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DETROIT (AP) – Cal Ripken sat, and the Baltimore Orioles lost. Chris Holt bounced back from a bad outing as the Detroit Tigers stopped a seven-game losing streak by beating the Orioles 8-2 Thursday. "It wasn't just me. It was definitely a team effort today," Holt said. "We played good defense, real good defense, and we had offense." Juan Encarnacion hit a bases-loaded triple in a four-run seventh inning for the Tigers, who have the worst record in baseball at 6-14. Ripken, who hit a three-run homer in the Orioles' 6-4 win Wednesday, sat as manager Mike Hargrove stuck with his new plan to alternate the career Iron Man and Mike Kinkade at third base. Kinkade is batting .367 after a 1-for-4 Thursday. He was robbed of two other hits by Tigers infielders. Neither Ripken, batting just .161, nor Hargrove addressed the situation Thursday. It's expected that the 40-year-old Ripken, whose record streak of 2,632 games played ended in 1998, will start Friday night at Minnesota. Holt (2-2) gave up nine hits in his fourth career complete game, striking out two and walking none. He gave up six runs and five hits against the Chicago White Sox in just 3 1/3 innings on April 18. Detroit had 11 hits, including a season-high seven for extra bases. "We were aggressive with the bats today," Detroit manager Phil Garner said. "We jumped on fastballs in areas we like." Jason Johnson (1-2) lasted only 2 2/3 innings in his shortest start of the season, allowing four runs and eight hits. "He was up with everything and not getting his slow stuff over, then when he did make a (good) pitch they fouled it off," Hargrove said. "He just didn't have good location today. I hate to compare it to last year (when Johnson was 1-10 with a 7.02 ERA). Last year is last year, but obviously the result is similar to last year. He just got hit, and that's going to happen." Johnson has lost his last two starts, allowing nine runs and 14 hits in 8 2/3 innings. "Instead of being smooth like in my first three starts, the last two I've been a little jerky and throwing too hard," Johnson said. "Next start I just want to settle down and things will be OK." Johnson bristled at the thought he's reverted to last year's form. "I'm not going to say anything about last year," he said. "This is just a little rut I'm in now." Encarnacion tripled off Jorge Julio, who was making his major league debut, as the Tigers took an 8-2 lead in the seventh. It came after two walks and Julio's fielding error on Wendell Magee's sacrifice. On Encarnacion's hit, Magee almost collided with Tony Clark just past second base as Clark waited to see if the ball would fall in. Magee tailed Clark around the bases. "Wendell had a better read on it than I did, and once he gets moving that's a pretty good sized guy to have coming down your neck," said Clark, who was 2-for-4 and scored three runs. "It worked out well. We were able to get everyone in when Juan came up with a big hit in that situation." Hargrove said the two made contact near second, and he went out to question the umpires about it. "The question was 'Can you do that?' And the answer was 'Yes, as long as you don't pass him,' " Hargrove said. Shane Halter followed with an RBI double. Jose Macias homered leading off the first, Clark doubled with two outs and Magee tripled for a 2-0 lead. Bobby Higginson's leadoff double started a two-run third that also included RBI singles from Clark and Halter. Baltimore closed to 4-2 in the sixth after Mike Bordick beat out an infield single. He scored when Delino DeShields' drive fell between Higginson in left and Encarnacion in center and rolled for a triple. DeShields scored on a passed ball. Game notesMacias made his first start at second base in place of the slumping Damion Easley and saved a run with a backhanded diving stab of Kinkade's two-on, two-outs liner in the first. ... Johnson's shortest stint in his four previous starts was four innings April 11 at Boston. ... Easley was dropped from his usual second spot to seventh in Wednesday's order before sitting Thursday. He's batting just .189. ... DeShields has reached safely in 16 of his 20 games.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
| OTHER GAMES Baseball Scoreboard Baltimore Clubhouse Detroit Clubhouse Passing the torch? Hargrove plans to play Ripken less
RECAPS Kansas City 6 Tampa Bay 0
Detroit 8
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