Orioles belt three homers to power past Padres
SAN DIEGO -- The Baltimore Orioles hit three home runs to power past the San Diego Padres, 11-7, on Tuesday night.
The Orioles won their sixth straight by flexing their muscles 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. 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.
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.
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.
Will 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.
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 rob 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 was the first of two stellar catches 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 it 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.
The Orioles struck fast as Adam 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.
NOTES: Padres OF Jon Jay is expected to miss up to six weeks with a broken right arm. OF Alex Dickerson was recalled from Triple-A El Paso. ... San Diego claimed RHP Paul Clemens off waivers from the Marlins. Clemens, 28, went 1-0 with a 6.30 ERA in two starts for Miami this season. ... Orioles RHP Darren Day (hamstring) threw a bullpen session before the game that was so-so. "It wasn't a setback, but it didn't go like we wanted," manager Buck Showalter said. ... Baltimore played its first road interleague game of the season. The Orioles' only preview interleague action was a two-game split with the Padres last week.