This New World Not for Braves

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves would surely like interleague play better if wins against American League teams came as easily as new fans.

Lenny Webster hit a two-out, two-run home run in the 10th inning to give the Baltimore Orioles a 5-3 victory Sunday and a three-game sweep of the Braves.

Atlanta has lost seven consecutive games to American League teams, going back to four losses in a row against the New York Yankees in last October’s World Series. And the prospects for breaking the streak don’t look good. The Braves face Roger Clemens today when they play Toronto.

On the bright side, the Braves drew a crowd of 48,088 Sunday and finished the series with a total attendance of 143,766--their biggest for a three-game series since 1994.

Part of the attraction was Cal Ripken, who played his first game at shortstop in 1997. The future Hall of Famer moved from third in the ninth inning after the Orioles made defensive changes.

But it was Ripken’s hitting that started the Orioles on their way to victory. Ripken singled in the 10th before Webster, batting .179, hit a home run into the right-field stands against Mark Wohlers (2-2).

Terry Mathews (1-1) pitched one inning and Randy Myers got his major league-leading 23rd save.

Baltimore’s bullpen was brilliant in the series, giving up two runs in 12 1/3 innings and finishing up with a scoreless streak of 11 1/3 innings.

Tom Glavine gave up five hits and no earned runs in nine innings. He was denied the win when the Orioles scored three runs on one hit in the seventh.