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BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles found plenty of offense Wednesday night, but it was the pitching of struggling starter Ubaldo Jimenez which might have helped them the most as they ended a two-game losing streak. Mark Trumbo and Ryan Flaherty both homered, and Jimenez threw six strong innings as the Orioles defeated the San Diego Padres 7-2.
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Trumbo (3-for-4) had not homered since June 7 but hit a solo shot in the second inning, his 21st this season. Flaherty added a solo homer to start the fifth, and six Orioles (41-30) each drove in at least one run.
However, Jimenez threw one of his better starts this season, and gave the thin Baltimore bullpen a much-needed break. Jimenez gave up two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts in his six innings.
He walked four but got out of a few jams and came through when the Orioles needed him.
"We didn't have many options (in the bullpen) tonight, so he delivered what we needed," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "It was good to see him go home and feel good about himself."
Jimenez entered the game with a 7.34 ERA and already lost his spot in the regular rotation. He also fell behind 1-0 after just three batters before settling down and allowed just one more run and two hits the rest of the way.
"I just wanted to get the job done, for sure," Jimenez said. "There's no more pressure than that. As a pitcher, I know how I was throwing before I got sent down to the bullpen. I was just trying to find a way to survive and get back on my feet."
The offense gave Jimenez plenty of help. Matt Wieters led the way with two RBIs. Hyun Soo Kim, Chris Davis, Jonathan Schoop, Trumbo and Flaherty each drove in a run.
It was the 1,000th victory, including postseason games, in Orioles' franchise history at Camden Yards
San Diego starter Erik Johnson (0-3) again found problems. He allowed six runs on nine hits in four-plus innings.
Johnson now has given up 25 runs in 25 1/3 innings in five starts, two of which came with the Chicago White Sox earlier.
He also allowed two more homers and for a total of 12 in those 25 1/3 innings this year.
"To me, there's a lot of opportunity for ground ball outs," Johnson said. "The two home runs were on fastball-sitting counts -- 0-0 and 1-0. So they were probably looking for something to drive there."
This loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Padres (30-43), who got two more hits from Matt Kemp, and he finished the series with six in two games.
The Padres took an early 1-0 lead on Kemp's RBI single in the first inning. Baltimore tied it when Trumbo homered to start the bottom of the second, his first round-tripper since June 7.
In the third, the Orioles went ahead 2-1 on Schoop's RBI double. He's now batting .524 in his last five games.
Baltimore made it 3-1 in the fourth when Trumbo opened the inning with a double and scored when Wieters singled.
San Diego came within 3-2 in the fifth on another Kemp RBI single. Melvin Upton, Jr. nearly gave the Padres a one-run lead later in the frame with what he thought was a two-run homer, a long fly ball right by the left-field foul pole.
The umpires called it foul, and a crew chief review upheld the call. San Diego still didn't completely agree with the call after the game, feeling it could have changed things as that would have put the Padres up, 4-3.
"You get two runs on the board, it's a much different baseball game," Padres manager Andy Green said. "You get some momentum. You get some positive momentum. You get a guy on the ropes, and Ubaldo's been on the ropes a few times this year, and that changes the complexion of the game to a degree."
The Orioles stretched the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Flaherty homered, Davis got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Wieters added a sacrifice fly to put Baltimore up and in command at 6-2.
NOTES: Manager Buck Showalter said that LHP Brian Duensing was placed on the disabled list, retroactive to June 20, and will have surgery Friday to remove two bone chips in his pitching elbow. Showalter said that if all goes well, he might be able return sometime in August. They recalled LHP Ashur Tolliver from Triple-A Norfolk to take Duensing's spot. Toliver pitched four games with the Orioles earlier this season. ...Showalter also said that C Caleb Joseph could be cleared on Monday to catch during rehab while working his way back from surgery (testicular injury). ...Padres manager Andy Green said that OF Jon Jay (forearm injury) is out again and they're hoping he will be back tomorrow or Friday. ...RHP Fernando Rodney's agent appealed to Major League Baseball to change the scoring ruling in last night's game on DH Pedro Alvarez's infield single in the ninth, a play which allowed an earned run to score, the first one the pitcher has allowed all year. That ended a streak of 25 2/3 consecutive innings without an earned run to start the season, just one-third of an inning short of the team record (Randy Jones, 1975).
