BALTIMORE — The combination of a good effort from starter Miguel Gonzalez, one big inning and some timely hitting gave the Orioles a big boost Thursday night.
Baltimore starter Miguel Gonzalez tied a career high with nine strikeouts, and a five-run fifth inning helped the Orioles score a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night at Camden Yards.
The Orioles (44-36) went 5-for-13 with runners in scoring position but turned the game around with a five-run, six-hit fifth inning. That put Baltimore in front 7-3 and proved more than enough for Gonzalez.
“It’s a tribute to him, a lot like (Chris Tillman),” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “We talk about that, he finds a way. He made some adjustments.”
Gonzalez (6-3) gave up three runs on nine hits and no walks in 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander needed 50 pitches to get through the first two innings before settling down.
The win was his fourth in five games. The nine strikeouts matched a career high he set against the New York Yankees on Aug. 31, 2012.
“I felt I was falling behind a little bit early, but then I settled down and worked with all the pitches I needed to, changing pitches, changing speeds to good hitters up and down,” Gonzalez said. “I think that was an important thing for me.”
Gonzalez also said the offense helped him out.
Ryan Flaherty finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run. His average is up to .208 — an increase of 62 points since June 1. In addition, Flaherty stretched his hitting streak to 10 games, and he is 12-for-26 (.462) during that time.
Eight members of the starting lineup got at least one hit as the Orioles finished with 11 hits overall and earned a split in the four-game series with Cleveland (40-38).
Matt Wieters and Nate McLouth also finished with two hits apiece for the Orioles. However, Flaherty was the only Oriole with more than one RBI. Flaherty started the game at second and then moved to third base after Manny Machado got ejected in the fifth.
The fifth inning turned the game around.
Baltimore trailed 3-2 before Nick Markakis tied it with an RBI single, and the Orioles took the lead on a Chris Davis fielder’s choice.
Wieters followed with an RBI double. Davis scored later on the play when right fielder Drew Stubbs made an error fielding the ball. That miscue allowed Wieters to get to third, and he scored the inning’s fifth run on J.J. Hardy’s infield single, knocking out Cleveland starter Corey Kluber (6-5).
The inning also had a few odd events. Hardy’s single was a slow roller toward third that Kluber tried to field, but the pitcher couldn’t pick it up and kicked it into foul ground.
The Stubbs error helped Baltimore, and on the Davis fielder’s choice, Adam Jones originally was ruled safe at second, but crew chief Ted Barrett gave a pool comment saying that the center fielder “apparently thought he was out. So he was actually out for abandonment when he left the base.”
Plus, the usually soft-spoken Machado saw his streak of 1,206 consecutive innings — tops in the majors — end earlier in the inning when plate umpire Will Little quickly threw him out after the third baseman disputed a strikeout.
“I was surprised,” Machado said. “It was just something that just happened, something that I just regret. I just caused that on myself.”
Kluber was allowed seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings.
“In this ballpark with that lineup, that’s what can happen,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “They’re sitting there always able to do (something) if you make a couple mistakes.”
The Baltimore pitchers didn’t make a lot of mistakes after the early innings. Brian Matusz relieved Gonzalez and finished the seventh.
Troy Patton came on after a 78-minute rain delay to take care of the eighth. Darren O’Day closed it out in the ninth. The four Oriole pitchers combined to retire 15 of the final 17 batters they faced.
Lonnie Chisenhall gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead with his solo homer in the second. Baltimore answered in the bottom half on Flaherty’s two-run single.
Chisenhall tied the game with an RBI double in the fourth, and the Indians took a 3-2 lead when Mike Aviles lined a solo homer to left leading off the fifth.
NOTES: The Orioles might get Brian Roberts (hamstring) back this weekend. Manager Buck Showalter said the second baseman has done well on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk and is close to returning. Roberts has been out since the first week of the season. … OF Nolan Reimold (hamstring) could return to the Orioles next week, and RHP Freddy Garcia agreed to a minor league deal with Baltimore and will stay with the organization. … Chisenhall’s homer stretched his hitting streak to five games, and it went on to Eutaw Street beyond right field — the 70th ball to reach that distance in Camden Yards history. … Indians 2B Jason Kipnis kept his on-base streak going thanks to a first-inning single. He’s now reached base via hit, run or hit-by-pitch in 29 straight games.