Life as the Nationals' everyday center fielder hasn't been smooth for Lastings Milledge so far. But there are no signs the team is going to move him anytime soon.

Milledge, who is playing center field every day for the first time in the majors, has made only two errors in center but has taken poor angles on numerous flyballs and seemingly has suffered from mental lapses in the field. His range factor -- a statistic that measures putouts and assists divided by games played -- is 2.08, well below the National League average of 2.30 for center fielders.

He had another dubious moment Friday night when he got a bad break on a Melvin Mora flyball that eventually dropped under his last-second dive and brought in the game-winning run in the fifth inning.

But while manager Manny Acta said the ball should have been caught, he stuck by his 22-year-old starter.

"Milledge is our center fielder, and when he's going to play, he's going to play in center field," Acta said. "I think we've made that clear."

ORIOLES 5, NATIONALS 3: Washington had leads of 2-0 in the first inning and 3-2 in the fourth inning, but starter Shawn Hill couldn't keep them. The right-hander threw just three of his 14 off-speed pitches for strikes, relying mostly on a sinking fastball that Baltimore was able to anticipate.

Hill threw 99 pitches in five innings, allowing eight hits and four earned runs.

Baltimore went ahead for good in the fifth when Brian Roberts led off with a triple off the right-field wall. Elijah Dukes misplayed the carom off the wall, allowing Roberts to reach third. He scored on Mora's flyball, which dropped in front of CF Lastings Milledge for a double, and though he was caught in a rundown on the next batter, he bought enough time for Aubrey Huff to advance to second on a fielder's choice. That put Huff in scoring position for Kevin Millar, who brought him home for a single.

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