Davis does it again (O's lead 9-2)

Chris Davis isn't satisfied with terrorizing opposing pitchers. Now he's taking aim at his own relievers. Davis hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning tonight, the ball landing in the Orioles' bullpen and causing teammates to scatter on the bench to avoid becoming seamheads. Davis has 29 home runs, 77 RBIs and serious designs on the American League Most Valuable Player Award. Yankees starter Davis Phelps faced nine batters and threw 30 pitches in the inning. He'd like to take back the 80 mph knuckle-curveball that Davis cracked. Knuckles. Cracked. See what I did there? Manny Machado started the rally by reaching on an infield single, his 112th hit of the season. Nick Markakis and Adam Jones followed with singles to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Davis stepped to the plate and once again went to the opposite field. The guy must not care about hitting the warehouse. Or clearing it. Davis has 54 extra-base hits in 82 games. Before tonight, he was on pace to record 106, which would shatter Brady Anderson's club-record of 92 in 1996. The latest All-Star voting results will be announced on Monday. At last check, Davis had received the second-highest total behind Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera. J.J. Hardy singled with two outs and Chris Dickerson doubled before Phelps struck out Ryan Flaherty to end the inning. Orioles starter Zach Britton gave up three straight two-out singles to load the bases in the first inning without allowing a run. Lyle Overbay singled with one out in the second, but Austin Romine grounded into a double play. Down on the farm, Wei-Yin Chen has allowed four runs and five hits in four innings at Double-A Bowie, with two walks and five strikeouts. He's thrown 72 pitches, 50 for strikes. Update: The Orioles scored five more runs in the third inning and knocked Phelps out of the game. Michael Phelps couldn't have done much worse. Dickerson had a two-run single against his former team, and Ryan Flaherty belted a three-run homer. Flaherty is 13-for-27 during his eight-game hitting streak, with four homers, nine RBIs and six runs scored. In an unrelated story, Brian Roberts comes off the disabled list on Sunday. Update II: Britton hasn't allowed a run or walked a batter in five innings. He's surrendered five hits and struck out one. Britton has retired eight in a row. Flaherty is 2-for-3, his fourth multi-hit game in a row and sixth out of eight. Update III: Britton couldn't get out of the sixth inning, leaving with the bases loaded, two outs and the Orioles ahead 9-2. The final batter he faced, Lyle Overbay, reached on Davis' error. Jair Jurrjens retired pinch-hitter Travis Hafner on a fly ball to the left field warning track to end the inning. Britton allowed two runs (one earned) and six hits in 5 2/3 innings, with three walks and one strikeout. He threw 83 pitches, 48 for strikes. In three starts since being recalled, Britton has allowed five earned runs (six total) and 17 hits in 16 innings. He's walked nine and struck out seven. Tonight's attendance: 46,607, the fourth sellout of the season and the second-largest crowd. Down on the farm, Tsuyoshi Wada allowed two runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings at Triple-A Norfolk, with two walks, six strikeouts and one home run. He threw 92 pitches, 63 for strikes. Henry Urrutia is 0-for-3 with a strikeout. At Double-A Bowie, Wei-Yin Chen allowed four runs (all in the fourth inning) and five hits in five innings, with two walks and five strikeouts. He threw 79 pitches, 56 for strikes.