(Sports Network) - Adam Jones broke out of his funk with a game-winning home
run to help the Baltimore Orioles even their three-game set with the
Philadelphia Phillies. He'll have a chance to lead his club to a series
victory this afternoon in the finale at Camden Yards.
Jones ended an 0-for-18 slump with a single in the ninth inning and later
ended the game with a two-run home run off Phillies reliever B.J. Rosenberg in
the bottom of the 12th.
"[Baltimore manager Buck Showalter] hits me fourth for a reason," Jones said.
"Glad I was able to come through for my team."
Chris Davis, Matt Wieters and Ryan Flaherty knocked in a run apiece for the
Orioles, who dropped the opener on Friday by a 9-6 score before pulling out
their fourth win in seven tries a day later. Jones' 17th home run of the
season made a winner of Luis Ayala, who pitched a scoreless top of the 12th
after allowing a leadoff single to Hector Luna.
Tommy Hunter started for the Orioles and was hoping to nail down a spot in the
rotation. He avoided a decision and pitched seven decent innings, allowing
three solo home runs and eight total hits.
Baltimore is a game behind Tampa Bay for the AL East lead, while the New York
Yankees sit one-half game off the pace. The Orioles are 1-1 on a six-game
homestand and will also entertain the Pittsburgh Pirates for three games.
Jason Hammel hopes to get back in the swing of things when he toes the rubber
Sunday for the O's. He is 0-1 in his last two starts since winning three of
four trips to the mound, and is coming off Tuesday's 8-6 win at Boston in
which he allowed two runs -- one earned -- in five innings.
Hammel, who is 6-2 with a 2.97 earned run average in 11 starts, looks to stay
unbeaten at Camden Yards this season. He is 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA in four starts
at home. The right-hander has faced the Phillies four times (3 starts) in his
career, going 1-2 with a lofty 6.75 ERA.
Meanwhile, the Phillies fell back into the loss column with Saturday's tough
setback that featured three errors and three home runs.
Luna, Jim Thome and Jimmy Rollins all went deep, while Hunter Pence was busy
at the plate with four hits for the Phillies, who had stopped a season-high
six-game slide with Friday's win. Thome owns an interleague-best 60 homers.
"We could have shut them out," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "We made
some mistakes and it cost us. That's how they scored the three runs. One of
those three runs was earned but a mistake definitely hurt us."
Vance Worley got the start for Philadelphia, which is last in the NL East at
seven games behind Washington, and allowed three runs -- one earned -- through
six innings of work. Rosenberg later absorbed the loss.
The Phillies are 1-1 so far on a nine-game road trip and will also visit
Minnesota and Toronto on the trek. They are still 13-6 in their last 19 road
games with a 9-3 record in the past 12.
It's rare for a pitcher to possess an earned run average below 3.00 and still
have no wins to show for it. That's exactly what Phillies left-hander Cliff
Lee is experiencing and he will take the mound again today. Lee is 0-3 with a
2.92 ERA in nine starts this season and lost his most recent outing on Tuesday
in a 2-1 setback versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Lee struck out 12 batters, but allowed two runs and six hits in 7 2/3 innings
to suffer the loss. No Phillies pitcher has been winless with a 3.00 ERA or
better after his first nine starts in a season until Lee in 2012. The National
League began tracking earned runs back in 1912.
"I'm not really frustrated," Lee said on the club's website. "I'm not. All I
can do is throw pitches. I don't set goals -- am I going to have this many
wins or whatever. I just put up as many zeros as I can, get deep in the game,
throw strikes, don't walk guys, give the team a chance to win. That's all I
can do, and that's what I'm going to continue to try to do. Would I like to
have a better record or like to have had some wins? Yeah. But what can I do
about that?"
The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner has fanned at least six batters in eight
straight starts and has received very little run support. Lee has no record
and a 2.17 ERA in four road starts this season and is 4-2 with a 4.25 ERA in
seven career starts against the Orioles.
The Orioles swept the Phillies in three games back in 2009 at Citizens Bank
Park and have won six of the last eight matchups between the clubs. Baltimore,
of course, defeated Philadelphia in five games to win the 1983 World Series.
The Sports Network