Windsor's throw mars his pitching
Rookie's error leads to 2 runs as Baltimore overcomes A's

(07-18) 04:00 PDT Baltimore -- His adrenaline was running high, maybe a tad too high, but Jason Windsor's major-league debut was decent enough, his fielding aside.

The 24-year-old came away from his first start with the A's with a great memory, too, especially for someone who spent his formative years in the Bay Area.

"I was pretty energized throughout the game," Windsor said after Oakland's 5-3 loss to the Orioles. "But striking out Miguel Tejada ... when I went to the games (as a kid), Tejada was the shortstop and always a powerhouse at the plate, so I was kind of happy about that."

Windsor, who went to Leigh High School in San Jose and West Valley College in Saratoga, was less happy about two things on Monday night at Camden Yards. He walked three men in his five innings of work, and he made a key error in the third inning, leading to two unearned runs.

Windsor walked the first batter he faced, Brian Roberts. Roberts went to second on a sacrifice and to third on a hit by Melvin Mora -- Mark Ellis dived for Mora's sharp grounder and nearly had him at first, but instead, there were men at the corners and Tejada sent Roberts home with a base hit to center.

Shortstop Bobby Crosby followed Ellis' diving stop with one of his own to start an inning-ending double play on a grounder by Jeff Conine, and Windsor got another double-play ball the next inning, to help get out of a first-and-second, nobody-out jam.

Roberts singled to start the third and was forced at second by Brandon Fahey, who then stole second and went to third on a groundout. Tejada hit a two-out chopper back to the mound, though, and Windsor looked as if he'd escaped again, but he lofted the throw to first way over Nick Swisher's head.

"Actually, it was just complete stupidity," Windsor said. "It's probably the first time I've actually thrown the ball hard to first base. If you go in thinking, 'Don't mess up,' of course you're going to mess up. It was just a bad throw."

Windsor allowed five hits in his five innings, and he struck out three. He'll next pitch either Sunday at Detroit or a week from today at home against Boston.

"The last couple of innings, he showed the ability to make some pitches," pitching coach Curt Young said. "He seemed to relax as the outing went along. It was good finishing up the way he did."

In his first appearance after a week of inactivity with forearm tendinitis, Eric Chavez went 0-for-2 with two walks, and the A's third baseman sounded subdued afterward, as if perhaps the time off had not worked as well as he hoped.

Although he said his swing felt pretty decent, Chavez added, "I'm just going to go play. That's really all there is left to do. What I have is just what I'm going to go with."

Apart from Windsor's debut and Chavez's return, there wasn't much of consequence on the A's side. As manager Ken Macha noted, two of their runs came on a rally that consisted of four walks and a balk, and another run came on what Macha called "a double steal-pickoff."

That happened in the sixth, when with Jay Payton at third and one out, Milton Bradley was caught off first base, and Payton broke for home and made it in with a quick swipe of the hand, while Bradley continued to second. It was the A's first steal of home since Sept. 1, 2000, at Toronto, when Chavez did it.

"I didn't care if I was picked off, because I knew Jay would score," Bradley said. "If I made it, it was great. If not, he scores."

Later in the inning, Bradley was thrown out advancing to third when Corey Patterson caught Ellis' liner to center.

"It was a bad read," said Bradley, who thought the ball would fall in. "I made a mistake."