Rangers Lose To Baltimore
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BALTIMORE — Ryan Flaherty faced the situation previously.
The Baltimore Orioles utility man filled in for Manny Machado earlier this season while the third baseman rehabbed an injured knee. When Machado’s five-game suspension was upheld Monday and the Orioles found out they would be playing with a 24-man roster, it was time for Flaherty to help fill in at third base again.
Flaherty hit a go-ahead solo home run in the seventh inning Wednesday and made several impressive defensive plays at third, helping lift Baltimore to a 6-4 win over the Texas Rangers.
“It can’t be the same guys every night,” Flaherty said. “It’s an opportunity for other guys to get in there and try to contribute and help the team win.”
The Orioles (45-39) moved a season-high six games over .500, despite trailing 4-0 after the third inning. They relied on the home run ball, their specialty, to get back in the game. Center fielder Adam Jones belted a solo home run to left, his 16th of the season, for Baltimore’s first run.
“The home run to make it 4-1 gave us a little life there, and we kind of took it from there,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.
Baltimore matched its season high with its sixth consecutive multi-homer game. The Orioles collected
at least one home run for the 12th game in a row. They homered in each of their past 33 wins.
“We just kept grinding, slowly crawled back into it, and put ourselves in a position to win,” Flaherty said.
The Rangers (37-47) lost their fourth in a row and fell for the 13th time in 16 games. Reliever Neal Cotts (2-5) gave up the homer to Flaherty and later an RBI single to Jones that made it 6-4.
Shortly before that, Texas left the bases loaded in the sixth when it still held a 4-1 lead.
“We had opportunities to add on and we just didn’t add on,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “It came back and bit us.”
Trailing 4-1, the Orioles struck for three runs in the sixth. Designated hitter Nelson Cruz and Hardy each delivered an RBI single, with Hardy’s tying the game 4-4.
Brad Brach (2-0) earned the win, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. Zach Britton worked the ninth for his 11th save.
Rangers right-hander Miles Mikolas gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings in his first major league start. Mikolas allowed just three hits but walked back-to-back batters before exiting, with both later coming in to score. The rookie was promoted after left-hander Joe Saunders was designated for assignment Tuesday.
“It was a lot of fun being out there,” Mikolas said. “I thought I pitched a pretty good game up until the fifth. Then I had some trouble with some walks. Things kind of didn’t go our way after that.”
Orioles starter Chris Tillman gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and four walks, laboring through 5 2/3 innings on 111 pitches. The right-hander gave up just one run in 15 innings over his previous two starts.
Tillman has struggled against Texas this season, going 0-2 and allowing nine runs in 6 2/3 innings.
Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre went 2-for-4 and gave Texas a 3-0 lead with a two-run double down the right field line with one out in the third. That came not long after shortstop Elvis Andrus reached when Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph interfered with Andrus’ swing and was charged with an error. A lengthy argument ensued between Showalter and the umpires.
Designated hitter Shin-Soo Choo (1-for-2, three walks) singled up the middle on the first pitch of the game. Four batters later, right fielder Alex Rios (2-for-4) hit an RBI single to center field off Tillman to put Texas up 1-0.
Rangers center fielder Leonys Martin robbed Cruz of a homer leading off the second inning. Martin leaped at the wall and prevented Cruz’s deep fly from landing in the Baltimore bullpen.
Martin had an RBI infield single in the third to make it 4-0.
