By Curtis Pashelka

STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND -- Mark Ellis had been playing his usual brand of impeccable defense, but he still didn't feel like he was making much of an impact for the A's while he slogged through a 0-for-17 slump that began May 2.

Safe to say Ellis is still capable of being a difference-maker at the plate.

He connected on a Lance Cormier fastball in the bottom of the 10th inning that bounced off the left-field foul pole to give the A's a 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday afternoon before an announced crowd of 15,235 at McAfee Coliseum.

It was Ellis' first career walk-off home run as the A's won their fourth straight game and completed their first series sweep of the Orioles since they recorded four consecutive wins in Baltimore on Aug. 26-29, 2005.

"It feels good to contribute," Ellis said. "It was a pretty bad slump and sometimes you don't feel like you're contributing. You can play defense and all that stuff, but unless you're scoring runs or getting a hit to help the team out, it's a bad feeling not being able to contribute."

Ellis had been hitting in the top third of the lineup this season until Tuesday, when he batted seventh. He was able to snap his hitless streak Wednesday with a single in the sixth inning before his game-winning hit that was just inches from being a loud strike.

"I knew I hit it well enough to get it out of the ballpark, but I didn't know if it was going to stay fair or not," Ellis

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said of his third homer of the season. "As it started to hook a bit more, I started to get a little nervous. ... I would have started crying if it went foul."

Ellis hit .261 in April with 10 RBI. But his average had dropped to .223 after he recorded only one hit and one RBI in the month of May before Wednesday, when he also drew a walk and stole a base in the fourth inning.

Left-hander Dallas Braden (1-0) pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings to get the win, which moved Oakland a season-high eight games above .500.

"You know that sooner or later (Ellis was) going to come out of it, and it couldn't have come at a better time," A's manager Bob Geren. "That was a real big hit right there with us basically down to our last pitcher (Braden) -- and he was going to stay out there all the way to the end."

The A's led 4-2 going into the top of the eighth when the Orioles' Brian Roberts singled off reliever Andrew Brown with two outs to score Kevin Millar and Adam Jones. Melvin Mora then doubled to score Luis Hernandez and give the Orioles a 5-4 lead. Mora's hit chased Brown, who had allowed just one earned run and eight hits in 15 appearances before Wednesday.

The A's tied it in the bottom of the eighth, as Emil Brown scored after Frank Thomas grounded into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded. Jack Hannahan broke up a would-be double play with a hard-but-clean slide into second base that prevented Roberts from making the throw to first.

"When that ball was hit, I thought they might get two," Geren said. "(Hannahan) did a heck of a job breaking that up. There was no chance for a throw, he was on him so well. That's the way you're supposed to do it."

The Orioles' comeback in the eighth spoiled what would have been Joe Blanton's first win at home this season. Blanton allowed two runs, eight hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 5ยช innings. He is now 0-5 with a 1.74 ERA in seven starts at McAfee.

The A's begin a nine game road trip Friday, with three games each in Texas, Cleveland and Atlanta.

Contact Curtis Pashelka at cpashelka@bayareanewsgroup.com.