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 The Orioles (30-27) boosted their American League-leading team
batting average thanks to 13 hits. Wednesday night's win was
Baltimore's fourth in a row on the road.
Markakis drove in catcher Caleb Joseph with the winning run on a
single in the sixth inning.
Former Ranger Nelson Cruz continued his assault on his former club,
reaching base in all five of his at-bats and scoring two runs.
Facing growing pains because of a barrage of injuries, Texas (29-30)
was forced to start three rookies: shortstop Luis Sardinas, second
baseman Rougned Odor and pitcher Matthew Martinez.
Sardinas committed two early errors, both of which led to Baltimore
runs. Martinez allowed six runs (four earned) through 5 1/3 innings.
Odor went hitless.
"Tonight was one of those nights," Rangers manager Ron Washington
said. "They're players and they're gonna make mistakes, but you
could tell they weren't fazed."
 Third baseman Adrian Beltre tried to single-handedly keep the
Rangers in the game, belting two home runs and accounting for all
five RBIs.
After allowing five runs over five innings, Orioles starter Bud
Norris left with a right forearm contusion suffered on a liner up
the middle off the bat of Mitch Moreland.
Standing in the locker room with an ice pack wrapped around his
bruised forearm, Norris (4-5) was quick to give credit to Beltre for
his night at the plate.
"He's on fire," Norris said. "He's obviously one of the best hitters
in the game. He hit both balls to right-center field. When he's
locked in that way, you have to tip your cap."
After reaching on an error in the top of the first, Cruz scored on
an infield single by Jones to give the Orioles an early 1-0 lead.
Texas answered in the bottom half of the inning, taking a 2-1 lead
after Beltre's 401-foot home run off the second deck in right field.
"He's been grinding," Washington said. "Tonight he was the guy. He
put us on his back. We just couldn't put up enough runs to help
him."
Markakis hit Martinez's first pitch of the third inning into the
right-field seats to knot the score at 2. Third baseman Manny
Machado, who doubled to left, came around to score on another RBI
single from Jones.
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After reaching on one of Sardinas' errors, Cruz scored on shortstop
J.J. Hardy's sacrifice fly as Baltimore pulled ahead 4-2.
First baseman Chris Davis hit a two-out solo home run in the top of
the fifth to give the Orioles a 5-2 lead.
Once again, the Rangers found an answer in Beltre. With two outs in
the bottom of the fifth, Beltre crushed a fastball by Norris into
the right-field seats for a three-run homer, tying the score at 5.
"We've got a lot of guys in this clubhouse that know how to swing
the bat," Norris said. "As a starting pitcher, you just try to throw
up as many zeroes as you can, knowing that one or two runs isn't
going to kill you."
NOTES: Orioles RHP Bud Norris left game after five innings with a
right forearm contusion after getting hit with line drive. ... After
undergoing an MRI on Wednesday for a possible oblique strain,
Orioles RHP Miguel Gonzalez was scratched from Thursday's start. RHP
Chris Tillman will start in his place. ... Orioles No. 1-ranked
prospect, RHP Dylan Bundy, who underwent Tommy John surgery last
June, is scheduled to pitch in his first minor league game of the
season on June 15 for short-season Class A Aberdeen. ... Rangers SS
Luis Sardinas started in place of Elvis Andrus, who was unexpectedly
given the day off by manager Ron Washington. Sardinas failed to
impress, committing two errors, both of which led to Orioles runs.
... Rangers DH Adrian Beltre's two home runs gave him the 26th
multi-homer game of his career.
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