Rangers 8, Orioles 4
By David Driver, The Sports Xchange
BALTIMORE -- Adrian Beltre had four hits, including two home runs, and five RBI as the Texas Rangers continued their mastery of the Baltimore Orioles with an 8-4 win Tuesday.
The Rangers (53-37) have now won 12 of the past 14 regular-season games between the teams. Starting pitcher Martin Perez improved to 3-1 and sent Baltimore (49-42) to its fifth loss in the last six games. Zach Britton (2-3) absorbed the loss.
Perez allowed four runs (two earned) in six innings before Jason Frasor took over in the seventh with one on and no outs. Tanner Scheppers, who entered the game with an ERA of 1.88, pitched a scoreless eighth for Texas and Cory Burns pitched the ninth.
After homers by Beltre in the first and fifth, Texas added to its lead in the seventh as Jurickson Profar hit an RBI double off reliever Kevin Gausman to make it 6-4. Later in the inning A.J. Pierzynski ripped an RBI single to right against reliever Brian Matusz. Beltre had an RBI single in the ninth to make it 8-4 and finish the first five-RBI game by a Texas player this season.
Texas scored four runs in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead. Nelson Cruz had an RBI single, and Beltre hit a three-run homer to left. It was the second homer of the game and 20th of the season for Beltre, who now has 25 multi-homer games in his career.
Baltimore's J.J. Hardy hit a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth to make it 5-4.
Manny Machado gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead with a solo homer to left in the third off Texas starter Martin Perez. An RBI single by Brian Roberts in the second tied the game at 1-1.
Beltre handed Texas a 1-0 lead in the first on a solo homer against Baltimore starter Zach Britton, who gave up five runs and eight hits in five innings.
Texas had three errors in the first five innings -- one each by shortstop Jurickson Profar, third baseman Beltre and first baseman Robinson Chirinos. Two of them came before the Hardy hit, leading to two unearned runs in the fifth.
NOTES: Texas had the best road record in the American League at 25-18 before Tuesday's games. ... The Rangers had won 11 of the previous 13 games against the Orioles. ... LHP Wei-Yin Chen (6-3, 3.63 ERA) will make the start for Baltimore on Wednesday against Josh Lindblom (1-2, 4.50 ERA). ... Former Orioles who used to play for Texas include All-Star 1B Chris Davis, RHP Tommy Hunter and C Taylor Teagarden. ... Rangers RHP Joe Nathan got his 30th save Monday, the eighth time's he's reached that figure in his career. He and Mariano Rivera are the only active pitchers with at least eight years of 30-plus saves.
