Chen takes rare walk, Markakis at 5,000 career at-bats, and more (O's lead 2-1)

The Orioles haven't dropped a season series to the White Sox since 2008. The first step toward maintaining that streak comes tonight at Camden Yards. Wei-Yin Chen walked Gordon Beckham with one out in the top of the first inning and Dayan Viciedo with two outs. Chen had issued two walks over his last six starts and 12 this season in 83 1/3 innings. It's the first multi-walk game for Chen since April 26 against the Royals. Chen threw 20 pitches in the inning, only nine for strikes, but he didn't surrender a run. Nick Markakis grounded out in the bottom of the first inning for his 5,000th career at-bat. Only nine other Orioles have totaled 5,000 and Markakis is likely to pass two more later this year - Ken Singleton (5,115) and Brian Roberts (5,214). According to Elias, Caleb Joseph is the eighth Oriole to hit his first major league home run at Yankee Stadium and the first since Nolan Reimold on May 20, 2009. Reimold was the first player ever to do it against Mariano Rivera. Joseph is the 384th Oriole to hit a home run. Name the others if you get bored. All six of Jonathan Schoop's home runs this season have come on the road against right-handers. The O's have turned 88 double plays to lead the majors, 10 more than the Mets. The Orioles will crack the 1 million fan mark tonight. They've drawn 995,234 through 32 home dates. Last year, they cracked 1 million in their 35th home date. I find it amusing that there's so much fuss being made over Chris Davis' exclusion from tonight's lineup. He's scuffling at the plate and White Sox starter Chris Sale dominates left-handers. It's the logical time to give him a breather. Of course, he's going to start Tuesday night against White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana. This is a one-night change in the lineup. Davis is batting .216/.327/.422 with nine doubles, 12 homers and 37 RBIs in 59 games. He has two hits in his last 18 at-bats and four in his last 36. Showalter said 90 percent of his decision to sit Davis was "Delmon Young." "I need to get Delmon in a ballgame," Showalter said. "I'm not going to let him sit around and not play. It's been a challenge for us getting him enough at-bats to stay sharp. He's gotten some big hits for us this year and we'll continue to keep everybody in the flow, whether it be David Lough or Ryan Flaherty or Nick Hundley. We're going to need all of them and I just want to make sure Delmon stays sharp enough to contribute. "Also, gives us a little presence off the bench, something that's been a challenge for us sometimes." Showalter said he feels as though Davis is getting "close" to returning to form. "I have a lot of confidence that it will pick up as the season goes," Showalter said. "He plays the game with a lot of effort and energy. Makes it a lot easier to trust." Update: Adam Jones followed Steve Pearce's one-out walk in the bottom of the first inning with his 14th home run to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead. The ball appeared to hit the top of the fence in left-center field and shoot across it. Jones ties Chris Hoiles for 10th all-time on the Orioles' home run list with 151. Young singled with two outs. Update II: The White Sox cut the Orioles' lead to 2-1 in the third on Adam Eaton's infield hit, Beckham's double and Jose Abreu's grounder to third. Manny Machado made a terrific stop to rob Abreu and save another run from scoring. Chen hadn't allowed a run at home in his last 13 1/3 innings.