Showalter speaks after 8-5 win

The biggest upset today wasn't the Orioles' 8-5 win over the Tigers. It was the sun shining as kids ran the bases at Camden Yards. What happened to that ominous forecast? Let me guess: The front shifted slightly and blah blah blah. Mark Reynolds committed two errors today, giving him 23 and the franchise record for third basemen previously held by Brooks Robinson (21 in 1958). Robinson had 22 errors that season, but one of them occurred at second base. Jo-Jo Reyes gave the Orioles a quality start with one run and four hits allowed over six innings. "It's a good start for him," manager Buck Showalter said. "We were going to try to take him around 90 (pitches). We pitched him a little further because he was throwing the ball well. Changeup was good, couple curveballs were crisper. He's been working on a couple things that they identified they wanted to get better at, and it played today. We'll see what the next start brings. It was good to see him pitch well. He was one of the bigger parts of the game. And some of the tack-on runs today. We didn't just sit around there after we scored the two runs. We kept throwing runs up there. "You lose some tough games like we have the last two or three days and then you come in here for a day game. Believe me, these guys are tossing and turning. There's not a whole lot of sleep going on. And you come out here, and they're all big games for Detroit right now. To be able to come out with that intensity, I'm proud of them." Kevin Gregg, pitching for the first time since Wednesday and handed an 8-1 lead, didn't record an out and was charged with four runs on four hits and two walks. Jim Johnson replaced him and allowed one inherited runner to score while picking up his second save. Johnson walked Miguel Cabrera intentionally with two outs. The Tigers had pinch-run for Victor Martinez, so he wasn't on deck. "(Gregg) gives up a ground ball that sneaks up the middle and he gives up two broken-bat flares," Showalter said. "I mean, it happens. There's just certain karma of an inning that snowballs. And we all know where Cabrera's sitting and what-have-you. Fortunately for us, Victor has a bad knee and had to come out of the game. We're also fortunate to have J.J. there.

"I was trying to stay away from him. J.J. had a tough night with some illness in the family that he had to tend to and I was trying to stay away from him if I could, but there's a lot of things that go on in people's lives that you're not always aware of when you're watching the game go on. "Kevin's been pretty good in those situations where he's come in for work, and if you really break down the inning, other than the walks - and he felt like there were some borderline pitches and I believe him - the strike zone kind of moved around a little bit. But those things happen. I've been in the dugout when we were leading our division and it's just human nature." It's rare that a manager will issue an intentional walk that brings the potential go-ahead run to the plate, but the Orioles wanted no part of Cabrera. Tigers manager Jim Leyland sent up Brennan Boesch to pinch-hit for Will Rhymes, and Nolan Reimold ran down a liner that appeared to be headed for the fence. "I know he's going to go with Boesch there, but I know he's had a thumb injury," Showalter said. "Nolan made a hell of a play. It's a tough play for a right-hander. He made a heck of a play, maybe a game-saving play. There were some situations being created there that were interesting. You look at Nolan, that's a heck of a play for a right-handed guy, the ball slicing away there, and I'm hoping that if he doesn't come up with it, our rubber track takes care of it, takes it over, and we still have another out to get." Felix Pie often is used as a defensive replacement in left field, but not today. "Nolan's playing as well probably as Pie is defensively," Showalter said. "He's been in the flow of the game and knew the hitters. Nolan had a big day. I'm proud of him. He did a lot of things well today."