Orioles blast 4 HRs, pound White Sox

[April 24, 2019]  Chris Davis and Dwight Smith Jr. hit two of Baltimore's four home runs as the Orioles cruised to an easy 9-1 victory over the visiting Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.

Smith hit a three-run homer while Davis added a two-run blast. Joey Rickard (two-run) and Renato Nunez (solo) also homered to give Baltimore eight of its nine runs.

All of the homers came off of Chicago starter Ivan Nova -- who had not given up any home runs in his first four starts -- and all of them came in the first four innings of the game.

Nova (0-3) gave up nine runs on 11 hits in those four frames and took the loss as Baltimore snapped a four-game losing skid.

Davis seems to be awakening from the long slump that began last season and stretched into 2019, consuming an MLB-record 54 consecutive at-bats without a hit. He went 2-for-4 to lift his average to .155.

Andrew Cashner (4-1) gave the Orioles one of their best efforts from a starter this season. The right-hander surrendered just one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out five with one walk.

Both teams threatened early, and Chicago nearly took the lead in the second, but Smith made a leaping catch at the wall in left to rob Adam Engel of a two-run homer.

The Orioles then took the lead in the bottom of that inning. Rickard and Davis led off with back-to-back singles, and Engel's throwing error on Davis' hit allowed Rickard to score for a 1-0 lead.

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis (19) high fives teammates after hitting a home run against the Chicago White Sox in the third inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Baltimore then broke the game open with three runs in the third and five more in the fourth, all of them scoring on home runs.

In the third, Nunez belted his shot to left off of Nova for a 2-0 lead. Three batters later, Davis homered to left-center and made it 4-0.

Smith got the big hit in the fourth, a three-run homer to right. Rickard added his two-run shot later in the inning for a 9-0 lead.

The White Sox scored in the sixth on a Tim Anderson RBI single. Anderson, who entered the game batting .403 and leading the American League in hitting, went 1-for-4 and his average slipped eight points.

--Field Level Media

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