BALTIMORE _ Adam Jones' absence from the Orioles' starting lineup for four games was noticeable on both sides of the field, and when the team's starting center fielder finally returned for the series finale against the New York Yankees, he didn't waste time making his presence felt.
The Orioles handled Jones with care _ allowing him three days off to nurse a sore left ankle and hip and then scratching him from Tuesday's game as a precaution because of a forecast that called for rain throughout _ as the lineup managed just three runs a game without him.
Jones was quick to make up for lost time, and there's no coincidence that his return coincided with a revival of the team's middle-of-the-order bats behind him for the Orioles' largest offensive output in more than two weeks.
From the No. 2 spot in the order _ a place he's settled into this season _ Jones served as the Orioles' offensive catalyst, driving in five runs in a 10-4 win over Yankees at Camden Yards.
Jones provided the biggest hit of the game, a three-run homer off Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka in the fourth, one inning after lacing an RBI double off the left-center-field wall to open the scoring for the Orioles. He added a run-scoring single in the eighth.
After Jones put the Orioles on the board in the third, cleanup hitter Mark Trumbo followed with a two-run double on an opposite-field line drive over right fielder Aaron Judge's head. Struggling first baseman Chris Davis then got in on the act with an RBI single to put the Orioles up 4-0.
Even though No. 3 hitter Manny Machado's struggles continued Wednesday _ he was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts _ Trumbo and Davis combined for five RBIs on the night after Davis' two-run homer in the eighth put the Orioles up 9-3.
The Orioles' nine runs were their most since a 13-11 win May 16 in Detroit.
Jones then capped a two-out rally in the fourth _ J.J. Hardy doubles and Seth Smith drew a walk _ with a three-run homer off Tanaka, his third home run in his past six games, to put the Orioles up 7-1.
Both hits game on first-pitch deliveries from Tanaka. Jones jumped on an 85-mph slider over the heart of the plate and laced it into the game in the third, then hit a first-pitch sinker located nearly at the same spot for the home run.
Four of Jones' nine homers have come on the first pitch.
Jones' absence was felt his first two games in Houston, where Joey Rickard is the team's only other option in center field. And Rickard struggled in center, misplaying a first-inning line drive that sailed over his head for a double on Saturday, when failed to come up with a ball cleanly that cost another run.
And offensively, with the Orioles floundering through their worst stretch of the season, Jones' return to the lineup gave the club an offensive spark. And his aggressiveness at the plate spoke volumes about his teammates to keep swinging.
Right around this time last season, Orioles manager Buck Showalter placed center fielder Adam Jones atop the batting order in an effort to inject life into struggling the lineup while also get a slumping Jones going.
After Jones was moved to the leadoff spot May 27 last season, he had a .282 average and a .791 OPS over the next 108 games.
It might have been the best move manager Buck Showalter made _ and undoubtedly the most unconventional _ in his lineup all season.
Going into this season, Showalter was determined to drop Jones into a spot where he's better suited, and heading into this year, there seemed to be better options. He's settled into the No. 2 hole, and the Orioles are 26-19 in the 45 games in which Jones bats second.
And obviously it was just one game, but there was no question that the Orioles lineup lacked life without him in it, and broke out in his first game back.
