Davis Hits 3 Homers As Orioles Beat Pirates 9-2
By JOHN PERROTTO
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) Chris Davis hit three home runs, doubling his season total, and drove in five runs to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 9-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
Davis hit a two-run blast during a four-run fifth inning that put the Orioles ahead 6-1 then hit a solo shot in the seventh and two-run homer in the ninth. It was Davis' second career three-homer game - the other came on Aug. 24, 2012 against Toronto - and seventh multi-homer game.
After leading the major leagues and setting a franchise record with 53 homers last season, Davis hit three in his first 30 games.
Nelson Cruz also homered, following Davis' shot in the fifth, to give the Orioles their second set of back-to-back homers of the season. Adam Jones had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.
Miguel Gonzalez (2-3) pitched sixth innings for Baltimore.
Francisco Liriano (0-4) allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings for Pittsburgh.
Ike Davis homered for the Pirates, his second in 27 games since being acquired from the New York in a trade on April 18, in the seventh inning. Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen had two hits each.
The back-to-back home runs by Davis and Cruz keyed a four-run fifth inning that extended the Orioles' lead to 6-1. Jones hit a run-scoring double then scored on Davis' first homer. Cruz followed with his 13th.
In the fourth, J.J. Hardy hit an RBI single then Caleb Joseph put the Orioles ahead 2-1 by drawing a bases-loaded walk. Hardy had two hits.
McCutchen knocked in the game's first run with a single in the third.
NOTES: Orioles RHP Dylan Bundy threw 18 pitches in an extended spring training game Tuesday at Sarasota, Florida, the first time the organization's top prospect had faced hitters from another organization since undergoing Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery last June. . Baltimore C Matt Wieters, on the disabled list with a strained right elbow, said he is feeling considerably better after having a platelet-rich plasma injection last week and should be activated long before the projected date of July 1. . Pirates LF Starling Marte returned to the lineup after a strained left hamstring forced him to leave the second game of Sunday's doubleheader against the Yankees at New York. . The two-game series concludes on Wednesday night with Baltimore RHP Chris Tillman (4-2, 3.34) facing Pittsburgh LHP Wandy Rodriguez (0-2, 6.84).
Updated May 20, 2014
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