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 The five homers were the most for the Orioles since they bashed
eight in a 19-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on June 16.
The six-game skid was Baltimore's longest of the season.
"There's another challenge around the corner tomorrow," Orioles
manager Buck Showalter cautioned. "There's so much negativity around
when things are going poorly and there's so much over-positiveness
when things are going well, so you try to stay in reality. But the
reality of how many games are left and where we're trying to get it
does put a positive spin on that this time of year."
Orioles right-hander Wei-Yin Chen (8-6) posted his fourth straight
win. He has not lost since dropping a 3-2 decision to the Yankees on
July 21 in New York. Chen allowed three runs, 10 hits and one walk
with four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
"I think my breaking ball was working good enough today so I was
able to mess up the hitters' timing," Chen said through interpreter
Louis Chow. "I think we're all happy about (ending the losing
streak). For me I didn't really think about the losing streak. Every
day when we get to the ballpark all we think about is today's game."
"He was good tonight," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "He was really,
really good. 95 MPH fastball, good changeup, good slider. Really
worked the outside part of the plate well."
The Orioles connected for two-run homers in the third, fourth and
fifth to build a 6-2 lead.
After the Royals got two second-inning runs, the Orioles answered
quickly. Flaherty singled to lead off the third and third baseman
Manny Machado hit the next pitch for a two-run homer to center,
tying the score.
In the next inning, second baseman Jonathan Schoop's towering,
two-out blast to left scored Pearce, who singled with one out.
Schoop's deep fly to the back of the bleachers, measured at 427
feet, gave the Orioles a 4-2 advantage.
"I'm just trying to get good at-bats," Schoop said. "Get good
pitches to hit and drive the ball, get some good pitches to hit and
trying to get on base and do damage."
"I think it's a little reminder of what we lost for a long period of
time," Showalter said. "Jon, early in the season, was looking like
he was getting ready to do that and he hasn't had 200 at-bats yet.
Jon's a strong young man. But he approaches it the right way. He's a
guy that is capable of being as good as he can be. That's a comfort
not only to me but to the fans of the Orioles."
In the fifth, first baseman Chris Davis delivered a one-out shot to
center, scoring right fielder Gerardo Parra, who had singled.
"It's a tribute to him," Showalter said. "He's battled some real
blisters with all the BP he's taken trying to get it going again. He
didn't even take BP today because of that. It's a reminder of how
hard these guys are grinding."
Kansas City rallied for a run in the sixth when designated hitter
Kendrys Morales got the third of three singles in the inning to
score left fielder Ben Zobrist.
Baltimore got the run back in the eighth on left fielder Steve
Pearce's eighth home run of the season.
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"Yeah, it's definitely been a while," Pearce said. "It feels good to
contribute and a lot of people did tonight with home runs. It was
just good to break out the way we did. It feels great and we'll
build off of it. The other team kept trying to come back and we
responded. We can't let up against this team or the good teams,
whatever the lead is, we have to keep our foot on the gas pedal."
In the bottom of the inning, Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas hit
his 15th homer of the season, a two-out, two-run drive into the
right field bleachers, cutting the deficit to 7-5.
The Orioles answered with their final homer, a 416-foot shot to
center to lead off the ninth by Ryan Flaherty, his fifth homer of
the year.
"Ryan gave us a real lift tonight," Showalter said. "We needed that
tack-on run. You're facing the best team in the American League last
year and they've added players to improve on that, so it's a
challenge. We've got a chance to split against the American League
champions tomorrow and then we're moving on to Texas."
Left-hander Zach Britton closed out the Royals with a scoreless
ninth, collecting his 30th save in 33 chances.
After Morales and catcher Salvador Perez each doubled in the second
to produce the Royals' first run, right fielder Paulo Orlando and
second baseman Omar Infante each reached on infield hits to score
Perez.
Right-hander Johnny Cueto (9-9) went five innings, allowing six runs
on eight hits and a walk, striking out eight. Cueto has lost
consecutive starts for the first time since April 11 and 17, his
second and third starts of the year.
"(He had a) really good two-seamer, heavy sinker," Yost said. "All
three balls they hit homers on, they did damage on, were just
spinning cutters. Maybe he's just flying off, not getting that bite
on that cutter, but all three of them were just kind of spinning
cutters."
NOTES: Orioles RHP Wei-Yin Chen began the night leading the majors
with a .138 opponents' batting average with runners in scoring
position. ... The Royals' bullpen had a 0.59 ERA in the previous
eight games, with opponents' batting .135 (14-for-104). ... Despite
an 0-for-16 slide entering Wednesday's game, Orioles 1B Chris Davis
was hitting .288 (61-for-212) with a .608 slugging average in 57
games since June 20, raising his batting average 32 points to .252.
... Royals OF Jarrod Dyson has played in only 13 games and batted in
just five since the July 30 acquisition of Ben Zobrist. Dyson is
hitting .346 (9-for-26) in the five games with five stolen bases in
six tries.
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