Orioles 4, Royals 3
BALTIMORE -- Matt Wieters drove in three runs, and his eighth-inning double lifted the Baltimore Orioles to a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals in the series opener Tuesday night.
The Orioles blew a 3-0 lead before moving back in front in the eighth. Adam Jones led off with a walk against Tim Collins (1-1), who exited after striking out Chris Davis. Jones took second when Luke Hochevar's pickoff throw sailed past first base, and he scored on Wieters' double.
Jim Johnson pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his league-leading 12th save.
Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen gave up nine hits (all singles) and no walks while striking out two over 6 1/3 innings. He got some help from the Baltimore defense, which turned three double plays.
Tommy Hunter (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win.
The Royals' Ervin Santana struggled early with his pitch count but wound up allowing just three runs on seven hits in six innings. He finished with four strikeouts and a walk.
The Royals have been followed by bad weather this season and they faced another rain delay in the seventh, trailing 3-1.
The 48-minute delay ended the night for Chen, who was trying to become just the third Orioles starter to get through seven innings this season.
When play resumed, Brian Matusz entered for the Orioles and allowed a game-tying, two-run homer to Alex Gordon. It was the first time since moving to the bullpen in August that Matusz allowed an inherited runner to score.
The Orioles quickly ended Santana's 13-inning scoreless streak with an RBI single by Jones in the first. Wieters then increased the lead to 3-0 with a two-run double to center field.
It took Santana 33 pitches to get through the opening inning. He also allowed more than two runs in a game for the first time since April 3 against the Chicago White Sox.
After cruising through the first two innings, Chen allowed a two-out, RBI single to Alcides Escobar in the third that cut the Orioles' lead to 3-1.
NOTES: The Royals' Bruce Chen, Jeremy Guthrie and Miguel Tejada each had successful tenures with the Orioles. Chen won 13 games for the Baltimore in 2005, while Guthrie was Baltimore's Opening Day starter three times. Tejada had a club-record 150 RBI in 2004. ... Kansas City entered the night leading the major leagues in two-out offense, batting .291 with 52 RBIs. ... Orioles SS J.J. Hardy received a cortisone injection for a sore right elbow last weekend, but he hasn't missed any games. ... 3B Manny Machado committed just the Orioles' second error in 11 games with an errant throw in the fifth.
