Reynolds, O's Use Five-Run Seventh To Top Tigers
BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles finally got the desired results from their new-look lineup.
Adam Jones had a home run and three RBI, Mark Reynolds also had three RBI, and the Orioles used a five-run seventh inning to beat the Detroit Tigers 9-5 on Thursday night.
Vladimir Guerrero hit his first home run with the Orioles, who rebounded from deficits of 2-0, 4-2 and 5-4.
Eager to add punch to an offense that last year ranked 13th in the AL in runs, Baltimore president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail traded for Reynolds and signed Guerrero and Derrek Lee as free agents. The end product is a batting order with potential punch from top to bottom.
"Anybody on any given night can be a hero," said Jones, who came in batting .105. "Tonight Guerrero had two RBIs, I had a few and Reynolds had a few. ... Just imagine if all nine of us are doing it in one night."
Baltimore took two of three from the Tigers after opening the season with a three-game sweep in Tampa Bay. The Orioles didn't win their second series last year until May 13 and didn't capture consecutive series until after manager Buck Showalter arrived in August.
"It's better than last year, but we've still got a lot of games to go," Jones said. "You've seen a lot of people start out well and you never hear anything about them."
Alex Avila hit a home run for the Tigers, who will play host to Kansas City on Friday after going 2-4 on the road to open the season.
"We were looking to get home at .500 and we had a shot at that tonight and we let it get away," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "We played six games and we're 2-4. That's what we deserve to be. Tomorrow, we'll try to make it 3-4. If we pitch well, we'll have a shot."
Baltimore sent 10 batters to the plate against three Detroit pitchers in the seventh. After Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis reached against Brad Thomas (0-1), Guerrero singled in a run off Enrique Gonzalez and Jones hit a sacrifice fly for a 6-5 lead. Reynolds followed with a two-run double and Cesar Izturis capped the uprising with an RBI single.
Jim Johnson (1-0) pitched 1 2/3 innings of one-hit relief for Baltimore.
Avila, who had a home run and four RBI on Wednesday night, again played a starring role for the Tigers. Besides hitting a fifth-inning home run, he began the seventh with a walk off Jeremy Accardo and scored on Austin Jackson's double to left to put Detroit up 5-4.
The lead quickly vanished in the bottom half.
"This team battled and we had a chance to win that game," Detroit starter Brad Penny said. "I let it go in the sixth and it kind of snowballed from there. This team is going to hit. Once we start pitching, it's going to be a fun year."
After throwing six innings of no-hit ball on Saturday at Tampa Bay, Orioles starter Chris Tillman gave up four runs and six hits over 4 2/3 innings in his follow-up performance. The contrast was evident at the outset, when Jackson, Detroit's leadoff hitter, got the first of four singles in a two-run first.
Baltimore pulled even in the second. After Guerrero homered to straightaway center, Jones beat out a bunt, stole second and scored on a single by Reynolds.
The Tigers went up 4-2 with a two-run fifth. Avila got it started with a drive over the right-field wall, Will Rhymes walked with two outs and Brennan Boesch chased Tillman with a double to right-center.
In the Baltimore sixth, Luke Scott doubled with one out and Jones followed with his first home run of the season to chase Penny.
Notes
Baltimore's original lineup had Felix Pie in LF and J.J. Hardy at SS. But Scott (groin) returned from a three-game absence to replace Pie, and Izturis was a late sub for Hardy, who felt tightness in his lower left rib cage.
Detroit placed RHP Ryan Perry (eye infection) on the 15-day DL, retroactive to April 5, and recalled RHP Robbie Weinhardt from Triple-A Toledo.
The Orioles pulled off a rare 8-9 out on the scorecard when a liner by Martinez bounced out of Jones' glove and was snagged by Markakis. Umpires didn't see the ball hit the wall before Markakis latched on.
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