Orioles power past Angels 9-4 on 4 homers
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - The Baltimore Orioles brought their power game on the road, blasting four home runs and quashing a rally.
Chris Davis hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning in the Orioles' 9-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night in the series opener after blowing a three-run lead.
"To hit a home run, you have to really earn them in this park," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Chris hitting a left-handed pitcher the other way is pretty impressive. I love the way he's playing on both sides of the ball."
Mark Trumbo also hit a two-run blast, and Joey Rickard and Manny Machado added back-to-back solo shots for the AL East leaders who improved to 8-7 away from home. They had played just two road games since April 28 before opening a nine-game West Coast trip in Anaheim.
"They have a team built on power and they showed it," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
Angels starter Hector Santiago gave up Baltimore's first three homers before being ejected in the third inning for gesturing to home-plate umpire John Tumpane about how he was calling balls and strikes.
"He didn't even know what Hector said," Scioscia fumed. "Just really shallow explanation for throwing a starting pitcher out and it's wrong. You have to do more than what Hector did to get thrown out of the ballgame and that's a joke."
Orioles shortstop Paul Janish thought Tumpane had a quick trigger.
"It didn't seem like it was that big of a deal, what was going on," he said. "It was unfortunate for them, but I guess from our standpoint it worked out pretty well. It spent their bullpen up a little bit too much for the next couple of days."
Davis put the Orioles ahead 6-4 with his two-out homer that just cleared the outstretched glove of left fielder Rafael Ortega. Angels reliever Jose Alvarez put his hands to his head and grimaced.
Mychal Givens (3-0) allowed two hits and no runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief. He had no strikeouts or walks.
Jose Alvarez (1-2) took the loss, giving up two runs and one hit in one inning while striking out two.
Matt Wieters and Jonathan Schoop each went 3 for 5 with a run scored for the Orioles, who had 14 hits.
The Angels rallied with three runs in the sixth to tie the game at 4. Johnny Giavotella had an RBI single off Mike Wright, who left with the bases loaded. Carlos Perez hit a sacrifice fly and Gregorio Petit's RBI single tied it.
Los Angeles had won six of its last seven despite having 10 players on the disabled list, including five pitchers.
"That's a team that is going pretty good over there," Trumbo said. "We needed some of those extra runs to kind of seal the deal."
Trumbo hit his team-leading 13th homer on an 0-2 pitch in the third, with it landing in the left-field bullpen of his old team.
Rickard hit the first leadoff homer of his career in the first and Machado followed with a shot that also went to left field, the eighth time the Orioles have gone back-to-back this season.
Santiago allowed four runs and three hits in 2 2/3 innings - his shortest outing this season - struck out two and walked three. The left-hander was coming off a career-high eight shutout innings while outdueling Felix Hernandez in a 3-0 win at Seattle last weekend.
"I didn't think it should escalate that fast," Santiago said of his ejection. "I could have probably held my peace a little bit more."
Orioles starter Mike Wright gave up five runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings, struck out three and walked three.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Orioles: RHP Yovani Gallardo (right shoulder biceps tendinitis) is set to throw a bullpen session off the mound Sunday and then will toss a simulated game.
Angels: LHP C.J. Wilson (left shoulder inflammation) threw a simulated game Friday, with Scioscia calling it "definitely a notch above" his previous session. Next up for Wilson are some rehab starts and he says he could be ready to return by the first week of June. ... OF Craig Gentry went 0 for 3 with a walk, two strikeouts and one run scored in a rehab assignment with Class-A Inland Empire on Friday. ... INF Jefry Marte was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake. ... RHP Danny Reynolds was designated for assignment.
OLD HOME WEEK
Making the once-a-year trip to Anaheim brings back memories for Trumbo and Orioles pitcher Darren O'Day. Trumbo is from nearby Orange and estimated 40 family and friends came to see him, while O'Day was drafted by the Angels in 2006.
O'Day began his career in the Angels' bullpen two years later, learning from the likes of Francisco Rodriguez, Scot Shields, Justin Speier and Darren Oliver.
"I saw K-Rod two series ago and we were just talking about old times when he used to make me sit on the ground," O'Day recalled. "No rookies were allowed to sit on the bench during September. Now I'm kind of the old guy in the bullpen. I'm trying to help the young guys get better."
UP NEXT
Orioles: RHP Kevin Gausman (0-1, 3.00 ERA) starts the middle game of the series.
Angels: RHP Matt Shoemaker (2-5, 8.49) takes the mound after snapping a four-game skid with a win last Monday against the Dodgers. He is 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA in two career games against the Orioles.