BALTIMORE (AP) -- It was a perfect situation for a cleanup hitter: sixth inning, tie game, runner on third and one out.

Up to the plate stepped Andy Sheets, who entered the game as an emergency replacement for Nomar Garciaparra and still in search of his first hit of the season.

Sheets singled in the go-ahead run, sparking a six-run inning that lifted the Boston Red Sox to an 11-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.

After Garciaparra left in the first inning with a hamstring injury, Sheets took over at shortstop. He struck out and hit into a fielder's choice before snapping an 0-for-16 skid with a single past the drawn-in infield.

"When you look up at the scoreboard and see a bunch of zeroes, you know you're struggling," Sheets said. "It's good to finally help the team."

Carl Everett, who entered the game in a 2-for-14 slump, went 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBI. He leads the Red Sox with 12 homers and 33 RBI.

But he also hurt his hamstring and, like Garciaparra, is day-to-day. Garciaparra missed two games over the weekend with a tight left hamstring, an injury he aggravated Thursday night while running out a grounder.

"We'll have a look at it tomorrow and make a decision about what we're going to do," Boston manager Jimy Williams said.

Brady Anderson homered and drove in three runs for the Orioles, who have lost eight of nine. Baltimore is 5-13 since opening the season 11-5.

With the score 4-4, Trot Nixon opened the sixth with a double off Jose Mercedes (2-2) and took third on a groundout. Sheets then delivered with a single.

"I feel good for the kid," Williams said. "To me, the kid got the biggest hit. His first hit was certainly a key."

Everett followed with a 429-foot shot to right, the 25th homer in the nine-year history of Camden Yards to land on Eutaw Street. Wilton Veras added a two-run double off B.J. Ryan and scored on a wild pitch.

Everett made it 11-4 in the seventh with a run-scoring grounder.

Rheal Cormier (1-0) pitched 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief after replacing Tim Wakefield, who became the first Boston pitcher since Vaughn Eschelman in 1996 to start a game after pitching in relief the day before.

Baltimore starter Pat Rapp, who spent last season with Boston, allowed four runs, seven hits and four walks in 3 13 innings. He left with the Orioles down 4-1, but managed to avoid a third straight loss.

"Every guy who's been on a different team tries harder against that team," Rapp said. "Maybe I tried to pitch too many corners. I just couldn't get ahead in the count."

Baltimore is reeling, but manager Mike Hargrove isn't ready to do anything rash to shake up the team.

"This is not a time to panic. There's a lot of baseball to play and this is a good ballclub," he said. "We're better than what we're showing, and we'll play better than what we're showing."

The Red Sox scored twice in the first inning on a run-scoring grounder by Garciaparra and an RBI single by Everett. Anderson led off the bottom half with his fifth homer.

Mike Stanley drew a bases-loaded walk in the third, and Brian Daubach chased Rapp with an RBI single in the fourth. Cal Ripken hit his seventh homer leading off the Orioles' half, and Anderson tied it with a two-run double.

Game notes
Home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi mistakenly called a three-ball walk to B.J. Surhoff in the first inning. ... Anderson has homered to lead off a game 38 times, second to only Rickey Henderson (75) on the career list. ... Wakefield yielded seven runs, 10 hits and three homers in his back-to-back appearances. ... Stanley went 0-for-3 and is mired in an 0-for-17 skid.