Ubaldo Jimenez, Manny Machado Drive Orioles Past Angels, 5-0
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Ubaldo Jimenez's second pitch hit David DeJesus squarely in the hip, and the Baltimore starter immediately flashed back to his regrettable recent outings.
"The first thing I thought, `Oh, here we go again,"' Jimenez said.
Jimenez's night went to much better places from there on out for the Orioles.
Jimenez yielded two hits over eight dominant innings, and Manny Machado had four hits and scored two runs in the Orioles' 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night.
Kole Calhoun broke up Jimenez's no-hit bid with a two-out double to center in the sixth, but the veteran right-hander had little trouble against Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and the struggling Angels, who have lost 11 of 15 after winning 17 of 20.
Jimenez (9-7) had four losses in his past six starts, failing to make the fifth inning in three of the last four. Yet he overwhelmed the Angels, striking out six and walking one.
"I really needed it," said Jimenez, who beat the Angels for the first time in his career. "It's not easy coming to the stadium every night knowing you're not doing what you're supposed to, especially where we are fighting for a wild card. It feels really good to get back on track."
Los Angeles couldn't get a runner to third base against Jimenez while getting shut out for the fourth time in 15 games and the ninth time this season.
Machado and Caleb Joseph homered, and Jonathan Schoop drove in two runs in the Orioles' third win in five games. Baltimore scored in five different innings in an 11-hit effort led by Machado, the All-Star with 10 hits in his last five games.
"We did a lot of different things to score runs, and those are the things that are going to have to continue if we're going to go somewhere this season," Machado said.
Garrett Richards (11-9) gave up seven hits and three runs over six innings for the Angels. He has taken three losses in four starts for the first time in his major league career.
Richards struck out seven, but repeatedly found trouble while giving up at least three runs for the fifth time in six starts. He gave up three earned runs in five of his previous 19 starts dating to last season, which ended early with a knee injury.
"It was a battle night," Richards said. "We just didn't get it done as a team. That's it. On to the next one. We've got 60 games to play, so nobody is scoreboard-watching."
Machado scored on Adam Jones' grounder in the third in a rally that began with the Angels dropping a catchable pop fly to right. Joseph was tagged out in a rundown at the plate moments earlier.
Machado then connected on a full-count pitch in the fifth, driving his 24th homer into the bullpen beyond left field. The homer was the fifth in four starts allowed by Richards, who only gave up five homers all last season.
RUNS OFF THE BOARD
Trout singled and appeared to score on David Murphy's fly in the ninth, but after video review, the umpires ruled the AL MVP slid over the plate and didn't touch it before the tag.
The Orioles also lost a run at the plate on video appeal in the second inning when umpires saw that Schoop failed to touch home plate while sliding in well ahead of the Angels' throw.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Orioles: Jason Garcia returned from the 60-day DL on Friday, pitching in the eighth inning of Baltimore's loss.
Angels: Jered Weaver will return to the rotation Sunday, making his first start in seven weeks due to left hip inflammation.
UP NEXT
Orioles: Miguel Gonzalez (9-8, 4.32 ERA), who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, has lost his last two starts.
Angels: Weaver (4-8, 4.75 ERA) makes his 16th start of the season. He won in Baltimore on May 15.
(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
