Jimenez Struggles Again In Orioles' 9-5 Loss To Angels

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles have seen the last of Ubaldo Jimenez during the first half of the baseball season.

Now they must determine how much they want to see of him after the All-Star break.

Jimenez was rocked by the Los Angeles Angels in another abbreviated start, and the Orioles wasted three home runs in a 9-5 loss Friday night.

Jimenez (5-9) gave up five runs, five hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings. His ERA swelled to 7.38 after his third start of less than two innings.

What do you do with an ineffective pitcher with a year-and-a-half left on a $50 million contract?

"We had tried to put him in the bullpen, see if we could work some things out there," manager Buck Showalter said. "But necessity put him back in there, so we'll attack it after the break."

Many in the crowd of 44,317 began booing the right-hander in the first inning, and they cheered when Showalter finally walked to the mound to summon help from the bullpen.

"There's no doubt about it, this is the toughest thing that I have had to face," Jimenez said. "I have to keep going, keep working hard and hopefully find something that's going to get me out of this thing."

Daniel Nava had two RBIs and Mike Trout scored three runs for the Angels, who have won four straight. Los Angeles built an 8-1 lead in the fourth inning and coasted to the finish.

Matt Shoemaker (4-9) allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings to earn his first win since May 27. The right-hander was 0-4 in his previous eight starts despite owning a respectable 3.08 ERA over that span.

Adam Jones homered on Shoemaker's first pitch, and the Orioles also got long balls from Jonathan Schoop and Mark Trumbo.

Jones' shot got Baltimore to 2-1, and two batters later Manny Machado sent a drive toward the seats in left. Nava gauged the flight of the ball while backing up, shifted to his right at the last second and reached into the front row to rob Machado of his 20th home run.

Baltimore's rocky night was personified by consecutive errors committed by three-time Gold Glove shortstop J.J. Hardy in the fourth inning. The miscues doubled his error total for the season.

After Jimenez departed, Mike Wright hit three batters over the course of his 4 2/3-inning stint, including first baseman C.J. Cron. The pitch fractured Cron's left hand and sent him to the 15-day disabled list.

Schoop was plunked in the helmet by Cam Bedrosian in the sixth, prompting home plate umpire Mike Everitt to issue a warning to both clubs.

ROSTER MOVES

The Angels put Cron on the DL, optioned C Carlos Perez to Triple-A Salt Lake, activated C Geovany Soto from the DL and recalled 1B Ji-Man Choi.

50 YEARS LATER

The Orioles paid tribute to the 1966 World Series champions with a pregame ceremony and by wearing replica uniforms of that team. Informed that the '66 Orioles used only four pitchers in a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Showalter exclaimed, "C'mon man, we use four (by) the third inning!"

TRAINER'S ROOM

Angels: LHP Tyler Skaggs (shoulder) threw 75 pitches in a rehab assignment on Thursday night. "We definitely are hoping he's going to be with us and maybe part of our rotation at some point," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

Orioles: LHP T.J. McFarland (left knee inflammation) will see Dr. James Andrews on Monday for a second opinion.

UP NEXT

Angels: RHP Nick Tropeano (3-2, 3.28 ERA) makes his 12th start of the season and first of his career against the Orioles on Saturday.

Orioles: RHP Yovani Gallardo (3-1, 6.10) has been in the league since 2007, yet he has only faced the Angels once. He allowed five runs in four innings last year.