The Orioles and Rays have now exchanged sweeps in 2011. Baltimore went into Tampa on opening weekend in April and dominated. This time it was the Rays’ turn, as they strolled into Baltimore and didn’t give the Orioles much of a chance to win.

The Rays have now won six straight games, eight straight road games, and have the most wins in the AL East. Meanwhile, Baltimore continues their inconsistent play. After series wins over Boston and Chicago, they’ve now dropped five out of six to Kansas City and Tampa Bay.

The Rays’ James Shields was the story of Game One. He continued the great start to his season, won his third game and lowered his ERA to 2.01. His excellent fastball/changeup combination held the O’s bats to just three base hits in 7.1 innings. Zach Britton pitched well for Baltimore, but was tagged for a 2-run home run by Brandon Guyer in his first major league at-bat.

Jeremy Guthrie

Game Two was a blowout. Orioles starter, Jeremy Guthrie, allowed two 3-run homers, to Evan Longoria and Justin Upton, as the Rays ran away with an 8-2 victory. The O’s worked five walks off of Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, but couldn’t cash in any of those chips. This game was basically over by the fifth inning.

The Mother’s Day game wasn’t a whole lot better for the O’s. For the second straight day, the Rays starter issued five walks in five innings, this time it was Wade Davis, but the Birds couldn’t recover from Brad Bergesen’s poor outing. B.J. Upton had four RBI for Tampa, while Matt Wieters drove in two for the Orioles.

2011 Orioles Fan

The Baltimore Sun is hitting the panic button and I don’t really blame them. The Orioles offense isn’t improving and the pitching is slowly falling apart.

However, the lowly Seattle Mariners come to town on Tuesday. Baltimore needs to win this series, if not sweep it. The fan base, which was so enthusiastic at the beginning of the season, is starting to turn on the club. It has been an up and down start to the season, so let’s hope we get an up-tick this week before heading back to Tampa on Friday.

The Orioles dropped two of three to the Royals this week after winning two consecutive series vs. both Sox teams. The Royals capitalized on poor outings from Brad Bergesen and Chris Tillman, two starters that are certainly headed in the wrong direction for the O’s.

Bergesen surrendered four runs on Tuesday night and left the game after five innings. The Baltimore offense put some runs up and Brad actually left the game with the lead. Jeremy Accardo quickly allowed a home run to Jeff Francoeur to tie the game and the O’s eventually lost in extra innings.

Tillman started Thursday afternoon and it wasn’t pretty. His 90 mph four-seam fastball simply doesn’t translate into major league success. Tillman’s breaking stuff looks sloppy and his changeup was getting hammered. His final line included 10 hits and eight earned runs.

Brian Matusz’ return will certainly be welcomed by Buck Showalter.

Jake Arrieta

The lone bright spot of the series was Jake Arrieta, who pitched brilliantly in the middle game. He struck out eight Royals in seven innings Wednesday night, allowing just one run to earn the victory. Kevin Gregg, who is also pitching well recently, picked up his sixth save.

The highlight of this game was in centerfield, where Adam Jones slyly left a Mike Aviles gapper to stay stuck under the fence padding for a ground-rule double. If this ball had been played, Aviles would certainly have had an RBI triple and given the Royals a golden opportunity to tie the game. Instead, the eighth inning ended with just one run scoring and a 3-2 lead for Baltimore.

While this series exposed the two weaknesses in the starting rotation, my real concern with the Orioles is on offense. The lineup is stacked with veteran hitters like Derrek Lee, Vlad Guerrero, Brian Roberts, and Luke Scott. However, instead of supplying the consistency we were all expecting, the offense has struggled mightily at times.

Vladimir Guerrero

Guerrero’s .267 batting average is the highest among the regulars, with Luke Scott being the only other starter hitting above .250. The on-base percentages are equally dreadful and the only solace here is that the team has shown a little bit of power, slugging 32 home runs.

Since the Orioles started the season 4-0, they are 10-16 and struggling to stay near the .500 mark, making Oriole Magic seem more like witchcraft.

The Baltimore Orioles were back to their winning ways over the last seven games. They just took three out of four from the White Sox, after winning two of three against Boston.

The wrap-around series in Chicago saw the O’s take the first three games and reach the .500 mark again, only to drop the final game to Mark Buehrle on Monday night.

Not counting Jeremy Guthrie’s starts, the O’s offense appears to be back on track. They have raised the team on-base percentage to .295, up 15 points from April 18th. Like most teams, when the O’s score five or more runs, they seem to win.

Luke Scott is so afraid of the world and has so many phobias, he carries a gun into the locker room

Matt Wieters has broken out of his two-year slump and is starting to pop some home runs. He isn’t exactly ripping two hits a night, but he is driving in runs and getting on base. Luke Scott, however, is hotter than the barrel of his spent .45. He has homered in three of the last five games and has 6 RBI in that span. He even robbed a homerun in leftfield when he jumped to pull back an Alexei Ramirez fly ball. Robert Andino has proven to be a super-sub in J.J. Hardy’s absence. He has great range at shortstop and is hitting .314 on the season.

The starters continue to pitch well. The team has a starters ERA of 3.98, led by Zach Britton’s 2.63 and Jeremy Guthrie’s 3.00. Jake Arrieta, Chris Tillman, and Brad Bergesen own unsightly ERAs near 5.00, but it’s the bullpen that has is last in MLB with a 5.48 ERA. Much of that inflated number can be traced back to the 15-3 loss to the Yankees two Saturdays ago, when the ‘pen allowed nine earned runs in just three innings.

Brian Matusz

Brian Matusz is expected to return to the rotation sometime this month. He’ll likely replace Brad Bergesen or Chris Tillman. Tillman doesn’t have anything left to prove in the minors. He has dominated at every level and just needs some time to figure out major league hitters. Bergesen’s finesse repertoire has never been highly touted and he’ll likely be the odd man out when Matusz is ready.

The O’s (13-14) travel to Kansas City tonight for a three-game series against the 15-13 Royals. The Alex Gordon and Billy Butler combination has been deadly for KC, as each player has been tearing up AL pitching. Mike Aviles also enters the game red hot with 21 RBI on the season. And don’t forget Frenchie, who recently had a 17-game hitting streak stopped.

Despite dealing with a hot Royals team, this is a series that the Orioles need to win before the Rays come to visit the Yard on Friday night.

The Orioles entered their mid-week series with the Red Sox as losers of two of their last 13 games. Meanwhile, the Sox were coming off a four-game sweep of the Angels that included two shutouts. The O’s are already 0-4 against the hated 1st place Yankees and desperately needed a couple of W’s to stay close to .500.

Thanks to Zach Britton and Jeremy Guthrie, they did just that. Britton won his fourth game of the season, out pitching Clay Buchholz. Britton’s sinker has quickly made him one of the better pitchers in the AL East. His groundball/flyball ratio of 1.47 is currently good for 11th place in all of baseball, and behind only Jon Lester among AL East pitchers.

Jeremy Guthrie at Stanford

Jeremy Guthrie weaseled his way through Wednesday night’s game. He pitched out of major trouble in the first inning as Robert Andino ran down a David Ortiz popup in short leftfield. Luke Scott was nowhere to be found and Andino showed some amazing range to make the play. Nick Markakis saved Guthrie in the fourth inning, throwing out David Ortiz at home plate on a base hit by Jed Lowrie. And finally, with a runner at second base, Guthrie robbed Dustin Pedroia by snagging a line drive comebacker to end the fifth inning.

These two starters appear to give Buck Showalter a solid 1-2 punch that can compete with the best offenses in baseball. Also, Jake Arrieta has pitched much better than his ERA suggests. He allowed more runs in his start against Texas (8 ER), than he has in all his other starts combined (7 ER). Arrieta faces the White Sox tonight in the opener of their four-game wrap-around series in Chicago.

The O’s offense scored four runs in Britton’s outing on Tuesday, despite cracking 12 base hits, all off of Buchholz. They seemingly had him on the ropes every inning, but couldn’t get the big hit. O’s hitters had three sacrifice flies in the game.

Luke Scott, one of those douchebags that thinks shooting helpless animals for sport is cool. I doubt he's hunting for food.

Luke Scott and Adam Jones hit back-to-back home runs off Josh Beckett in support of Guthrie, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. The teams showed some guts however, by rebounding to score a run off super-reliever Daniel Bard to win the game.

Kevin Gregg saved both wins in the series for a bullpen that is starting to look very vulnerable. Mike Gonzalez is about to get DFA’d if he’s not careful. He can’t get anyone out and there is no point in having a lefty in the ‘pen if that lefty is brutal. Koji Uehara finally got tagged for a HR, but he’s still one of the bright spots. Jeremy Accardo looks good when he’s throwing strikes, but he seems to walk a batter per outing.

We’re almost one full month into the season and you can start to get an idea of what to expect out of the Orioles this year. I believe we’re looking at an improving team, but a team that will still struggle to finish at .500 in the AL East.

For the second time this season, the Orioles were swept in a rain-shortened two game series against the Yankees. The only thing more disgusting than losing to the Yankees is listening to their inbred, brain-dead fans cheering for them in Camden Yards.

Have you ever been to a game at Yankee Stadium? If you have, you have learned a couple of important things about their fans. First, there are NO women inside Yankee Stadium, unless you count radio announcer, Suzyn Waldman, but we’re not so sure what she/he actually is. Women avoid Yankee Stadium because most Stankee fans are ugly men who don’t understand much about society. Women don’t like that.

Second, Yankees fans have been brainwashed to believe that baseball is only to be taken seriously. This is true for the ownership and front office, but fans should have fun at the stadium. There is no fun at Yankee Stadium. Instead, it’s all about acting like a tool, obsessing over the Red Sox, and chanting dumb sayings that they learned in 8th grade cheerleading class.

So, it always comes with absolute horror to know that these same Jersey Shore trash bags are invading Camden Yards. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit just thinking about it.

I have an idea…. There must be a way to ensure that Yankees fans do NOT get tickets to anymore games at Camden Yards. If I was a filthy rich O’s fan, I would buy all the tickets to the Yankees-Orioles games for the remainder of the season. Then I would walk around Baltimore and distribute the tickets, for FREE, to any and all O’s fans I see. This would fill the stadium with birds and keep those child-eating, pepperoni-smelling Yankees fans out.

Unfortunately, I am not filthy rich, but someone out there must be….

Robert Andino

Game One Notes (Saturday night)

-Chris Tillman had his start skipped due to a sore groin.
-Robert Andino got in Mark Teixeira’s face in the first inning after Teixeira made a dirty slide into Andino’s ankle at second base. We all remember Teixeira’s dirty slide that injured Anaheim catcher Bobby Wilson last year, which also occurred on 4/23. I think Teixeira’s problem is that he’s just too uncoordinated to know how to slide properly. Obviously, he has good hand/eye coordination, but he has absolutely no control over his body when he’s running. Complete idiot.
-The Yankees scored seven runs in the 8th inning to blow this game open.
-Josh Rupe drilled Russell Martin near his dome in the 9th inning, but unfortunately he let the Yankees get the last laugh when Brett Gardner followed with a dinger.

Matt Wieters

Game Two Notes (Sunday afternoon)

-Orioles sent the game to extra innings by tying the game off of the “invincible” Mariano Rivera in the 9th. The O’s would have won the game if not for a fortunate carom off the right field wall in foul territory. That carom eventually led to throwing out the winning run at home plate.
-Wieters made an incredible block of home plate in the 10th inning to stop a Derek Jeter run. This game would have been an instant classic had the Orioles been able to win.
-Jason Berken got blown up by the Yankees for the third time this year. In three appearances against the Yanks…. 3.1IP / 7R / 6ER

Entering this week’s four game series, the Twins and Orioles were two of the worst hitting teams in baseball. After splitting the series, the Twins and Orioles are still two of the worst hitting teams in baseball. They sit at 29th (O’s) and 30th (Twins) in on-base percentage in MLB.

Baltimore was starting to get desperate for a win as they entered the series on a seven game losing streak. Nothing was going right. The pitching was starting to look very average and the bats were silent. Buck was trying to stay positive, at least to the media. Everything he said sounded like an attempt to keep his team confident.

Kevin Gregg

So to Game One we go. Monday night. Baltimore. It was Chris Tillman vs. Francisco Liriano. Liriano gave the Orioles plenty of scoring chances but the hitters just couldn’t capitalize. Liriano walked five but repeatedly got out of trouble. Adam Jones and Matt Wieters finally got him in the 7th inning, as they each ripped homers deep into the outfield seats knocking Liriano out of the game.

Chris Tillman pitched well for the O’s. He allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings without a walk. Tillman scares me every time he’s out there. He’s a guy that pitches up in the zone, but with a fastball that sits around 90-91 mph, that could be a nuclear situation.

It was 3-2 Twins headed into the 9th, but Kevin Gregg gave up two ugly insurance runs. He walked two batters, gave up two hits, and even bounced a wild pitch for a run. Deservedly, the crowd let him have it.

Luke Scott homered in the 9th, in theory the game-tying home run if Gregg had thrown a shut down inning. But it wasn’t to be as the O’s fell 5-3, extending their losing streak to eight games.

Matt Wieters

Game Two. Tuesday night. Pavano vs. Arrieta. Orioles win 11-0! It was a much-needed blowout. The first eight runs the O’s scored all came with 2-outs. Matt Wieters had a bases loaded double and finished with 4 RBI. Brian Roberts had a 2-rbi double and Vlad Guerrero capped the scoring with a 3-run homer. It was all O’s, all night.

Jake Arrieta pitched six shutout innings as his ERA is still recovering from his 8 ER outing against Texas.

Game Three. Wednesday night. Blackburn vs. Britton. The Orioles were about five feet better than the Twins on this night. Adam Jones recorded the last out of the game by catching a Denard Span fly ball and simultaneously crashing into the outfield fence. It was the second save of the season for Kevin Gregg, with both saves ending on catches against the fence by Oriole outfielders. If you remember, Nick Markakis ended Gregg’s first save by making a leaping catch against the wall in Tampa.

Michael Cuddyer (Twins) and Matt Wieters each homered in the 2nd inning. Both home runs landed in nearly identical spots in centerfield. In that section of stands sat a youth baseball team all decked out in their red jerseys. The guys missed out on Cuddyer’s homer, but Wieters’ shot glanced off their hands and a teammate in the front row caught the rebound.

Jeremy Guthrie

Game Four. Thursday night. Baker vs. Guthrie. The O’s were shut down by Scott Baker, who was the real story of this game. Baker whiffed nine Orioles en route to seven shutout innings and his first win of the season.

Jim Thome supplied the Twins offense, launching the 591st home run of his career and also lacing an RBI single. Michael Cuddyer also homered to add an insurance run.

The O’s Jeremy Guthrie pitched well in defeat. He threw seven innings and allowed just two runs, both off the bat of Thome. Guthrie now has a losing record of 1-3, despite his 3.12 ERA.

Michael Gonzalez attempted to pitch the 8th inning for Baltimore, but was awful. He lacks command of his pitches, meaning half his sliders and hanging and his velocities are inconsistent. His control is also brutal, meaning he can’t seem to locate any of his pitches.

Up Next. The Orioles are hosting a three-game series with the Yankees this weekend, beginning with tonight’s 7:05pm start. C.C. Sabathia is on the hill for the Bankee$ and Brad Bergesen will sling it for the O’s.

The Baltimore Orioles traveled to Cleveland this weekend in hopes of regaining first place in the AL East. However, they ran into a hot Indians team that pummeled them for a three game sweep. The Orioles have now lost seven in a row, putting their record at 6-8, good enough for third place.

The Orioles offense was put down by three excellent pitching performances from the Indians’ Justin Masterson, Josh Tomlin, and Fausto Carmona. Each starter threw at least six innings and allowed two runs or less.

Meanwhile, Baltimore starter Zach Britton took his first loss on Friday night after allowing a four-run fourth inning. Jeremy Guthrie was torched on Saturday for 10 hits and six runs and Brad Bergesen allowed two home runs in his five innings of work on Sunday. The team ERA has ballooned to 4.55, ranking 21st overall.

Buck Showalter

Baltimore’s offense could now be described as the worst in baseball. The O’s have a team on-base percentage of just .280, good for dead last in MLB. The good news is that things can’t possibly stay this bad. There are way too many experienced hitters in the lineup and the upcoming 10-game homestand should do some good.

Manager Buck Showalter hasn’t blown up on his team yet, nor has he thrown in the towel. We’re still just two weeks into the season and Buck believes, “We’re going to be a good club before this is over.”

Game One Notes

-Derrek Lee and Brian Roberts each had two hits for Baltimore.
-Indians starter Justin Masterson upped his record to 3-0 on the year. He induced a 12-5 groundball-flyball ratio.

Jake Fox

Game Two Notes

-Jake Fox hit his first home run of the season. He also tripled.
-Luke Scott homered.
-Indians starter Josh Tomlin upped his record to 3-0 on the year. He walked zero, struck out four, and allowed two home runs.

Game Three Notes

-Brian Roberts had three hits.
-Indians starter Fausto Carmona won his first game of the year.
-Grady Sizemore returned to the Indians lineup for the first time after having microfracture surgery on his knee last year. He homered in his second at-bat.

The Baltimore Orioles lost both games of their rain-shortened two game series against the Yankees this week. The series began with the O’s holding a slim 1-game lead in the standings over the hated Stanks, but ended with the Bankees in first place.

Orioles starter, Chris Tillman got bombed on Wednesday night, allowing 6 ER while recording just five outs. With Mr. April, A.J. Burnett, pitching for New York, the O’s couldn’t muster much of a comeback until the 7th inning, when they closed the gap to 7-4. The Yankees bullpen took over from there and closed the game down.

Thursday night was the first Orioles heartbreaker of the season. The Orioles held a 5-0 lead at one point and Jake Arrieta didn’t allow a hit through the first four innings. But New York started chipping away at the lead, and eventually tied the game off of Kevin Gregg in the 9th. Michael Gonzalez, always an adventure, lost the game in the 10th.

Kevin Gregg

I’m not sure how much longer Buck Showalter can keep sending Kevin Gregg into the 9th inning with a lead. Gregg looked horrible in recording his first save of the season in Tampa and it took just one pitch for him to blow the lead last night. On the positive side, Gregg’s stuff looked really good as he recorded two strikeouts and was pumping 92-94 mph fastballs. He showed two different breaking balls and his splitter. After allowing the homer and a double on his first three pitches, he basically dominated the next three batters to preserve the tie.

Koji Uehara looked good in the closer’s role last season but has been seldomly used (just 2 2/3 innings) so far this year. Exactly what type of situation is Buck saving Uehara for?

After pitching six no-hit innings on opening weekend, Chris Tillman hasn’t looked so hot since. His ERA sits at 7.30 and now he’s coming off an outing where he couldn’t get out of the 2nd inning. Without dominating swing-and-miss type stuff, it could be a long year for Tillman pitching in the AL East.

Jake Arrieta threw his second solid game of the year last night, going six innings and allowing just three runs. His ERA is an unsightly 7.04, but it will take him a while to bring it down from his disastrous 8-run game against Texas.

Matt Wieters

Game One Notes

-Mark Reynolds doubled twice, raising his batting average to .273.

-Matt Wieters launched a 2-run homer and is tinkering with his batting stance in order to get his bat going.

Game Two Notes

-Think Chris Tillman is struggling? The Yankees’ Prince Phillip Hughes is sporting a 13.94 ERA after Thursday’s start. His velocity is down and Yankees fans will certainly be blowing up the phone lines at WFAN today.

-Nick Markakis laced three hits and drove in three.

This weekend’s series between the Orioles and Rangers showcased two of the 1st place teams in the AL. Texas came to Baltimore with an undefeated record, while the O’s were sitting at 5-1.

After Friday’s rainout, the teams met for a doubleheader Saturday afternoon. The story of Game One was the left arm of Zach Britton, who dealt his lethal sinker on the Rangers for 7 2/3 innings to get the victory. Britton allowed just seven baserunners, erasing three of them with double plays, while inducing a total of 13 groundouts. The rookie is now 2-0 in two starts.

Mark Reynolds

Offensively, the Orioles scored five early runs and never looked back. Nick Markakis lined a 1st inning home run down the rightfield line for a 1-0 lead. Then in the 2nd, Mark Reynolds mashed a 3-run homer to deep leftfield. An RBI single from Adam Jones in the 3rd wrapped up the scoring for the game, giving the O’s a 5-0 win.

In the nightcap, the Claw and Antlers were unkind to the Orioles, exploding for 13 runs including three homers. Jake Arrieta was victimized for eight of the runs, all earned. He struck out five but was tattooed for a six-run 3rd inning and was pulled in the 4th. Reliever Chris Jakubauskas didn’t fare much better as Nelson Cruz capped the night with a 3-run jack in the 9th.

Rangers’ starter Matt Harrison shut down any thoughts of an O’s comeback by throwing 7 innings of two-hit ball. The lefty was firing low-90s fastballs that silenced the Baltimore bats. The lone bright spot for the home team was Adam Jones, who started the scoring with a solo shot in the 2nd. Final score, 13-1.

Jeremy Guthrie

Sunday afternoon saw the rubber match of the weekend series go to Texas by the score of 3-0. Jeremy Guthrie pitched well for Baltimore in his first start since being hospitalized with pneumonia. Guthrie allowed just five baserunners in his six innings but took the loss. The O’s were shutout by a combination of Derek Holland, Darren Oliver, Darren O’Day, and Neftali Feliz.

It took just two swings of the bat for Texas to put up their runs. Adrian Beltre cracked a solo home run off Guthrie in the 4th and Ian Kinsler hit a 2-run shot in the 7th. Derrek Lee and Vladimir Guerrero each had two base hits for the Orioles.

The Orioles will now travel to New York for a three-game series at Yankee Stadium beginning on Tuesday night.

According to all-birds.com, the Oriole is a sign of spring. So it’s no wonder it felt like Mother Nature skipped over spring the last thirteen years, the Orioles have been nowhere to be found.

However, it’s just six games into the 2011 season and the Orioles seem to have everything clicking for them. The offense exploded for nine runs in yesterday’s rubber match, giving the O’s a 5-1 record on the year. Spring has finally arrived after years on hiatus.

The Orioles took the three-game series against the AL Central favorite Tigers, two games to one. Brian Roberts was the hero again in game one, smoking a three-run homer off Rick Porcello in the 5th inning, breaking a 1-1 tie. Brian Roberts has to be the MVP of the first week of the season.

Jake Arrieta

This was the home opener in Baltimore and the team didn’t disappoint the 46,593 in attendance. Jake Arrieta got the start on the mound, dealing six strong innings to capture the win. Jason Berken threw his second strong outing of the year, fanning three batters in his two innings of relief.

In game two, the Tigers played a little home run derby. With Brad Bergesen getting the start in place of the sickly Jeremy Guthrie, Los Tigres came out swinging. Alex Avila did most of the damage, cracking a 2-run double off the wall in the 2nd and a 2-run homer over that same wall in the 4th. Josh Rupe replaced Bergesen and promptly allowed back-to-back homers to Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez in the 5th inning.

Alex Avila

Offensively, the Orioles were stifled by the right arm of Justin Verlander. Verlander struck out nine Orioles in his eight innings and allowed only six base runners. Any doubt about who was in charge of this game was erased when the Old Dominion product struck out the side in the bottom of the 7th.

Game three went back and forth until Baltimore tallied five runs in the 7th inning to pull away for good. The whole team seemed to be involved in the rally, as they used four base hits, three bases on balls, and a sac fly to take the lead. The big hit came from Mark Reynolds, who laced a line drive double down the leftfield line to drive in two.

Chris Tillman had a so-so outing, failing to get out of the 5th inning while allowing four runs on six hits. The big pitching lift came from Jim Johnson, who threw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball to hold the Tigers long enough for the O’s to take the lead for good.

Game One Notes

-Jake Arrieta struck out Austin Jackson to begin the home opener.
-Nick Markakis had three hits.
-Derrek Lee stole his first base as an Oriole. If Lee is healthy enough to swipe some bases, something he hasn’t really done since 2005, this gives Buck another weapon.

Derrek Lee

Game Two Notes

-Derrek Lee hit his first home run as an Oriole, an opposite field shot.
-The only potential Orioles rally was killed when Vladimir Guerrero was thrown out at second base while trying to advance on an errant throw after his RBI single in the 6th inning. Guerrero was erroneously called out by umpire Jim Wolf, ending the inning.

Adam Jones

Game Three Notes

-Guerrero hit his first home run as an Oriole.
-In the 2nd inning, Adam Jones had a bunt base hit, stole second, and scored on a Mark Reynolds single.
-Jones and Markakis combined for a juggling catch against the wall in right-center field in the 4th inning. Jones bobbled the fly ball, crashed into the fence, and Markakis caught the rebound for the out. The only problem was the ball also touched the outfield wall, and should have been ruled in play. Give Markakis credit for a good job of selling the catch.
-Alex Avila hit his second homer in as many games, giving him 6 RBI in that span.
-Jones homered and finished the game with 3 RBI and 2 R.
-Koji Uehara finished his second game of the series, holding a four-run lead each time.