Machado's Grand Slam Helps Orioles Improve To 8-1 At Camden Yards
BALTIMORE -- Manny Machado broke out of his recent slump in a big way Thursday night.
Machado snapped out of an 0-for-17 slide with a grand slam and a career-high five RBIs as the Baltimore Orioles homered three times en route to a 10-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
The Orioles third baseman walked and scored in the first inning and lined an RBI double in the third. He belted his second career grand slam with one out in the sixth off of reliever Jake Petricka, a shot that gave Baltimore the 10-2 lead.
"I was going up there, being aggressive, keeping my same approach," Machado said. "I don't know what he was going to try to do, but I was trying to do some damage there. He left the pitch up, and I took advantage of it."
Machado finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored and raised his average to .333. He's also hit seven homers and driven in 16 runs in the team's 21 games so far this season.
Baltimore also got homers from Chris Davis, a two-run shot that gave the Orioles the lead for good during a four-run third inning, and Mark Trumbo. He hit a solo shot right after Davis' blast, the third time this year the Orioles have hit back-to-back homers.
Chicago starter John Danks gave up two of the three homers with Petricka surrendering the other. White Sox manager Robin Ventura said the two of them simply made too many pitches the Orioles could hit.
"(Danks) was in the middle of the plate," Ventura said. "They swung the bats. They got some thunder and it showed tonight. If you live in the middle of the plate they are going to hammer it."
Mychal Givens (2-0) got the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Givens escaped a bases loaded situation in the fifth with the Orioles holding a 5-2 lead and then got through the sixth before Baltimore then broke it open with five in the bottom half.
"Mychal got some big outs for us in that situation," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.
Dylan Bundy blanked the White Sox for two innings, and T.J. McFarland took care of the ninth as the Baltimore bullpen threw 4 1/3 shutout innings in relief of starter Tyler Wilson.
Danks (0-4) allowed six runs in five innings plus one batter and has lost seven straight decisions dating back to last year.
"I certainly need to be better," Danks said. "I haven't done a pretty good job of it. It's been a pretty miserable April."
Todd Frazier homered for the White Sox.
Chicago missed on several scoring chances. The White Sox got 10 hits but left 11 men on base and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
The White Sox quickly jumped in front when Frazier belted a two-out, two-run homer in the first.
Baltimore answered in the bottom half when Adam Jones lined a two-out double to deep center that brought in Machado from second. Davis tried to score from first but shortstop Jimmy Rollins gunned him down on a relay from short center.
The Orioles took the lead in a four-run third. Their rally began when Joey Rickard scored from first as Machado snapped a 0-for-17 skid with a double into the right-field corner.
Davis homered on the next pitch to give Baltimore a 4-2 lead. Trumbo followed with a long solo homer on a 3-1 pitch, the third time this season that the Orioles have hit back-to-back shots.
Chicago threatened with two outs in the fifth, putting two on and forcing Orioles manager Buck Showalter to take out Wilson. Givens entered and walked Jose Abreu but struck out Frazier with the bases loaded to maintain the 5-2 lead.
The Orioles then went on to close out the win and improve to 8-1 at Camden Yards. Baltimore was coming off a six-game road trip to Kansas City and Tampa Bay where the Orioles lost four times.
"I think everybody was pretty much ready to come back home, and in our own ballpark in front of our own fans," Davis said. "It was a good night for everybody."
