McFarland gives Orioles five innings (O's win 8-3)

Orioles manager Buck Showalter would have signed up for it in blood. Left-hander T.J. McFarland, pulled from the bullpen tonight to make his second major league start, lasted five innings and gave up two runs. Showalter didn't call upon his first reliever until Ryan Webb headed to the mound in the top of the sixth. McFarland had one clean inning, retiring the Rangers in order in the fourth on two strikeouts and a ground ball. Texas was 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and failed to score after back-to-back infield hits by Rougned Odor and Daniel Robertson to open the fifth. Keep your style points. Showalter will gladly take the innings from McFarland, who established a career high. McFarland scattered seven hits, walked none and struck out two. He hadn't thrown more than 46 pitches for the Orioles this season. For fans on Twitter asking why Webb replaced McFarland, well, that's it. The Rangers got a leadoff single in the first, a single and two doubles to begin the second, a one-out single in the third and the back-to-back singles in the fifth. They hit into two double plays. Webb surrendered a run in the sixth on singles by Alex Rios and Adrian Beltre and a ground ball from Chris Gimenez. The Orioles take an 8-3 lead into the bottom half of the inning. The Blue Jays won today and currently lead the Orioles by 1 1/2 games in the American League East. Chris Davis is 0-for-3 tonight, 0-for-18 in his last six games and 7-for-61 in his last 18 to lower his average to .206. He lined out again to shallow right field against the infield shift. Update: Game over. The Orioles have taken the first two games of the series with tonight's 8-3 win over the Rangers at Camden Yards. Tommy Hunter, Darren O'Day (three strikeouts) and Zach Britton each threw a scoreless inning. Davis went 0-for-4, reaching in the eighth on an error, and is hitless in his last 19 at-bats. He's gone 7-for-62 in his last 18 games to lower his average to .205. The Orioles are 44-39 and continue to trail the Blue Jays by one game. They're 21-21 at home.