Baltimore, MD – Erick Aybar hit a three-run triple and Albert Pujols smacked a two-run homer as part of a six-run seventh inning that helped the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim salvage a 9-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the finale of a three-game set at Camden Yards.
Hank Conger hit a solo homer, while Josh Hamilton and Howie Kendrick each drove in one run for the Angels, who put an end to a four-game losing skid.
"Definitely makes the road trip a lot better," Conger said. "We had a rough series and for us to try to end on a win right there, go back home and face the Yankees, that's going to be big for us."
Jerome Williams (5-2) allowed four runs on nine hits over six frames and struck out four in the victory.
Pedro Strop (0-3) took the hill in the seventh with runners on first and second and the Orioles holding a 4-2 lead, but took the loss after allowing four runs on three hits and recording just one out. Starter Jason Hammel avoided dropping his third straight start, but allowed four runs on seven hits over six-plus frames.
Chris Davis and Adam Jones both had solo homers and drove in two runs for the Orioles, who had won three straight.
Hammel had pitched well over his first six innings, but showed signs of fatigue after allowing a single to Alberto Callaspo and a walk to Brad Hawpe to begin the seventh. Strop took the hill, but things got worse in a hurry.
Conger reached on an infield single off of Strop's glove to load the bases and Aybar followed with a three-run triple into the right-center gap -- his first of the season -- to turn the deficit into a 6-4 Los Angeles advantage.
"They put together some good at-bats," Orioles outfielder Nate McLouth said. "That was a tough inning for us. We won the series, though. Got Boston coming in so we will worry about them now."
With one down, Strop walked J.B. Shuck. The next batter, Pujols, crushed the reliever's 0-2 offering over the left-field wall for a 8-4 Angels' lead.
Davis plated Jones in the eighth on a groundout to first to make it 8-5. Jones reached third to lead off the frame due to Hamilton's fielding error in left.
Hamilton added a sacrifice fly in the ninth to account for the final margin.
The Orioles jumped on the board in the first by plating two runs after Nate McLouth and Manny Machado opened up the inning with a single and a double, respectively. Nick Markakis and Jones followed with RBI groundouts to make it 2-0.
Conger helped the Angels find the board in the third after he launched Hammel's 2-0 offering to right. Kendrick tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth with an RBI double that followed Hamilton's one-out single.
Williams' only other mistakes came versus Davis and Jones, who both smacked leadoff solo shots in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively, to put the O's ahead 4-2.
Game Notes
It was Williams' first appearance at Camden Yards since June 13, 2004, while he was with San Francisco ... Baltimore had won eight of nine at home ... Markakis went 1-for-4 and has a 15-game home hitting streak ... The Orioles went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position ... Davis leads the majors with 21 homers this season.
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