Orioles rebound, split doubleheader with White Sox

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[May 29, 2015]  BALTIMORE -- Missing their usual power in the nightcap of Thursday's doubleheader, the Baltimore Orioles found a little offensive help from lot of places and received a solid effort from their bullpen to pull out a victory.

Six Orioles drove in a run, and the Baltimore relievers threw four scoreless innings in a 6-3 win over the Chicago White Sox in the second game of a doubleheader.

The White Sox posted a 3-2 victory in the opener. Baltimore right-hander Tyler Wilson made his first major league start in that game, throwing six effective innings, and fellow rookie right-hander Mike Wright (2-0) battled through five innings to get the win in Game 2.

"What did we end up getting out of them, 11 innings?" Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of his two young pitchers. "Pretty impressive against a team coming off a good series in Toronto, playing a lot better. Big for us. We're going to probably have to make some adjustments with our bullpen now because everybody pitched today."

Wilson was used as the 26th man for a doubleheader, and he is now headed back to Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles needed a strong effort from the bullpen, which did not allow a hit in the second game.

Right-handers Oliver Drake (sixth), Brad Brach (seventh) and Darren O'Day (eighth) each threw a hitless inning. Left-hander Zach Britton closed it out in the ninth, recording his 13th save.

The Baltimore relief pitchers retired the final 10 batters, as the White Sox didn't get a hit after the fifth and also made two errors that helped the Orioles.

"Long day to get guys in there and play some positions, but we could have played better in the second game," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said.

Center fielder Adam Jones, first baseman Chris Davis, catcher Steve Clevenger, shortstop J.J. Hardy, right fielder Travis Snider and left fielder David Lough each contributed an RBI. The Orioles (22-24) scored the final four runs after the White Sox (21-25) took a 3-2 lead in the third inning.

The Orioles wanted to bounce back after a frustrating effort in the first game, during which left-hander Chris Sale silenced them with 12 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings. Baltimore batters struck out 16 times overall in that game.

"(Sale) dominated for pretty much the whole game," Davis said. "We weren't able to score until late, so it was big for us to go out there early and put some runs on the board (in the nightcap)."

Wright didn't fare as well as in his first two major league starts this month that ended without him allowing a run, but he still got the win. He gave up three runs and six hits and left with a 4-3 lead.

Wright faced Chicago right-hander Chris Beck, who was making his major league debut. Beck (0-1) gave up two runs in the first and two in the third and but lasted through six innings, allowing five runs (four earned) and 10 hits.

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"Just tried to tell myself to throw strikes, throw the ball down in the zone," Beck said. "I did that for a couple innings today, but other than that, everything was a little shaky. Command hasn't been the sharpest it's been the past, but just put my head down and tried to battle through."

The Orioles took the lead for good with two runs in the third and added single runs in the sixth and seventh thanks to RBI singles from Snider and Lough, respectively, to go up 6-3.

The doubleheader was the makeup for the games postponed April 27 and 28 because of rioting and unrest in Baltimore. The third game of the series was played in a closed Oriole Park without fans on April 29, and the Orioles posted an 8-2 victory.

The two rookie starters struggled in the early innings of the nightcap. Center fielder Adam Eaton began the game with home run off Wright, who had started his major league career with 14 1/3 scoreless innings.

Baltimore welcomed Beck to the majors with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Third baseman Manny Machado tripled on the right-hander's first pitch and later scored on Jones' groundout.

Davis gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead with an RBI double later in the inning.

First baseman Adam LaRoche put the White Sox in front 3-2 with a two-run homer to right in the third, but the Orioles answered with two in the bottom of the inning.

Catcher Steve Clevenger tied it with an RBI single to left, and shortstop J.J. Hardy made it 4-3 one batter later with a single that third baseman Conor Gillaspie dived to knock down but couldn't stop.
 


NOTES: C Steve Clevenger made his first start of the season in the nightcap of the doubleheader. The Orioles called him up earlier this week from Triple-A Norfolk. ... Baltimore CF Adam Jones threw out a runner in the first game. ... The White Sox sent RHP Scott Carroll to Triple-A Charlotte between games to make room for the second-game starter, RHP Chris Beck, who made his major league debut. ... Chicago CF Adam Eaton started the nightcap with a home run, the first game-opening homer of his career.

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