Orioles win 8-5, Hardy leaves game with bruised wrist

Ubaldo Jiménez's triumphant return today to the Orioles rotation tended to be overshadowed by the latest offensive uprising.

The bats are back.

The Orioles hit four home runs, giving them 10 in the three-game series, and Jiménez turned in a rare quality start in an 8-5 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 34,854 at Camden Yards.

Jiménez allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings - Stephen Piscotty hit two solo home runs - and the Orioles had their second quality start in 13 games. Meanwhile, they scored seven runs off Lance Lynn in 4 2/3 innings to raise his ERA from 2.69 to 3.33.

Jiménez is the first Orioles starter to complete seven innings since Wade Miley on June 1. He walked four batters, struck out three and came out after 106 pitches.

Shortstop J.J. Hardy left the game in the top of the sixth inning with a bruised right wrist. He was hit by Lynn's 93 mph fastball in the fourth. Three Orioles were hit yesterday.

There always has to be a little adversity sprinkled into the fun.

Rubén Tejada stood on deck to bat for Hardy with two outs in the fifth and replaced him at shortstop in the sixth. The Orioles will provide more of an update later today.

Hardy was batting .212/.246/.310 before today, but he had seven hits in his last 22 at-bats.

The Orioles are back at .500 after 68 games. They'll likely remain in fourth place with the Rays holding a big lead over the Tigers.

Vidal Nuño replaced Jiménez in the eighth and faced two batters. He walked Matt Carpenter and served up Dexter Fowler's two-run homer to cut the lead to 8-4. Nuño has surrendered home runs in both appearances since the Orioles recalled him on Friday.

Yadier Molina homered off Miguel Castro with two outs in the eighth inning to create a save situation for Brad Brach, who converted his 12th. He hasn't allowed a run in his last 11 appearances.

Seth Smith hit his third leadoff home run of the season and the fifth of his career to stake the Orioles to a quick 1-0 lead. Trey Mancini led off the second inning with his 12th home run to put the Orioles ahead 2-1, and Mark Trumbo delivered an RBI single with two outs in the third for a 3-1 lead.

Mancini again went to the opposite field, clearing the out-of-town scoreboard. He hit his first career triple with one out in the fifth to raise his average against right-handers to .343 (35-for-102) with seven doubles, eight home runs and 26 RBIs.

The fifth inning also featured Adam Jones' first triple since June 5, 2015, Trumbo's two-run homer, Jonathan Schoop's sacrifice fly after Fowler robbed him with a leaping catch and Welington Castillo's seventh homer of the season.

Castillo is 8-for-12 lifetime versus Lynn, who exited after the home run.

The Orioles joined the Yankees as the only teams in the majors with six players with 10 or more home runs. Trumbo was the latest.

Manny Machado had an RBI single off reliever Kevin Siegrist in the sixth inning after Smith's double. Smith came within a triple of the cycle.

Jiménez went to a full count to two of the first three batters and a three-ball count to six of 12. He had one clean inning out of seven. But he made it through the seventh and was burned only by the Piscotty home runs.

He left to a standing ovation after retiring Paul DeJong to end the seventh. No more booing, at least for today.

Baseball is a funny game.