Orioles Sweep Rangers

By Todd Karpovich, The Sports Xchange

BALTIMORE — The Texas Rangers were hoping ace Cole Hamels could find a way to contain the surging Baltimore Orioles.
Instead, he became the latest pitcher to fall victim to their powerful lineup.
The Orioles hit three home runs off Hamels and four in all, and Baltimore completed a four-game sweep of the Rangers with a 9-7 victory Thursday night.
Hamels (4-1) pitched 24 consecutive scoreless innings before Jonathan Schoop belted a solo homer in the fourth. Adam Jones and Mark Trumbo also homered off Hamels, who had allowed only five long balls in his previous nine starts.
“I am definitely not happy about it just for the fact that we obviously did not win the game,” Hamels said. “We were just trying to win one against these guys. I was not finishing off hitters in counts that are favorable for me. That’s unacceptable on my part in not being able to get the job done when the team does actually give you a lead.”
Joey Rickard had an RBI single with one out in the sixth that tied the game 5-5 and ended Hamels’ night. Hamels, who was out from May to late June with a right oblique strain, tied a season high by allowing seven runs. He also yielded nine hits.




Jeremy Jeffress entered and allowed a go-ahead RBI double to Jones. Two batters later, Schoop provided an 8-5 lead with a two-run single up the middle.
“When you win, it’s more happy,” Schoop said. “But we’re a happy team and we believe in each other. Even the days we were down, you still come out here and try to win. You still play hard, go hard and leave it out there.”
Chris Davis hit his third homer of the series, off Jeffress, for a four-run cushion in the seventh.
Shin-Soo Choo had a two-out, two-run single off Zach Britton in the ninth that pulled Texas within 9-7.
“I kind of let it get away from me a little bit after the two outs, but just be better tomorrow if I get it again,” Britton said.
The Rangers’ Mike Napoli went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, and Adrian Beltre also had a pair of hits, tying Sam Rice for 31st all-time at 2,985.
Orioles left hander Wade Miley struggled again, allowing five runs, seven hits and four walks over five innings.
Welington Castillo and Ruben Tejada had three hits apiece for Baltimore, which managed its first four-game home sweep of Texas since 2014.
Miguel Castro (2-1) picked up the win with a perfect sixth.
After struggling to generate much offense over the first three games, Texas finally came up with several clutch hits off Miley.
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the first on a two-out single by Beltre, who was thrown out by right fielder Rickard trying to take second.
Texas extended the lead in the fourth with two outs again on an RBI double by Carlos Gomez down the right-field line.
Schoop pulled the Orioles within 2-1 with his solo shot in the bottom half. Hamels then hit Trey Mancini with a pitch and issued a pair of walks that loaded the bases. He ended the threat by getting Tejada to ground out.
The Rangers responded in the fifth on Napoli’s three-run homer — his 21st long ball of the year — which also came with two outs.
Baltimore came back that inning with a two-run homer by Jones and a solo shot by Trumbo that cut the margin to 5-4.
“A situation tonight where we come out, swing the bats and put some runs on the board is a positive for our offense,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “When we need to help our starter out, that bullpen has to find a way to put a foot down and not allow those runs to score. Limit the damage.”