Cruz ties record, Tillman tackles tough second inning

HOUSTON - Nelson Cruz did more today than give the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. He also tied a team record. Cruz's sacrifice fly scored Nick Markakis, who led off with a double, and gave him 50 RBIs to match Chris Davis for most by an Oriole before the end of May. Davis set the record last season. J.J. Hardy doubled with one out in the second, but was stranded. He hasn't homered since Sept. 5, 2013, but his average has climbed to .301. Chris Tillman retired the Astros in order on nine pitches in the bottom of the first inning, but the Astros tied the game in the second and forced Tillman to throw 24 pitches. Jason Castro led off the second with a double and Tillman hit Matt Dominguez and Alex Presley to load the bases with one out. Tillman hit one batter in 11 starts before today. Robbie Grossman followed with a roller up the first base line, and Tillman elected to watch it rather than take the sure out at first. The ball stayed fair as Castro scored the tying run. Tillman escaped further harm by retiring Marwin Gonzalez on a pop-up and Jose Altuve on a fly ball to right, with Nick Markakis making an excellent running grab that manager Buck Showalter will mention after the game. Tillman has allowed 12 runs in the first and 11 in the second this season. Manny Machado grounded out in his first at-bat to extend his slump to 1-for-19 since his nine-game hitting streak ended. "It's not mental," he said. "I've got to keep looking for pitches I need to drive, pitches I can hit. Don't chase pitcher's pitches. That's what I'm doing right now. I'm going out and there and chasing pitches instead of going back to my same approach and getting my base hits." Machado, who missed the first month of the season, believes his timing at the plate should have returned by now. "It's definitely a work in progress," he said. "Something like that doesn't come overnight, but you've got to keep grinding, keep fighting every day and try to get better every day. Eventually, it's going to come back to me and just keep grinding. That's the only thing you can control. You can't control how many hits you have, how many errors. You've got to keep grinding, keep fighting, try to get better every day." In the meantime, Showalter has lowered Machado to seventh in the order, a move that the young third baseman understands and hopes will relax him. "I'm not producing up there in the lineup. Might as well put me lower in the lineup, let me catch my breath and get it going again," he said. "It's just a matter of keep fighting. We're about to get hot. We're struggling as a team right now. It's obvious. We've just got to keep grinding. The pitching staff is doing well. We've just got to put one and one together and get some wins." Machado has committed six errors in 26 games. Asked whether his fielding is ahead of his hitting, he replied, "I want to say they're equal. I don't want to say one is better than the other. "I definitely see I've got room to improve in both. I've got to improve in my fielding, my angles. I need to improve in my hitting, as well." Though it practically sits on a tee, Machado won't use the lack of a normal spring training as an excuse. "I'm not going to blame it on not having a spring training. I'm not going to blame it on not having anything," he said. "It's all up to me. It's go up there, take your at-bats. Doesn't matter if I had spring training or not. I had the at-bats. I had everything I needed down in Sarasota and my rehab assignment to get it done. "It's just something that I've got to clean myself up and take it day by day."