Blanton Still Winless As Angels Lose To O's
ANAHEIM (AP) -- Chris Tillman returned to his hometown and out-pitched Joe Blanton with eight scoreless innings of three-hit ball, right fielder Nick Markakis threw out Mike Trout at the plate, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-1 Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.
Markakis also hit an RBI double and Nate McLouth hit a two-run homer in the ninth, a drive to center field that bounced off the glove of Trout as he jumped for it at the top of the fence.
Tillman (2-1) struck out three, walked two and retired 20 of his last 21 batters en route to his second win in two career starts against the Angels, including his first major league victory on Aug. 14, 2009 at Baltimore. The 25-year-old right-hander is 9-1 with a 2.11 ERA in 11 career starts against AL West teams.
Albert Pujols homered in the ninth inning against closer Jim Johnson.
Blanton (0-5) allowed three runs -- two earned -- and eight hits over eight innings, and is winless in his first six starts of a season for the second time in his 10-year career. The right-hander was 0-5 through his first 10 starts in 2005 with Oakland.
Manny Machado's RBI single in the third inning extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Blanton didn't allow another hit until the sixth, when Adam Jones singled to right one pitch after fouling a ball hard off his left shin and taking some time to shake off the pain.
Chris Davis followed with a double into the right field corner, and Jones legged it all the way around -- just beating second baseman Howie Kendrick's relay from Josh Hamilton.
The Orioles made it 3-0 in the seventh with Markakis' two-out RBI double after a two-base throwing error by Brendan Harris, who charged Nolan Reimold's grounder and barehanded the ball before air-mailing it into the first row behind the Orioles' dugout.
Tillman walked two batters in the first, including Mark Trumbo on eight pitches with two out. Hamilton singled to right field on the next pitch, but Markakis charged the ball and made a perfect one-hop throw to the plate, where Matt Wieters put the tag on Trout as he came in standing up. It was the second outfield assist by the Orioles this season and the first involving a play at home.
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