BALTIMORE _ Orioles left-hander Wade Miley had it all laid out for him. The Orioles scored five runs in the first inning and did it in historic fashion, seemingly setting the tone for an upbeat fireworks night at Camden Yards.
Instead, the game blew up faster than any of the colorful rockets that were shot into the sky after the game. The Orioles suffered a particularly distasteful 15-8 loss Friday night to even the four-game series at a victory apiece.
It isn't supposed to be heavy lifting when your teammates give you four home runs before they make their first out of the game, but shutdown innings have been elusive for the Orioles rotation this season and that certainly was the case when the Houston Astros came up for their second time at bat.
Miley, who had an 0-2 record and 7.04 ERA in his three previous Orioles starts, had allowed a leadoff home run to George Springer to begin the game but struck out five of the next six batters before it all went south.
With two outs and one runner on in the second, he let five straight hitters reach base _ four of them hitting safely to drive in runs. The unkindest cut of all came from MVP candidate Jose Altuve, who slapped a two-run double down the right-field line to complete a five-run comeback and put Houston ahead, 6-5.
Miley finished with six earned runs in 1 2/3 innings.
It was obvious at that point that it was going to be one of those nights. The Orioles came back to regain the lead with two runs in the third, only to have Ubaldo Jimenez surrender three runs over three innings of long relief.
The Orioles inched back again in the fifth on their fifth home run of the game _ the 19th of the year by Pedro Alvarez _ but reliever Tyler Wilson gave up home runs to Altuve and Evan Gattis in the sixth as the Astros pulled away.
It was a painful turnabout made more painful by the fact that the Boston Red Sox were busy blowing out the Tigers in Detroit, setting up the likelihood that the evening would end with the Orioles back in third place.
