The Orioles Are On The Path To Break Homerun Records
SAN DIEGO -- The Baltimore Orioles turned San Diego into Muscle Beach on Tuesday night.
The Orioles hit three home runs to power past the San Diego Padres, 11-7.
Baltimore won its sixth straight by flexing its biceps and leaning on the solid pitching of Ubaldo Jimenez.
Adam Jones, Hyun Soo Kim and Chris Davis all went deep for the Orioles, who lead the majors in home runs this season and in June.
Kim had three RBIs, one of four Orioles with multiple runs batted in. Jonathan Schoop and Davis had three hits. For Schoop, it was his second consecutive game with three knocks.
"Since spring training, the lineup from one to nine, anybody can do damage and everybody contributes," Schoop said. "It's fun."
Jimenez (5-7) worked five innings, surrendering one run on three hits. He struck out five and walked four in beating the Padres for the second time since Wednesday. It was his first road win since Sept. 22, 2015 against the Washington Nationals.
"He made a lot of good pitches," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "I thought he had a crisp fastball, had command of it."
Erik Johnson (0-4) continues to struggle after coming over from the Chicago White Sox in the James Shields trade. Johnson was charged with four runs on seven hits in five innings. He allowed two of Baltimore's homers and uncorked two wild pitches.
"It's a matter of keeping the ball in the ball park," Padres manager Andy Green said. "Those are very difficult to defend."
The Orioles tacked on seven runs in the sixth when sending 12 batters to the plate after chasing Johnson. Reliever Carlos Villanueva was unable to silent the Birds' bats, as he was torched for seven runs on six hits while recording just two outs.
"It was one of those innings that got away from him," Green said. "He had been fairly good for a long time."
Wil Myers hit his career-high 18th home run, a three-run shot in the seventh. It was his 11th homer in June, the most ever by a Padre. His 20 extra-base hits this month is another club standard.
The Padres scored three times in the ninth.
Kim's two-run homer in the fifth expanded the Orioles' cushion to 4-1. J.J. Hardy came around after an inning-opening single.
Davis' sacrifice fly pushed Baltimore ahead 2-1 in the fourth. Schoop started the inning with a double down the right-field line, and he took third on a wild pitch. Davis did the rest with his run-scoring fly to left field.
Baltimore was poised to take a 3-1 lead in the second when Hardy stroked a ball to the center-field fence with one out. However, Melvin Upton Jr. timed his leap perfectly to reach over the wall and snag the ball to steal Hardy of a homer and the Orioles of two runs. Mark Trumbo, running on the pitch after reaching on a single, was doubled off first by Upton.
"It's No. 1 for sure," Upton said of where he would rank his play. "I jumped up for it and was kind of surprised that it ended up in my glove. I knew I was close but it's rare you catch those, so it's cool."
It was the first of two stellar snags by Upton, who robbed Kim of at least a single with a diving catch in the third.
Upton tied the game 1-1 with a homer to dead center in the first, and the 10th leadoff home run of his career was a shot. Upton's ball ricocheted off the hitter's eye, 444 feet away. It was Upton's 12th homer, his highest total since he finished on that number in 2014 with the Atlanta Braves.
"I liked the fact that (Jimenez) got right back up there and got some outs after the leadoff home run," Showalter said. "We'll take that."
The Orioles struck fast as Jones ambushed Johnson's second pitch. Jones, a San Diego native, blasted his 11th homer of the season off Johnson's 90 mph fastball, putting Baltimore ahead 1-0. The Orioles entered the game with 51 homers in June, the most in the majors.
