Washington, DC – Adam Jones went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run and the Baltimore Orioles knocked off the Washington Nationals, 6-5, in the second edition of a three-game interleague series.
Nick Markakis ripped a two-run homer and Robert Andino had a two-run single among his two hits and scored a run for the Orioles, who have won five straight.
Jason Hammel (5-1) allowed four runs on six hits and a pair of walks while whiffing five over 5 1/3 innings to secure the win. Jim Johnson worked around a solo home run in the ninth to nail down his 15th save of the season.
"Obviously an outstanding job by the 'pen tonight to fill in for me," Hammel said. "Once I can get this thing strong, I hope not to let them work anymore."
Ryan Zimmerman went 3-for-5 with a solo home run and Roger Benadina had two hits and an RBI for the Nationals, who have dropped three straight and four of five.
Ross Detwiler (3-3) gave up six runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out three over five frames to absorb the loss.
The Orioles opened the scoring in the second inning. Wilson Betemit started the frame with a base hit up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Steve Tolleson. Xavier Avery followed with a walk and both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Hammel. Andino then roped a single into left to score both runners for a 2-0 Baltimore lead.
J.J. Hardy singled to start the Baltimore third and after a fielder's choice groundout by Markakis, Jones crushed a fastball out over the plate from Detwiler into the left field seats to extend the lead to 4-0.
"The American League is notorious for jumping on some fastballs over the plate," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "You've got to use that secondary pitch. I think the first offspeed pitch he threw in the third inning, he (Jones) jumped all over it."
The O's widened their lead to 6-0 in the fifth when Andino doubled to begin the inning and after Hardy lined out, Markakis ripped one over the right field wall.
Washington got on the board in the bottom half of the inning. Bernadina poked one up the middle for a base hit and pinch-hitter Tyler Moore singled to put two runners on base. Steve Lombardozzi ripped an RBI single into right to make it 6-1.
The Nats cut the deficit to two with three runs in the sixth. Zimmerman crushed a double into right to start things and Adam LaRoche walked. After Ian Desmond flied out, Ankiel brought home Zimmerman with a double to deep center. Luis Ayala was summoned from the Baltimore bullpen and got Carlos Maldonado to ground out, but LaRoche came home to score on the play. Bernadina followed with a base hit to center to score Ankiel for a 6-4 game.
Zimmerman pulled the Nats within one in the ninth when he blasted a fastball from Johnson deep into the seats in left, but the closer recovered and got LaRoche on strikes to preserve the victory.
Game Notes
Baltimore improved its MLB-best road record to 15-5 and have won nine straight games on the road, their longest such road winning streak since August 29- September 24, 1999, when they won 10 straight...This series marks the first meeting between the clubs in which both teams have a winning record...The O's went 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded four, while Washington was 3-for-10 with RISP and left eight on base.
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