O’S COMBINE TO 1-HIT TWINS

Markakis Includes HR, 2B as Part of 4-Hit Effort

BALTIMORE, Aug. 30 (AP) – Chris Tillman allowed just one hit in six innings of work and three relievers added three more hitless frames as the Baltimore Orioles bested the Minnesota Twins 5-0 at Camden Yards.  Tillman received a no-decision for his efforts as Minnesota starter Kyle Gibson held the Orioles off the scoreboard for six innings himself, but Gibson yielded a two-run home run to Nick Markakis in the bottom of the seventh, part of a five-run Baltimore uprising in the club’s final two turns at bat.  Markakis finished with four hits in the game, and drove in three runs.  It was the second consecutive four-hit game for Markakis, making him only the third player this major league season to amass at least four hits in consecutive contests.  Markakis now has three four-hit games on the season, all of them in the month of August.

It was the second time in less than two weeks that Chris Tillman was involved in a one-hit effort.  He tossed a complete game one-hitter against the Chicago White Sox on August 19. 

Tillman and Gibson traded scoreless frames through six, but Gibson danced in and out of trouble throughout that period of time.  The Orioles had at least two baserunners in five of the first six innings, left the bases loaded in the first and grounded into four double plays before the seventh inning.  Tillman, meanwhile, allowed only three bsaerunners in his six-inning stint, walking two and allowing only one safety—Trevor Plouffe’s one-out single in the fifth.

Tillman threw 93 pitches and was lifted in favor of Andrew Miller in the seventh.  Miller struck out the side. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Gibson walked Jonathan Schoop, bringing Markakis to the plate.  He deposited a 1-0 pitch onto the flag court down the right field line, giving Baltimore a 2-0 lead.  That was the end of the line for Gibson, and an overworked Minnesota bullpen was responsible for the rest of the contest. 

After Darren O’Day retired the Twins in order in the top of the eighth, Baltimore added some insurance in the bottom half.  J.J. Hardy drew a one-out walk from Anthony Swarzak and Jimmy Paredes followed with a single to center, putting runners on first and second.  Nick Hundley lined an infield single off the glove of first baseman Kennys Vargas, loading the bases.  A sacrifice fly off the bat of Schoop made it 3-0 and Markakis followed with the coup de grace, a two-run double to left, putting the Orioles on top 5-0.

Brian Matusz came on in the ninth and set the Twins down in order, fanning two.  In all, Miller, O’Day and Matusz tossed three perfect innings of relief; they faced a total of nine batters and struck out seven of them.  Orioles pitchers combined to strike out 12 Minnesota batters.

The victory was the fourth in a row for Baltimore; the Orioles currently hold the best record in the American League, one game ahead of the Oakland A’s.

8/30/2014, Min14-Bal14, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP

2014 Twins             0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  1  1     2  4

2014 Orioles           0  0  0  0  0  0  2  3  x     5 12  0     9  0

Twins                AB  R  H BI   AVG    Orioles              AB  R  H BI   AVG

Santana,Da        cf  4  0  0  0  .263    Markakis          rf  5  1  4  3  .259

Dozier            2b  4  0  0  0  .255    Young,D           dh  5  0  2  0  .314

Mauer             dh  2  0  0  0  .274    Jones,A           cf  3  0  2  0  .285

Vargas,K          1b  3  0  0  0  .279    Cruz,N            lf  4  0  0  0  .288

Arcia             rf  3  0  0  0  .216     Lough            lf  0  0  0  0  .228

Plouffe           3b  3  0  1  0  .287    Davis,C           1b  1  0  0  0  .200

Suzuki,K          c   3  0  0  0  .248    Hardy,J           ss  2  1  1  0  .269

Escobar,Edu       ss  3  0  0  0  .291    Paredes           3b  4  1  2  0  .231

Schafer,J         lf  2  0  0  0  .248    Hundley           c   4  1  1  0  .262

                     27  0  1  0          Schoop            2b  2  1  0  1  .181

                                                               30  5 12  4

Twins                            INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Gibson           L 13-6          6.0  8  2  2  5  5 114  69  2.63

Swarzak                          1.1  2  2  2  1  2  27  16  4.24

Fien                             0.2  2  1  1  0  0  16  13  4.11

                                 8.0 12  5  5  6  7 157  98

Orioles                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Tillman                          6.0  1  0  0  2  5  93  55  3.30

Miller,A         W 3-0           1.0  0  0  0  0  3  15  10  0.34

O'Day            H 23            1.0  0  0  0  0  2  14  10  1.26

Matusz                           1.0  0  0  0  0  2  18  10  4.82

                                 9.0  1  0  0  2 12 140  85

Bal: Lough inserted at lf in the 8th

E-Schafer,J. 2B-Markakis(22). HR-Markakis(11). RBI-Markakis 3(47),

Schoop(30). CS-Schafer,J. K-Santana,Da, Dozier 2, Mauer, Vargas,K 2, Arcia 2,

Plouffe, Suzuki,K, Escobar,Edu 2, Jones,A, Cruz,N 2, Davis,C, Paredes,

Hundley, Schoop. BB-Mauer, Schafer,J, Davis,C 3, Hardy,J 2, Schoop.

SF-Schoop. HBP-Jones,A. HB-Gibson.

GWRBI: Markakis

Temperature: 82, Sky: clear, Wind: out to right at 5 MPH.

Attendance: 45,275

Game Time: 2:48