Just when the San Francisco Giants had a little glimmer of hope following a series victory in South Beach, the Baltimore Orioles snapped the team back into the reality of its dismal second half of baseball.
Not even the pitcher-friendly confines of the spacious AT&T Park could contain their fellow orange and black counterparts, slugging their way to a 5-2 victory by jumping on Matt Cain from the jump to tax the veteran starter for five runs and eleven hits in only four innings of work on the hill.
The core of Baltimore's lineup, consisting of four former Home Run Derby participants in Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, and Mark Trumbo, flexed their muscles in the City by Bay, batting a combined totaling seven combined hits while generating four of the Orioles' five runs.
Davis and Trumbo proved why they belong in the battle of sluggers during the All-Star break, making AT&T Park look like their personal batting grounds by each leaving the ballpark with a home run.
Trumbo's monster 441-foot home run in the top of the third inning allowed the Orioles to break away from the Giants, and Davis's oppo-taco to lead off the top of the fourth inning knocked Cain out of the ballgame.
Cain hasn't been a stranger to allowing home runs since he returned from the disabled list, allowing multiple home runs in three of his five starts after making his way back from injury.
George Kontos and Jake Peavy kept the Giants in the game out of the bullpen pitching a combined five scoreless innings while keeping the Orioles out of the hit column.
Peavy has begun to establish a groove out of the bullpen, only allowing one run in his four innings in relief.
Baltimore's rookie starter and Cain's opposite on the mound, Dylan Bundy, kept the Giants offense at bay during his outing, holding San Francisco to just one run and three hits during his 5.2 innings on the mound.
San Francisco had a couple of opportunities with runners in scoring position, but the squad's only run against Bundy came by way of a Denard Span RBI double in the bottom of the third.
While the Giants' struggled to plate runners, Baltimore jumped on the Giants early on in the ballgame.
Baltimore didn't take too long putting runs up on the board, putting up two runs in the top of the second with a Matt Wieters RBI double and Jones RBI single, giving the Orioles an early 2-0 lead.
Trumbo launched his mammoth two-run home run in the following inning, and Davis knocked Cain out of the game with his solo shot to kick off the fifth.
The Giants put together a rally in the ninth when Ángel Pagán and Brandon Belt hit back-to-back singles to produce a run, but Zach Britton came in and retired three straight batters, extending his scoreless appearance streak to 40 and securing a win for the Orioles.
Comments