The Sports Xchange
Jun 18, 2017
BALTIMORE -- Ubaldo Jimenez threw seven solid innings in his return to the starting rotation and the Baltimore Orioles clubbed four home runs in an 8-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon.
Making his first start since May 22 after being demoted to the bullpen, Jimenez (2-2) kept the Cardinals' lineup in check. Over the course of a 106-pitch performance, he allowed a pair of earned runs on four hits to earn his first victory since April 19. He struck out three and walked four.
The right-hander benefited from another power surge by the Orioles' offense, as Seth Smith, Trey Mancini, Mark Trumbo and Wellington Castillo all blasted home runs off of Cardinals starter Lance Lynn.
Smith, the leadoff man, put the Orioles (34-34) in front right away by knocking a 3-2 pitch from Lynn over the wall in center. It was the fourth leadoff home run the Orioles have hit this season with Smith responsible for three of them. He now has five leadoff home runs in his career.
Mancini followed with his 12th homer of the season to start the second, and then Trumbo and Castillo belted their as part of a four-run fifth inning that chased Lynn from the game.
Lynn (5-4) allowed seven earned runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He has not gone beyond 5 1/3 innings in each of his last three starts.
Mancini extended his hitting streak to a career-long nine games. He notched his first career triple as part of the Orioles' power surge in the bottom of the fifth.
The Cardinals (31-37) scored all of their runs via the long ball. Stephen Piscotty homered twice with two outs and notched the second multi-homer game of his career, while Dexter Fowler homered in his fourth consecutive game for St. Louis.
Brad Brach worked a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 12th save of the season for the Orioles.
NOTES: The Orioles won their 23rd home game of the season, which is the most in the American League. At 23-11 at Camden Yards, they trail only the New York Yankees (22-9) for the best home winning percentage in the AL. ... Orioles SS J.J. Hardy was knocked out of the game in the sixth inning after suffering a right-wrist contusion. He was struck by a pitch on the wrist in the bottom of the fourth. ... Cardinals RHP Lance Lynn has now allowed a home run in seven consecutive starts. That's the most by a Cardinals starter since Matt Morris surrendered homers in 10 straight games in 2004.