Miley Hit Hard, Literally, As Orioles Fall To Rangers 5-3
BALTIMORE (AP) — Wade Miley will not look back fondly at his first start with the Baltimore Orioles.
The left-hander took a line drive off his left calf and limped off the mound at the conclusion of a lackluster performance that contributed heavily to a 5-3 loss to the Texas Rangers on Thursday night.
Obtained in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, Miley (7-9) allowed four runs and eight hits over five innings in his Baltimore debut.
"Obviously, I wish the results would have been a little better," he said. "I had some jitters. After the first inning, everything kind of went away. But I just really didn't have good command tonight."
The line drive that hit Miley's leg was turned into an out, thanks to a favorable rebound. Even more fortunate: It appears the injury was not serious.
"I don't think it's a big concern at all," he said.
The Orioles got solo homers from Mark Trumbo, Pedro Alvarez and Hyun-Soo Kim but were denied their first three-game sweep of Texas at home since 2000.
Still, Baltimore beat Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels earlier in the series and kept a potent Rangers offense pretty much in check throughout.
"I was impressed with how well our guys pitched against them because that's a tough lineup to go through," manager Buck Showalter said. "That's the type of thing we're going to have be able to do to get where we want to go."
Texas received contributions from all three players it acquired before Monday's non-waiver trade deadline. Jonathan Lucroy homered in the second inning, Carlos Beltran singled in a run in the fifth and Jeremy Jeffress pitched a scoreless seventh.
"For those guys to go a new ballclub, the travel, and assimilating themselves into the clubhouse ... they're professionals but anytime you make that move it can be a change," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "But it was nice to see they're starting to perk up and do what they do. We saw tonight what this lineup can be capable of."
Shin-Soo Choo came off the disabled list to get two hits and scored a run for the Rangers, who took back from Baltimore the distinction of owning the best record in the AL.
Texas won the season series 4-3 and would have home-field advantage in the postseason if the teams finish with the same regular-season record and meet in the playoffs.
Baltimore fell to 39-17 at home despite getting Trumbo's major league leading 31st home run.
A.J. Griffin (5-1) allowed three homers in 5 1/3 innings but won a second straight start following a six-game run without a victory. Sam Dyson, the fifth Texas pitcher, worked a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.
After Lucroy put the Rangers up 1-0, Ian Desmond added a run-scoring groundout in the second.
Texas made it 4-0 in the fifth on RBI singles by Desmond and Beltran. Desmond's single bounced past first baseman Chris Davis, who was screened by Choo advancing to second, and Beltran's pop bounced off the glove of second baseman Jonathan Schoop in right field.
Trumbo and Alvarez homered in succession in the bottom half, and Kim led off the sixth with his fourth homer of the season — his first at Camden Yards.
Back-to-back doubles by Adrian Beltre and Rougned Odor off Logan Ondrusek made it 5-3 in the eighth.
SHORT HOPS
Rangers: Griffin has allowed at least one HR in eight straight starts. ... Texas hit a season-high six doubles.
Orioles: Miley is the first lefty to start for Baltimore this season. ... The Orioles have hit back-to-back homers 12 times this season.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rangers: Choo spent the minimum 15 days on the disabled list with lower back inflammation. It was his third stint on the DL this season.
UP NEXT
Rangers: Martin Perez (7-7, 4.22 ERA) starts for Texas on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series in Houston. The Rangers are 9-1 against the Astros this season.
Orioles: Baltimore starts a 10-game trip Friday night by facing former teammate Miguel Gonzalez (2-5, 4.06) and the Chicago White Sox.
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