Orioles awarded a run .......... three innings after the fact !!

I've NEVER seen this before:

Baltimore Orioles 7

Cleveland Indians 4

April 28, 2007

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Score it: E-umpires.

Veteran umpire Ed Montague took the blame for a run being added to Baltimore's total three innings after it appeared to be waved off in the Orioles' 7-4 victory over Cleveland on Saturday night.

The Indians played the game under protest after Montague, the crew chief, called the official scorer in the bottom of the sixth to add the third-inning run which scored on a sacrifice fly.

"There's going to be a tremendous follow up with this and we'll see if we can get it figured out," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said.

The bizarre sequence started with Baltimore leading 2-1 in the top of the third. Nick Markakis was on third base and Miguel Tejada on first with one out when Ramon Hernandez hit a line drive to center field.

Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore made a diving catch. Markakis tagged up, headed for home and appeared to cross the plate before Tejada doubled off first. Plate umpire Marvin Hudson waved off the run.

Orioles bench coach Tom Trebelhorn disputed Hudson's call before the start of the fourth, and Hudson then conferred with Montague and the other umpires.

"We kicked it around and now I'm having a brain cramp on it," Montague said. "So I sent Bill (umpire Bill Miller) in, I said 'You know what, cause we're debating, you go in. Lets make it 100 percent sure."'

Miller checked the rule and said the run should have counted. Montague was vague about why it took until the sixth to make the change, saying "it kind of went on" with the umpires conferring with the managers.

"It was my screw up and we can't go off of umpire's error," he said. "What's right is right. We have to score the run."

Montague said he couldn't remember anything like it happening and didn't blame Wedge for his protest, which will be decided by commissioner Bud Selig's office. If the protest is successful, the Indians and the Orioles could have to replay part of the game. It was unclear whether it would resume in the third or the sixth.

Wedge protested the game because the change was not made immediately.

"I know the umpires have a tough job to do, but there is a process and there are rules," he said. "When the next pitch is thrown, that's it. The fact is the home plate umpire waved it off. I've never seen runs put on the board three or four innings later."

Baltimore manager Sam Perlozzo said Trebelhorn alerted him that the run should count.

"I told Sammy it's never too late," Trebelhorn said. "That's our run. I've seen runs put on the board after the game."

Corey Patterson and Ramon Hernandez both had two-run doubles to help the Orioles snap a five-game losing streak and end the Indians' winning streak at six.

The Indians took a 4-3 lead in the sixth on Jhonny Peralta's two-run homer, but Baltimore scored twice in the eighth. Tejada started the rally with a single off Fernando Cabrera (1-1). Jay Payton singled with one out before a groundout moved the runners to second and third. Patterson doubled to right on an 0-2 pitch from Aaron Fultz.

Jamie Walker (1-0) pitched one-third of an inning for the win. Chris Ray worked the ninth for his seventh save.