Adam Jones homers twice as O's take series opener (quotes added)

When the Orioles faced Athletics right-hander Chris Smith on the road Aug. 10, they homered four times against him. Tonight, they added two more, as they beat Smith and the A's 7-3 at Oriole Park to start a three-game series.

After losing four of five and eight of their past 12 games, the Orioles got the win tonight to improve to 37-25 at home and to 61-64 on the year.

This is the fifth straight series in which the Orioles won the first game. They failed to win any of the previous four. They are 14-7 in home series openers this year.

Center fielder Adam Jones homered twice, went 4-for-4, scored three runs and drove in two. Jones produced his 23rd and 24th homers for his second multi-homer game of the year and 12th of his career. The 12 games of two or more homers ties Manny Machado and Rafael Palmeiro for eighth on the club's all-time list. Jones' four hits tied his career high, done twice this year and 21 times over his career.

Leading 2-1, the O's broke it open in the last of the fifth, scoring four times. Batting ninth, Seth Smith drew a leadoff walk versus Chris Smith and Machado reached on a one-out error. Then Jonathan Schoop smoked a liner to center for a three-run homer and 5-1 lead. Schoop hit No. 27 at an exit velocity of 111 mph and it went 404 feet.

Reliever Ryan Dull then came in and Jones greeted him with a homer to left for his second of the night and the 6-1 lead. It was the 10th time the Orioles have hit back-to-back homers. Schoop has been involved six times and Jones three times.

After Matt Chapman's RBI double gave the A's a 1-0 lead in the second, the O's built a 2-1 lead on Mark Trumbo's bases-loaded sac fly in the second and Jones' solo homer two innings later. Oakland closed to within 6-2 when Jed Lowrie homered in the top of the sixth off Baltimore starter Wade Miley.

In the eighth, Oakland's Boog Powell hit his first major league homer off Brad Brach to make it 6-3. Tomorrow, the Athletics' Boog Powell is expected to meet the former Orioles first baseman Boog Powell in an all-Powell get-together.

Catcher Welington Castillo's solo homer in the eighth capped the scoring at 7-3. It was No. 13 for Castillo and the O's fourth of the night. They've hit 10 in the last four games and 35 the past 17 contests.

Miley gave the Orioles rotation a much-needed good outing. Over six innings plus a batter, he allowed five hits and two runs with four walks and six strikeouts. He improved to 7-10 with an ERA of 5.11, throwing 100 pitches.

O's starters had pitched to an ERA of 9.78 the previous five games. Miley has just two quality starts over his past 15 starts and they are both against Oakland in his last three games.

Oakland falls to 54-71 for the season, 20-40 on the road and has lost seven of its last eight games at Camden Yards.

In the series second game on Tuesday night, right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez (5-8, 6.47 ERA) faces right-hander Paul Blackburn (3-1, 3.46 ERA).

Postgame quotes:

Miley on using a large combination of sliders and curveballs: "Yeah I would say so, for the most part. We really crowded them in again and kept to that game plan. That was the plan going in and Welly did a good job staying attacking there. Felt like I threw the ball pretty well. There were some walks in there but some close misses. I'm a lot closer to the plate then I was a couple of weeks ago. Something positive to build on."

Miley on team needing to start piling up some wins: "Just got to try to win ballgames. We've got a tough road ahead of us, but at the same time we've just got to come out and it's still in our hands right now. It's still in our court. It's going to be fun."

Castillo on Miley's outing: "His fastball command (was a key) and the ability to throw the cutter for strikes and strike to ball. Last time, he had a great breaking ball and great curve going, but today was a lot of fastball, slider and that helped a lot. I'm not going to change until I see the hitter make the adjustment."

Jones on possibly reaching 30 homers for the first time since 2013: "It means something to me to be playing when everyone else is at home."

Jones on Schoop: "It's just fun to watch. When you speak of people too much, you kind of jinx them from afar. I just love the maturity of him. I love the continuing-ness of him and Manny, continuing their great relationship. They get each other going, they spark each other. And it's just fun to watch. We got two of the best young players in baseball and we talk about them so much offensively. Manny is one of the best defensive players in all of baseball, especially at third base. But Schoop is pretty damn good himself and he doesn't get enough credit for his defense."