O's five-run fifth features Machado ejection but leads to comeback win

One productive, but very strange, half inning sent the Orioles to a rain delayed 7-3 victory over Cleveland tonight and to a split of this four-game series in front of 33,086 at Camden Yards. The game was halted by rain, leading to a delay of an hour and 18 minutes before the last of the seventh. The Orioles went to the last of the fifth trailing the Indians 3-2 but scored five runs on six hits in an inning which saw Manny Machado get ejected and Adam Jones get called out for leaving second base on a play where he was actually ruled safe. Machado struck out swinging with two men on and the O's down 3-2. As he walked away from home plate it appeared he said something to home plate umpire Will Little who then ejected him. Machado, by the way, had played every inning of every game since his callup to the majors last Aug. 8. According to Elias Sports Bureau, he had played 1,206 consecutive innings until the ejection, which was the longest current streak in the majors. Later in the inning Jones was ruled safe at second when Cleveland shortstop Mike Aviles took a throw from second baseman Jason Kipnis and came off the bag on the force play. Apparently Jones thought he was out, ran off the field and was then ruled out. It's called abandoning the base in the rule book. Now for the runs in the inning. A Nick Markakis RBI single tied the game 3-3. Chris Davis' grounder put the O's ahead 4-3 on the play involving Jones. A Matt Wieters RBI double scored two runs, one an error for a 6-3 lead and the O's made it 7-3 on an RBI infield single by J.J. Hardy. It was not even close to a routine inning but the Orioles will take it and run as they won for just the second time in the last seven games. Earlier Ryan Flaherty delivered a two-run, two-out single in the second to extend his batting streak to seven games. He went 2-for-3 tonight and is 12-for-25 with three homers and six RBIs during the streak. Miguel Gonzalez was the winning pitcher even though he came up one short of giving the O's a third straight start of seven innings. Gonzalez went 6 2/3, allowing nine hits and three runs. He tied his career high with nine strikeouts which is the most by an O's starter this year. Over his last five starts, Gonzalez is 4-1 with an ERA of 2.88. The Orioles are 20-9 in his 29 career starts. With the win the Orioles improve to 44-36 and get set to host the New York Yankees in a three-game series that start Friday night at 7:05 p.m.