DETROIT_Both the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers spent all day cooped up in their respective clubhouses as rain threatened Detroit all Saturday afternoon. Once they were let outside for some baseball, it seems the Orioles appreciated that reprieve much more than their hosts.
Center fielder Adam Jones homered on the first pitch of the game, and the Orioles rolled to an 11-3 win to move a game ahead of the Tigers for the second American League wild card before 36,634 at Comerica Park.
The Orioles improved to 77-64, pulling to within two games of the Boston Red Sox for first place in the AL East.
Tigers starter Jordan Zimmermann, who returned Saturday after a month on the disabled list with a neck injury, was yanked before he recorded an out in the second inning. Before that, he allowed two-run home runs to first baseman Chris Davis in the first inning and catcher Matt Wieters in the second.
Right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez earned another win to pull his season ERA below six (5.98) for the first time since May 17. Tyler Wilson allowed a run in the eighth in his first appearance since being recalled on Sept. 2, and Zach Britton pitched a scoreless ninth.
Batting eighth for just the second time this season, Wieters showed he'll hit wherever you put him. With two home runs _ both from the left side, with one to right field and the other to left-center _ it gave him 14 on the season and his sixth career multihomer game.
Each Orioles batter made four plate appearances in the first six innings of the game, and only second baseman Jonathan Schoop was kept off the basepaths. Third baseman Manny Machado and designated hitter Pedro Alvarez each walked twice and had two runs, with Machado adding a fourth-inning single.
Jones had three hits and a walk to put him on base in each of his first four trips, right fielder Mark Trumbo had an RBI double in the fourth inning and shortstop J.J. Hardy singled twice in the first three innings.
The revival of Jimenez's season (and quite possibly his career) continued Saturday with another gem of an outing against the Tigers. Jimenez, as he's wont to do, took a while to settle in and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in the first inning, then proceeded to allow just four more base runners in his final six innings.
He loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning, but got out of it with one run in only because Davis stepped on first on a one-out ground ball instead of coming home, where he appeared to still have a play.
Jimenez allowed two runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts, lowering his second-half ERA to 3.24, including a 2.83 ERA over his past four starts.
