BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles have been smacking the baseball all
over the park lately, and the best part about their offensive barrage is
theres no telling who the star will be in any particular game.
.
Steve Pearce became the latest role player to make an impression,
hitting his first homer of the season and driving in a career-high five
runs, and the Orioles cruised past the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-6 Thursday
night for a three-game sweep.
Matt Wieters had four hits and five RBIs, and Mark Reynolds contributed
four hits and a home run to help Baltimore win its fifth straight. The
only other time the Orioles had two players with at least five RBIs was
on June 13, 1999, when Cal Ripken had six and Will Clark tallied five in
a 22-1 rout of Atlanta.
Pearce was toiling in the New York Yankees farm system earlier this
month before Baltimore got him for cash. On this night, he was worth his
weight in gold.
"Taking advantage of the opportunity, providing some versatility,
putting some good at-bats together in a very short look so far," manager
Buck Showalter said of the newcomer.
The same can be said for Steve Tolleson, whose homer off Cliff Lee last
weekend sparked a comeback win over Philadelphia.
"Weve got a lot of guys who can do that. It really gives us versatility
in the lineup," said Chris Davis, who scored three runs.
Said Showalter: "Youre going to have some situations where in order to
remain consistent as a club youre going to have to have some of your
depth come up and make a contribution. Thats been the case so far."
With Pearce and Wieters leading the way, Baltimore built a 10-0 lead.
Much of the damage came against former Oriole Erik Bedard, who yielded
seven runs and eight hits in 3 1-3 innings.
The 12 runs and 16 hits were season highs for Baltimore. The Orioles hit
eight doubles, their most since amassing nine against the Angels on
Aug. 14, 2009.
"Early on we were pitching really well, winning a lot of close games,"
Davis said. "Now were scoring a lot of runs. As of late the bats have
started to heat up and the pitching has still been there. Its kind of
the offences turn to pull their weight."
Baltimore moved 11 games over .500 (37-26) and within a half-game of the
first-place Yankees in the AL East. The Orioles outscored Pittsburgh
27-13 in their fifth series sweep of the year, matching their total from
last season.
Rod Barajas homered for the Pirates, who came to Camden Yards tied for
first place and riding a four-game winning streak. The only other time
Pittsburgh was swept this season was April 10-12 by the Los Angeles
Dodgers.
"The skys not going to be falling now that we got swept here in
Baltimore," manager Clint Hurdle said. "We are looking forward to
getting out of here, I can tell you that. We got wiped out here. We got
outplayed for three days."
Orioles starter Tommy Hunter (3-3) retired the first 12 batters he faced
but ended up allowing five runs and seven hits in six innings. He was
0-2 in his previous seven starts since April 24.
Bedard (4-7) struggled from the outset in his worst outing since he
allowed nine runs against the Yankees on May 28, 2008, as a member of
the Seattle Mariners. It was Bedards second start in Baltimore since
being traded to Seattle in February 2008; in those two games the
left-hander yielded 10 runs over 6 2-3 innings.
The Orioles sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning and
scored all four runs with two outs. After Wieters hit an RBI single,
Reynolds doubled in a run and Pearce added a two-run double.
Doubles by Davis and Wieters made it 5-0 in the third. In the fourth,
Wieters singled in two runs before Pearce launched a three-run shot off
Doug Slaten. It was his first homer since May 25, 2011, with Pittsburgh.
"It is nice playing against the Pirates," Pearce said. "It just feels
good having a great game and helping contribute to this win."
Hunters perfect outing was ruined when Andrew McCutchen singled leading
off the fifth. Two outs later, Barajas hit a three-run drive.
Pittsburgh closed to 10-5 in the sixth, but Baltimore got a run in the
bottom half on successive doubles by Adam Jones and Wieters.
Reynolds hit a solo shot in the eighth off Jared Hughes.
NOTES: Orioles leadoff hitter Brian Roberts scored the games first run
and went 1 for 5 in his third game back from a 13-month layoff with a
concussion. .. Pirates RHP Charlie Morton underwent season-ending elbow
surgery in Florida on Thursday. He was 2-6 before being placed on the
disabled list June 1. ... The Orioles send Brian Matusz to the mound in
Atlanta on Friday night. Pittsburgh heads to Cleveland, where
James McDonald (5-2) starts against the Indians. ... Baltimore improved
to 7-2 in interleague play after going 7-11 last year.
.
The Hannover striker came on as a substitute for the final 33 minutes
and scored with a header from a left-wing cross by Kamil Grosicki in the
81st.
Poland coach Franciszek Smuda rested several key players, including the
teams top scorer Robert Lewandowski of Borussia Dortmund. .C. -- Webb Simpson was nervous playing in the same group with Tiger Woods.
.
Bruce Bochys club still lost another close one at home with more close
calls.
Hours after slugger Pablo Sandoval underwent surgery for a broken bone
in his left hand, San Francisco rallied to score three runs against
2009 AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke but couldnt complete the
comeback in a 6-4 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. . -- The Chicago White Sox have activated first baseman Paul Konerko from the seven-day concussion disabled list.
. PETERSBURG, Fla.(Sports Network) - It took 50 days for San Antonio to
finally taste defeat again.
Now the Oklahoma City Thunder hope to get greedy and beat the Spurs for
the second time in three nights as they try to even the Western
Conference Finals in Game 4 tonight.
Catch all the action from the hardcourt live on TSN, beginning at 8:30pm
et/5:30pm pt.
Kevin Durant scored 22 points and Thabo Sefolosha added 19 and provided
excellent defense on Spurs star Tony Parker as the Thunder rolled to a
102-82 victory in Game 3 on Thursday.
"I thought Thabo did a good job," Oklahoma city coach Scott Brooks said,
"but I thought the biggest adjustment -- we played better."
The Spurs suffered their first defeat since April 11, ending a stretch
of 20 straight wins. The run included 10 victories in the postseason,
including triumphs in the first two games of this series.
"Everybody wants to win every game. Thats what you try to do: You try to
win," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They played great and they had a
lot to do with us playing poorly, but nobody wants to lose a game in
the playoffs. You try to win every game."
The Thunder jumped out to an 8-0 lead on Thursday and led by as many as
27 to improve to 6-0 at home in the postseason. They racked up 18
fastbreak points and got a strong effort from their supporting cast. The
lengthy Sefolosha had six steals and scored 16 of his points in the
second half. Serge Ibaka finished with 14 points and three blocks and
James Harden scored 15.
"We came out and played with a sense of urgency that we need to play
with for the rest of the series," said Durant.
Parker and Stephen Jackson had 16 points apiece to pace San Antonio,
which shot just 39.5 percent and committed 21 turnovers, leading to 20
Thunder points.
"We played great defense from the start," said Brooks. "Defensively,
that was as well as you can play against the best team in basketball."
Tim Duncan scored seven of his 11 points in the first quarter and the
Spurs withstood Oklaahoma Citys early barrage to go on top 13-12. .
They held on for a 24-22 lead after one but the Thunder gained control
in the second quarter and never looked back.
Harden was the catalyst in the second frame. He scored nine straight
points as part of an 18-6 run to open the stanza. Sefolosha added a
three-pointer and backup big man Nick Collison had a pair of buckets,
including a layup which gave the Thunder a 40-30 advantage.
OKC pushed the lead to 15 before halftime and never trailed again.
It got so bad that Popovich sat his starters for the entirety of the
final frame. By the end the Spurs, who tallied a postseason-best 120
points in Game 2 and were averaging 109.4 during their winning streak,
were held to a season- low 82 points in Game 3.
"They played very well. They played like it was a close-out game," said
Popovich. "They were very active, physical, they moved the ball well on
offense and they did all those things better than we did. They beat us
good."
Now its San Antonios turn to try to make adjustments and figure out how
to get Parker and Manu Ginobili better looks against a defense with huge
wingspans all over the floor.
"Theyre a great team. They won 20 games (in a row). Theyre not going to
push the panic button after one loss," Brooks said.
Evening the series is paramount for OKC. Only eight teams in NBA history
have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series.
The Spurs went 2-1 against the Thunder during the lockout-shortened
regular season. Oklahoma City won the first meeting, 108-96 on Jan. 8 at
Chesapeake Energy Arena, but the Spurs came back to take the season
series with a 107-96 victory Feb. 4 at the AT&T Center and a 114-105
road win March 16.
In the postseason, this rivalry dates back to 1982 when the Thunder were
known as the Seattle SuperSonics. The Spurs topped Seattle three times
in the playoffs, 82, 2002 and 2005. This is the first time the
franchises have met since the Sonics relocated to OKC in 2008.
Game 5 of the series is scheduled for Monday in San Antonio.
'
'
'
