Orioles 3, Tigers 2
Chris Davis broke a scoreless tie with a three-run
homer in the seventh inning and Zach Britton pitched a season-high seven
shutout frames as visiting Baltimore maintained its hold on the second wild card spot in the American League.
Britton (2-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk earlier Saturday,
allowed six hits, walked three and struck out five as the Orioles won
for the 10th time in their last 14 games and improved to 23-6 in one-run contests.
Miguel Cabrera had two hits for the Tigers, who remain 1 1/2
games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central.
Detroit's Rick Porcello (9-8) had his two-game home winning streak
snapped. He allowed three runs, seven hits and struck out six in
six-plus innings.
Pedro Strop allowed a two-run single to Jhonny Peralta in the eighth
inning before Jim Johnson pitched a perfect ninth for his 36th save in 39 chances as the Orioles improved to 50-0 when leading after seven
innings.
After Adam Jones and Matt Wieters led off the seventh with singles, Davis belted an opposite-field shot which barely cleared the left-field
fence for his 19th of the season. Mark Reynolds followed with an infield hit to chase Porcello.
The Tigers threatened in the sixth when Cabrera singled and Prince
Fielder walked to start the inning before Britton struck out Peralta and
got Delmon Young to hit into a double play.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cabrera, who walked and was hit by a pitch in his other
two at-bats, is 12-for-22 in his last six games to raise his average to
.332. He also has a 14-game hitting streak against the Orioles and is
batting .540 (27-for-50) against them during that span. ... Strop hadn't allowed a run in 17 appearances (16 1/3 innings) since yielding two against Seattle on July 3. ... The Tigers lost for only
the fourth time in their last 21 home games. ... To make room for
Britton, the Orioles returned 1B Joe Mahoney to Norfolk. ... Orioles LF
Nate McLouth dropped Jeff Baker's routine fly ball with two outs in the
second before Britton retired Andy Dirks to end the inning. ... Detroit, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, fell to 10-6 in August.