Oakland scores five in fourth to top Hellickson and the O's

OAKLAND, Calif. - It looked like right-hander Jeremy Hellickson was rolling. He had pitched to an ERA of 2.08 in his first two Orioles starts. Then today, he got through the first three innings at Oakland with a 2-0 lead on just 24 pitches.

But on a sunny afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum, looks were deceiving.

Matt Chapman hit a three-run homer as Oakland scored five times in the fourth and went on to beat the Orioles 9-3 today. The Orioles split this four-game series and fall to 3-4 on this trip and to 58-60 on the season.

Oakland batted in the fourth down 2-0. Hellickson needed just six pitches in the first, eight in the second and 10 in third. But after a single, fly out and walk, a soft grounder up the first-base line went for an RBI double by Ryon Healy. Batting next, Matt Olson hit a hot smash to first that Chris Davis gloved. But he threw home and it was late and the game was tied 2-2.

Then with two on Chapman ripped a liner to left that hooked into the seats in the corner for a three-run homer and 5-2 lead. Chapman hit a right-on-right changeup 358 feet for No. 8.

Earlier, the Orioles picked up where they left off last night in scoring in the first and second to take a 2-0 lead. They won 12-5 last night with a 20-hit attack.

Manny Machado hit a fly ball along the right-field line in the first and Matt Joyce dove. It got behind him and went for a triple. Jonathan Schoop's line drive single to center scored Machado for a 1-0 lead on Schoop's 85th RBI. An inning later, Mark Trumbo led off with a double and scored on a Chris Davis single for a 2-0 lead. Davis has three RBIs the past two games.

But then the offense dried up as Oakland starter Kendall Graveman settled in. The O's put two on with no outs in the third, but didn't score. They had seven hits at that point but got just one more though the seventh against Graveman, who got the win. He pitched seven innings, allowing eight hits and two runs.

Hellickson took the loss to fall to 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA over three starts with Baltimore. He gave up five hits and six runs over five innings plus one batter on 65 pitches.

Joyce doubled, stole third and scored on Marcus Semien's sac fly in the fifth for a 6-2 lead. That became an 8-2 lead on Joyce's two-run homer to right off Richard Bleier in the A's seventh inning.

Machado had a three-hit day. His solo homer to left in the eighth pulled the Orioles within 8-3. He hit No. 22. But the early lead and Hellickson's strong first few innings didn't hold up today as the O's lose the series finale.

Even Tim Beckham couldn't help today. He went 0-for-4 to end his 12-game hitting streak to begin his Orioles career. His average fell from .531 to .491.

Chris Tillman made his first big league relief appearance this afternoon. Pitching on nine days rest, he faced four batters and got all four outs, two on strikeouts, over the seventh and eighth innings. Tillman threw 20 pitches, 11 for strikes.

In the last of the eighth the final run scored when Matt Olson homered off Zach Britton. It was the first homer Britton allowed since April 11, 2016. He gave up one homer over 67 innings last year and had not allowed one in 22 1/3 this season.

Now it is on to Seattle for the final three games on this three-city West Coast trip. On Monday night, Kevin Gausman (8-8, 5.21 ERA) pitches against former Oriole Yovani Gallardo, (5-7, 5.38 ERA).