Long delay, long day: Cubs beat O's 7-2 at Wrigley

Well, that took a while. The Orioles fell behind by two runs much earlier today, then waited out a rain delay of 3 hours, 9 minutes at Wrigley Field. They could not come back after the delay and lost 7-2 in a game that began during the afternoon and ended at night. The Orioles have lost the first two games of the series and it is just their second series loss in the last 11. They are 73-54 and their American League East lead is seven games over the New York Yankees, who won this afternoon. The O's led 2-0 on an Adam Jones RBI double in the first and a Bud Norris RBI infield single in the second. The O's starter came up with the hit on the seventh pitch of the at-bat against Kyle Hendricks for his first RBI since May 5, 2012. O's pitchers had been 0-for-11 on the season. But before the rain came, the Cubs struck for four runs in the last of the second. Logan Watkins' single scored one and Chris Coghlan tripled with the bases loaded for a 4-2 lead. Then the rain came and the contest finally was resumed in the top of the third over three hours later. Norris did not return after the delay and took the loss, giving up four runs and four hits in two innings to fall to 11-8 with an ERA of 3.91. The game featured the second career relief appearance of Ubaldo Jimenez, who took the mound after the delay. He pitched in relief in his big league debut on Sept. 26, 2006 and then made 231 straight starts until today. Jimenez went four innings, allowing three hits and one run with one walk and five strikeouts. He threw 75 pitches. The Orioles are 4-4 on this road trip and will need a win tomorrow to both avoid being swept and to avoid their first losing road trip of 2014. In Sunday's series finale, Miguel Gonzalez (6-6, 3.80 ERA) will be recalled from the minors to face Tsuyoshi Wada (3-1, 2.75 ERA).