BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Hurricane Gordon seems to be following the Oakland Athletics up the East Coast.

In a game delayed twice for more than five hours, the Athletics patiently waited out B.J. Ryan, drawing three consecutive walks with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning to rally for a 7-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

Oakland, which has won four straight and eight of its last nine, moved one-half game ahead of the Cleveland Indians in the American League wild card race. The Indians lost to the Boston Red Sox tonight in the opener of a five-game series. The contest was held up for 2 hours, 43 minutes at the start due to the remnants of the storm and again for 2 hours, 21 minutes in the top of the eighth. Jason Isringhausen threw the final pitch at 10:36 p.m. EDT, more than 9 1/2 hours after the scheduled first pitch.

The Players Association, American League and the commissioner's office agreed to postpone the second game, resulting in another day-night doubleheader on Wednesday. Game times are at 1:05 p.m. and 6:05 p.m.

Despite the late hour, Oakland manager Art Howe was upset the second game was not played. It was not raining when the decision was made to postpone the contest and Howe felt the field was still playable.

Oakland will get little rest following Wednesday's doubleheader as it heads to Seattle to begin a crucial four-game series on Thursday. The Mariners lead the A's by 2 1/2 games in the AL West.

"I don't understand the decision-making process," Howe said. "I don't know why we didn't play a second game. I was told it would be clear from 2:50 p.m. on today. It will probably snow tomorrow."

Oakland already is facing the prospect of playing a makeup game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays the day after the regular season ends. Sunday's series finale against the Devil Rays was postponed due to the threat of Hurricane Gordon.

"We wanted to play a second game," Oakland designated hitter Matt Stairs said. "Now we have to be here at 11:30 (a.m. on Wednesday). That is (garbage). As for the field, it was muddy, but they can't say the field was bad.

"We had no clue (the game was being postponed), none of us," Stairs continued. "We called over to the umpires to find out what was going on."

The delay at the start was the longest in Orioles' history, surpassing the 2 hour, 42 minute wait on September 22, 1992 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

"The decision was made to cancel the second game, but not by us," said Tim Hudson, the A's player representative. "We wanted to play. We wanted to play two. We can't do anything about it now. The decision was made before we had any say. We were here all day ready to play." The A's trailed 4-2 entering the seventh, but erupted for five runs on just three three hits in the inning. Ryan replaced Jason Johnson (1-10) with the bases loaded and issued consecutive walks to rookie Adam Piatt, Ramon Hernandez and Terrence Long, giving Oakland a 5-4 lead.

Randy Velarde provided insurance by reaching Buddy Groom for a two-run single.

The game itself took 3 hours, 57 minutes as five Baltimore pitchers combined to walk 15, setting an Orioles' record. The A's were 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position, stranding 16 runners.

Afterwards, Oakland first baseman Jason Giambi seemed more philosophical about the long day than his teammates.

"It is no good (complaining) about it," he said. "No good worrying about it. We just have to go out and play our game. We need to win games, meaning these two here tomorrow. Scratch what happened and go from there."

Gil Heredia, who was geared up to pitch the nightcap, will now have to wait until Wednesday. Oakland rookie Barry Zito will face Chuck McElroy in the opener before Heredia takes on Jose Mercedes in the second game.

"I was wired to pitch the second game tonight," Heredia said. "Now I have to do it all over again tomorrow. I was ready once. I will be ready again, but it will be a new experience."

Jim Mecir (9-3), the fourth of five Oakland pitchers, recorded the victory with a scoreless eighth. Isringhausen got the final three outs for his 29th save.

The Orioles grabbed a 3-1 lead in the fifth on Brady Anderson's sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Delino DeShields, but Oakland got back a run in the sixth on Eric Chavez's leadoff homer.

Baltimore made it 4-2 in the bottom half on Ryan Minor's RBI single off Mike Magnante, who pitched out of a bases-loaded jam by getting Jerry Hairston to ground into a forceout.

The Orioles bullpen collapsed in the eighth as the A's loaded the bases with one out. Johnson gave up a double to Matt Stairs and a single to Miguel Tejada before walking Chavez. Ryan could not find the plate, throwing just one strike to the next three batters.

"It is very uncharacteristic of B.J. Ryan to throw only one strike in 13 pitches," Baltimore manager Mike Hargrove said. "When it happens, it is not pretty." Orioles shortstop Melvin Mora left in the second inning after fouling a ball off his left foot. He was diagnosed with a contusion of his left knee and is listed as day-to-day.