Reporting from Baltimore — Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales snapped a tie score with back-to-back home runs in seventh inning today, and the Angels held on for a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in chilly Camden Yards, extending their win streak to three.
Hunter's shot to left on a one-and-one pitch from Orioles starter Koji Uehara gave the Angels a 2-1 lead. It was Hunter's ninth homer of the season, one shy of the franchise record for homers in April, set by Brian Downing in 1987.
Morales followed by pounding an 0-2 pitch over the center-field wall for his third homer of the season, all of them coming in the Angels' last seven games.
Uehara left the game later in the seventh after being struck in the chest by a line drive off the bat of Gary Matthews Jr. After falling to his knees in obvious pain, Baltimore's first Japanese-born player slowly rose to his feet and walked off the field.
The injury was determined to be a bruised sternum. X-rays were negative.
On an overcast, 54-degree afternoon -- temperatures dropped 28 degrees from game time Tuesday night -- closer Brian Fuentes retired the side in order in the ninth for his fifth save.
Angels starter Shane Loux, who allowed 10 runs and 21 hits in his two previous games, survived a rocky start to go six innings, allowing one run and five hits, striking out three and walking two.
The Orioles loaded the bases with none out in the first but managed only one run on Aubrey Huff's sacrifice fly to center. Loux got Luke Scott to fly to the wall in right and Ty Wigginton to pop out to first.
Chad Moeller led off the second with a triple for Baltimore, but after Felix Pie grounded out to first, Moeller was thrown out in a rundown between third and home when he was caught off the bag on Cesar Izturis' grounder to Loux.
Brian Roberts walked to put two on, but Loux got Adam Jones to fly to right, ending the inning.
Loux allowed only one hit from the third through sixth innings, but after Moeller led off the seventh with a double to right-center, Manager Mike Scioscia pulled the starter in favor of Justin Speier.
After losing his setup job early in 2008, a season in which he went 2-8 with a 5.03 earned-run average, Speier continued to pitch his way back into a prominent bullpen role, striking out Pie and pinch-hitter Lou Montanez and getting Roberts to line out to first, preserving a 3-1 lead.
Jose Arredondo started the eighth for the Angels and gave up one run, as Jones singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Nick Markakis' single, which extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
But Arredondo escaped further damage by striking out Huff and Scott, and catcher Jeff Mathis threw out Markakis attempting to steal second.
The Angels scored their first run in the fourth inning when Maicer Izturis led off with a single and came home on Morales' two-out triple to center field.
mike.digiovanna@latimes.com
