Liz, Orioles homers stall Twins' playoff push BALTIMORE, MD (wesm) - (AP) Radhames Liz pitched eight shutout innings, and the Baltimore Orioles hit five home runs in a 7-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Nick Markakis and Oscar Salazar each homered twice, and Lou Montanez also connected to help Baltimore salvage the finale of the three-game series. The five homers tied a season high for the Orioles, who had only five in their past six games.

Four of the home runs were off rookie Nick Blackburn, who had yielded only four homers in his previous nine starts. Blackburn (10-9) gave up six runs and nine hits in four innings.

Minnesota, which totaled 24 runs in a doubleheader sweep Saturday, was held scoreless until the ninth. The Twins started the day in a virtual tie with the Chicago White Sox for the AL Central lead. © Copyright 2009, wesm