Toronto ? Earplugs didn’t help Rafael Palmeiro stop his slump.

Palmeiro inserted earplugs after he was booed loudly during his first at-bat in the Baltimore Orioles’ 7-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

He went 0-for-4, leaving him with two hits in 26 at-bats – an average of .077 – since a 10-day suspension for testing positive for steroids.

Palmeiro expressed disbelief when Orioles spokesman Kevin Behan told him the first few questions to interim manager Sam Perlozzo were about his earplugs. Palmeiro declined to talk to reporters, saying through Behan that he would speak today.

“You want to be accepted by people,” teammate Brian Roberts said. “For 99 percent of his career, he has been, and for that to completely change now, I think is something I don’t know if any of us can comprehend what he’s going through. By his expressions, you can tell that it is definitely beating him up.”

Palmeiro struck out swinging in the first inning, popped out weakly to the pitcher in the fourth, lined out to first base in the sixth and took a called third strike in the eighth. His batting average has dropped from .280 at the time of his suspension to .266.

Baltimore's Rafael Palmeiro, wearing earplugs, heads back to the dugout after making an out. Palmeiro went 0-for-4 in the Orioles' 7-2 loss to the Blue Jays on Tuesday night in Toronto.

He added what appeared to be tape to one earplug, apparently to drown out the boos further.

Fans have jeered him and made disparaging remarks since his return. He is the most prominent major-league player punished for taking banned drugs and said when the suspension was announced that he never took steroids intentionally.

“It’s a situation that you wouldn’t put your worst enemy in,” Roberts said. “Obviously, none of us will ever know what the truth is, but I believe him. And for him to have to go through this, it’s something that we can’t really comprehend.”

Palmeiro was Baltimore’s designated hitter, a day after Perlozzo suggested he had lost his job as the regular first baseman.

Perlozzo didn’t notice the earplugs until his last at-bat.

“You’ll have to ask Raffy if it bothers him, but we’re out there rooting for him,” Perlozzo said.

Athletics 2, Angels 1, 11 innings

Anaheim, Calif. – Bobby Kielty homered leading off the 11th inning, carrying Oakland over Los Angeles and running the Athletics’ winning streak to seven. Kielty’s eighth homer, over the wall in right off Francisco Rodriguez (2-4) helped the A’s move a season-high two games ahead of the Angels in the AL West.

Oakland won in extra innings for the second straight day and is 10-3 in extra-inning games. The Angels have lost five in a row.

The Athletics’ victory came after Oakland’s Barry Zito and Los Angeles’ Bartolo Colon each allowed just one run over the first nine innings. Colon even pitched into the 10th, yielding to Rodriguez with a runner on third and one out.

Kiko Calero (4-1) pitched the 10th inning to get the win, then Huston Street pitched the 11th for his 18th save in 22 chances. With runners on second and first, Street got Vladimir Guerrero on a game-ending grounder to second.

Zito gave up only three hits, walked two and struck out nine. Colon allowed six hits, walked one and struck out three in his 91â3-inning stint, the Angels’ longest since Mark Langston went 10 innings of a 3-2, 11-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 27, 1992.

Mariners 8, Yankees 3

Seattle – Ichiro Suzuki hit a three-run homer in a five-run second inning, and Seattle beat New York.

New York, 1-1 on a seven-game trip, dropped 21â2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. The Yankees, who overcame a four-run deficit against the last-place Mariners in Monday’s 7-4 victory, lead Cleveland by half-game in the wild-card race and are one game in front of the Los Angeles Angels.

Rangers 8-0, White Sox 6-8

Arlington, Texas – Brandon McCarthy pitched two-hit ball over 72â3 innings for his first major-league win, Jermaine Dye had two homers and six RBIs, and Chicago beat Texas for a doubleheader split.

McCarthy (1-1) was called up from Triple-A Charlotte earlier in the day to make his sixth major-league start. He held the Rangers hitless over the first 41â3 innings until Alfonso Soriano’s double.

In the first game, rookie left-hander C.J. Wilson allowed one run and two hits in five innings of relief for his first major-league win, and Mark Teixeira drove in six runs and hit a pair of two-run homers off 16-game winner Jon Garland.

Red Sox 7, Devil Rays 6

Boston – Curt Schilling started slowly in his return to the Fenway mound, but Boston rallied from a five-run deficit and beat Tampa Bay when Trot Nixon singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth.

Making his first start at Fenway since April, Schilling gave up five runs in the first two innings before settling down with four scoreless innings.

Boston trailed 5-0 after two and 6-4 in the eighth before tying the score on Bill Mueller’s RBI groundout and John Olerud’s pinch single.

Tigers-Indians ppd.

Cleveland – The game between Detroit and Cleveland was postponed because of rain before it started.