Advertisement

Chris Davis homers twice as Baltimore Orioles pound Texas Rangers

By Jeff Seidel, The Sports Xchange
Baltimore Orioles' Chris Davis hits a 2-RBI home run against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Camden Yards in Baltimore, July 18, 2017. Photo by David Tulis/UPI
1 of 7 | Baltimore Orioles' Chris Davis hits a 2-RBI home run against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Camden Yards in Baltimore, July 18, 2017. Photo by David Tulis/UPI | License Photo

BALTIMORE -- The Orioles have plenty of power in their lineup, and Chris Davis helped show the Texas Rangers what Baltimore can do with home runs on Tuesday.

Davis homered twice, including a grand slam, and drove in a career-high six runs as the Baltimore Orioles banged out four homers and beat the Texas Rangers 12-1.

Advertisement

Davis hit a two-run shot in the first that nicked off of the glove of Texas center fielder Carlos Gomez as the Orioles (44-49) scored six times against starter Tyson Ross (2-2). The grand slam came off Austin Bibens-Dirkx in the fourth and broke the game open, giving the Orioles a 10-1 lead.

The Baltimore first baseman finished the night 2-for-4 and is now batting .221 this season.

Advertisement

"I feel like I've taken a lot of swings in the last couple days, just trying to get my rhythm and timing back," said Davis, who missed a month before coming back last Friday. "(I) was able to get some good results tonight, so it makes it a lot more fun when you've got guys on base."

Davis came up with his first grand slam this season and the eighth of his career. Also, this was the second time this year that Davis had a multi-homer game. He now has 16 homers this season.

Trey Mancini and Seth Smith hit the other Orioles homers. Mancini's was a two-run bomb during in the first, while Smith led off the eighth with a solo shot.

Orioles starter Dylan Bundy (9-8) struggled a bit in the early innings but settled down and lasted six innings. He allowed one run on four hits while breaking a personal two-game losing streak.

Bundy battled at times throughout the six innings but still made it through six innings. He left with a 10-run lead.

"Dylan is a pitcher," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "I don't think he had a real good feel for his curveball, which is expected, but the rest of the pitches were there for him tonight."

Advertisement

Bundy said he just needed some time to get settled in.

"The first three innings, I just felt off," Bundy said. "That's how you get out of it, just going out there and staying in the game and pitching and trying to figure out things that work."

Rookie Miguel Castro then came on and threw two perfect innings before Zach Britton took care of the ninth to give Baltimore its second consecutive victory.

Ross allowed nine runs (eight earned) on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings as the Rangers (45-48) lost their third straight.

The right-hander said he just was not able to make good pitches at the right times.

"Physically, I felt good out there but it was just a matter of executing, and I wasn't able to do that," Ross said. "I was trying to get outs. I wasn't very consistent."

Shin-Soo Choo gave the Rangers a quick 1-0 lead when he homered to center off Bundy on the game's second pitch. However, the Orioles answered quickly as their first six batters reached against Ross, and all scored.

Jonathan Schoop lined a two-run double to left-center with no outs, and Davis sent the next pitch into the Baltimore bullpen for a 4-1 lead.

Advertisement

Two batters later, Mancini crushed his 15th homer to left, the two-run shot that made it 6-1.

Davis struck again in the fourth, greeting Bibens-Dirkx with the grand slam to center. It was the eighth grand slam of Davis' career.

Texas manager Jeff Banister was frustrated because his team missed on a good early scoring chance in the second. The Orioles had taken the 6-1 lead in the first but Texas loaded the bases with two outs in that second.

Bundy then got Choo on an inning-ending grounder, ruining a great scoring chance.

"We've got to find a way to get this offense going," Banister said. "We were making Bundy work; we just couldn't break through. ... incapable of getting a hit through. So, we'll go back to work again tomorrow."

NOTES: Orioles CF Adam Jones and Rangers SS Elvis Andrus were their teams' winners of the Heart and Hustle Award, an honor given out by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association. ... The Orioles batted around twice in the first four innings, sending nine to the plate in a six-run first and 10 to bat in a four-run fourth. ... Rangers RF Shin-Soo Choo's homer to start the game was his third leadoff homer this season. Overall, he has hit 13 homers this season.

Advertisement

Latest Headlines