Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez throws to the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning of an interleague baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (The Associated Press)
BALTIMORE – Caleb Joseph homered in his fifth consecutive game, Nelson Cruz hit his 30th and Delmon Young also went deep as the Batlimore Orioles beat John Lackey and the St. Louis Cardinals 10-3 Saturday.
All three home runs came with a man on against Lackey (1-1), making his second start since coming from Boston in a July 31 trade. The right-hander gave up nine runs and 13 hits in five-plus innings to fall to 14-8 lifetime against Baltimore.
The Orioles have hit nine homers in winning the first two games of the three-game set by a collective 22-5 score. Baltimore has won seven straight series and leads the AL East by six games, its largest margin since September 1997.
Joseph, a rookie, had three homers in first 48 games before his recent power surge. The club record for homers in successive games is six, by Reggie Jackson and Chris Davis.
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