Escobar triples twice, Jones has 3 hits as D'backs top O's
PHOENIX (AP) - Eduardo Escobar tripled twice, Adam Jones had three hits against his former team and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.
Robbie Ray struck out 10 in six innings, allowing three runs and eight hits for his fourth win in four starts. All four of his 10-strikeout games this season have come against AL teams.
The Diamondbacks are 5-5 since the All-Star break and ended the day two games out of the second wild card spot in the National League.
Hanser Alberto and Renato Núñez hit solo home runs for the Orioles in the fifth, Núñez with getting his team-leading 23rd homer of the season. Baltimore had won three of four but has the worst record in the majors at 31-68.
Jones singled home Escobar with two outs in the fourth, and his third-inning double was a shallow fly ball to right field that glanced off Núñez's glove as Núñez attempted an over-the-shoulder catch with his back to the infield.
Jones then scored on Jake Lamb's double for a 4-1 Diamondbacks lead. Lamb also made a key defensive play in the second, taking away a run-scoring single from Jonathan Villar when he dived to field Villar's sharp ground ball headed for left field.
The Diamondbacks scored three runs in the first inning, the first on Escobar's triple. Two more came home on base hits from Christian Walker and Nick Ahmed, whose single happened with two outs.
Escobar is the ninth Diamondbacks player to hit two triples in a game. His stolen base in the eighth gave the Diamondbacks 22 straight steals without being thrown out, a club record.
Baltimore's Anthony Santander scored on Richie Martin's blooper to left field, which Diamondbacks outfielder Jarrod Dyson dived for but couldn't catch in the second inning.
Greg Holland pitched the ninth inning for his 17th save.
JONES FACES OLD FRIENDS
Jones, in his first season not in the orange and black of the Orioles since 2007, was in right field against his former teammates. A five-time All-Star in 11 seasons with the Orioles, he downplayed the sentimentality of playing against his old team after signing with the Diamondbacks during the offseason.
Jones did thank Orioles fans he'd heard about who made the trip out west to see him play, saying "a lot of people got to grow up on me playing out there."
One of the things Jones does when he arrives at Chase Field is turn on baseball - often the Orioles - to watch at his locker.
"It's the first time I've had this many cameras in my face since I've been here, besides opening day," Jones said.
SANDSTORM SEASON
Debris from the first windstorm of what is locally labeled haboob season sifted through openings in the Chase Field panels and left a hazy layer of dust hovering over the field. Play was not affected.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Utility player Blake Swihart (oblique) is soon to continue his rehab assignment with Triple-A Reno. ... OF David Peralta is working his way back from a shoulder injury in the rookie-level Arizona League.
UP NEXT
Orioles: RHP Dylan Bundy (4-11, 5.28 ERA) is set to come off the 10-day injured list to start Tuesday's game against Arizona. He'd been dealing with right knee soreness.
Diamondbacks: RHP Merrill Kelly (7-9, 3.77) faces the Orioles in what will be the second interleague start of his career.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports