BALTIMORE, Maryland May 10, 2014 - The Orioles returned home Friday night from a six game road trip, and they brought their winning streak with them into town with them. And a lot of good things happened at Camden Yards, if you root for the Orioles. First and foremost, Manny Machado hit a home run, his first since his season-ending knee injury last September. His infield mate, Steve Pearce, also uncorked a round-tripper, his third of the season, all of which have come since he was cut and then resigned some two weeks ago by the Orioles. Combine that with clutch hitting by Rookie Jonathan Schoop and Veteran Nick Markakis, solid pitching by Wei-Yin Chen, and you have a 4-3 Oriole win over the Houston Astros that kept them one-half game ahead of the Yankees, who also won their game Friday night.
Machado and Pearce both went deep in the third inning off of Astro Starter Scott Feldman. Feldman pitched for the Birds last year, but wasn't offered a contract this season even though he pitched well. He had been on the disabled list of late, but came off of it to make this start. Houston broke on top in the top of the third thanks to a sacrifice fly by former Oriole L.J. Hoes. The lead, however, was gone almost before it was on the scoreboard. Pearce led off the bottom half of the inning with his third home run since Monday. He hit two in Tampa and now this one in cozy Camden Yards. Feldman then got the next two hitters out before Machado drilled one of his pitches over the centerfield wall to put the Orioles ahead.
Chris Carter led off the top of the seventh for Houston with his fifth home run of the year, a line drive over the left field wall, and it left the game tied at 2. Likw the third inning run, the impact was brief. In the Oriole half of the inning, the Astros brought in Jerome Williams to replace Feldman, and J.J. Hardy greeted him with a long ground rule double. The veteran Oriole filtered over to third base, somehow, when Nick Clevenger hit a ground ball to shortstop for the first out. All of the years I played baseball I was always told that when at second base with less than two outs you hold the base on ground balls to short or third, and take the next base on ground balls to the second baseman or first baseman. I guess Hardy surprised Houston. It looked, nevertheless, like the Astros might get out of the inning when Williams got Pearce to his a soft ground ball to third base, with Hardy holding third on the play. But Schoop hit a two-out clutch single up the middle of the infield and into centerfield, allowing Hardy to waltz home with a lead run. The Orioles were not yet finished in the inning, and it is well that they weren't. With the speedy Schoop at first, Nick Markakis got into a Williams pitch and hit it over the head of Houston Centerfielder Dexter Fowler. Running on contact, Schoop raced around the bases to score an insuranc run. Markakis settled for a double.
Wei-Yin Chen pitched seven strong innings for the Orioles, scattering five hits and walking only one. In winning his fourth game against two losses, Chen surrendered single runs in the third and seventh innings, including the home run by Carter. He struck out four. Baltimore Manager Buck Showalter brought in Darren O'Day to start the eighth, and he retired Houston without incident. That was not the case in the ninth when the man Rick Dempsey has dubbed Tommy "Don Stanhouse" Hunter, entered the game.
Before you could say "pass the Zantac," Hunter had given up a leadoff double to Fowler. As he walked pinch hitter Marc Krauss, Fowler stole third. Now there are runners at the corners, nobody out, and the man who homered to tie the game in the seventh, Chris Carter, is up to the bat. Yikes! It seems, however, that Hunter manages, always, to get out of these messes he creates, and he did it again tonight. Remember, the Orioles got an insurance run back there in the seventh inning. They were ahead at this moment, 4-2. Carter hit a brisk ground ball to Hardy, who started a 6-4-3 twin killing. Fowler scored on the play, but now the bases are empty and the Orioles are still ahead. When the next batter, Outfielder George Springer, strikes out swinging, the Orioles win and Hunter earns his league-leading 11th save.
Tonight's game starts at 7:05 pm. A hard rain shower fell over Baltimore at mid-afternoon, but it has ended now at 4:20 pm. Here are the up-to-the-minute AL East Standings:
American League East
1. Baltimore Orioles: 19 wins, 14 losses, .576 pct
2. New York Yankees: 19 wins, 15 losses, .559 pct, 0.5 games behind
3. Toronto Blue Jays: 18 wins, 19 losses, .4865 pct, 3 games behind
4. Boston Red Sox: 17 wins, 18 losses, .4857 pct, 3 games behind
5. Tampa Bay Rays: 15 wins, 21 losses, .417 pct, 5.5 games behind
Friday Scoreboard for AL East
Baltimore Orioles 4, Houston Astros 3
New York Yankees 5, Milwaukee Brewers 3
Los Angeles Angels 4, Toronto Blue Jays 3
Texas Rangers 8, Boston Red Sox 0
Cleveland Indians 6, Tampa Bay Rays 3
Saturday Schedule/Scoreboard (4:33 pm)
Houston Astros at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 pm EDT
New York Yankees at Milwaukee Brewers, 7:10 pm EDT
Los Angeles Angels 5, Toronto Blue Jays 3 (Final)
Boston Red Sox at Texas Rangers, 8:10 pm EDT
Cleveland Indians at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 pm
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