By Steve Melewski on Tuesday, May 08 2012
Category: Orioles

Josh Hamilton's stunning power display carries the Rangers to victory

Josh Hamilton put on a remarkable show tonight at Camden Yards. The Orioles have now lost the first two games of their series against division-leading Texas. Hamilton became the 14th major leaguer with four homers since 1918 and led Texas to a 10-3 romp over the Orioles. Hamilton went 5-for-5 with a double, four homers and eight RBIs as the Rangers won the first two games of this series by a combined scored of 24-6. The Orioles had won their previous five games at New York and Boston by a combined 35-13 score. Hamilton actually hit five homers in a six at-bat stretch after hitting a two-run homer in the ninth last night. Tonight, he hit a two-run homer in the first and third innings, added a double in the fifth then hit two more two-run homers in the seventh and eighth innings. Hamilton's 18 total bases are an American League record. It's the first four-homer game since Carlos Delgado in 2003. Hamilton's 18 total bases and five extra-base hits are Rangers club records. The Orioles lost for the second time in a row after the five-game win streak and for the fourth time over the last 15 games. They fall to 19-11 on the season. Losing pitcher Jake Arrieta gave up six runs and nine hits over 6 1/3 to fall to 2-3 with an ERA of 4.23. Orioles starters have now given up 18 earned runs in 15 2/3 over their past three games after pitching to an ERA of 1.99 over a 12-game stretch. The Orioles got back-to-back solo homers in the last of the eighth from J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis, who earlier had a RBI single. In Game Three of this series tomorrow night, it's Wei-Yin Chen (2-0, 2.76) against Colby Lewis (3-1, 2.97).
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