Adam Jones on charity work and baseball decisions (tied 3-3)

Adam Jones has two standing ovations today and the Orioles didn't have a baserunner until he doubled off Astros starter Justin Verlander with two outs in the fourth inning.

Verlander retired the first 11 batters with seven strikeouts before Jones lined a ball into left-center field.

Dylan Bundy has blanked the Astros on three hits in five innings. The game remains scoreless.

The Orioles didn't take batting practice today, but Jones found himself in the dugout talking to the media about his latest round of charitable donations and his time in Baltimore that's likely to end after Sunday.

The Baltimore Orioles Charitable Foundation, Jones and wife Audie jointly gave $150,000 to a variety of local nonprofit organizations. The donation includes $100,000 for Living Classrooms, $20,000 for Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore, $10,000 for Stocks in the Future, $10,000 for Harlem Lacrosse, $5,000 for Sharp Dressed Man, and $5,000 for Baltimore Urban Baseball Association.

Jones on how proud he is to do this: "I think it's really cool, the impact that an individual can make. We go into this as athletes and we try to live out our dream of just playing our sport, and when you have success comes a lot of other avenues that you can bless other people. Me coming here bright-eyed, not knowing what was at stake for me, I came here and played my tail off and it turned into success. And the success on the field allowed me to meet with community leaders, community program advisers and to expand myself and my reach to different communities and different people, which has been, I think, the biggest blessing. That I just have not just blessed my family and blessed my friends' community, but other communities across this city and across this country.

"I get a lot of messages from kids across the country that just admire the way I play the game of baseball and ask me random questions on how to do this and that. It's cool to being able to transition from the guy who just wanted to come and make a name for himself to the guy who's giving advice to the younger generation. So, it's been a blessing to be able to have that cool transition. Most people aren't able to have a transition like that."

Jones on why it's important to do it in Baltimore: "This is where I was at. If I was in another city, if I stayed in Seattle ... they got me understanding what the community means to the franchise. The Mariners did a great job and they still do a great job of involving themselves in the community. And what I learned during my short time there was to involve yourself in the community that supports your franchise.

"It was easy to do. And like I said, it was because I was here and this is where my mark was. If I was in any other city and I hopefully had the same success, I would have done the same thing."

Jones on whether long tenure changed his perception on the importance of doing this: "No. I mean, it's not like you have to do it. I've said many times, athletes don't have to do anything except show up to work. This is our job, everybody has a job, so we don't have to do anything else besides do our job. Now, if you want to further yourself in your community, your reach, then by all means please do it. And there are a lot of players that do terrific jobs around the league.

"There are so many of my friends that I admire who are younger and older that have integrated themselves in the communities that they've played in and it's the right thing to do. It's the right thing to show kids, especially the areas you come from, the backgrounds ... to show those kinds of kids that look, anybody can make it. It's like Obama becoming president. It doesn't matter, anybody of minorities, anything can happen. That's all I'm trying to do is just show these kids that there's a way. You work your tail off. There's an outlet and there's people who support you."

Jones on what will happen to his charitable endeavors if he's gone next year: "That's a great question, and that's a hard question to ask because it's hard to do something when you're not present. It's something I have to wait and see to how my future plans out."

Jones on getting specific feedback from a kid: "Some kid hit me up like two days ago. He plays at Texas. He's a linebacker. He hit me up and said five years ago he was in high school in San Diego. He's a great baseball fan. Obviously, he chose football. I inspired him to play, to live out his dream playing football. My work ethic and how I just showed up to work and didn't complain.

"I get a lot of different messages from a lot of different kids, a lot of different people, a lot of different fans, especially over the last month, two months, especially since I said no to the trade. Just appreciation of ... it comes full circle. People appreciate me showing up to work every day and in a city like Baltimore, a place where fans don't like excuses. Fans just want to you to show up to work and shut the hell up and play the game hard. That's what I've done. Not shut the hell up, but play the game hard."

Jones on the importance of his two sons understanding the value: "Well, of course. I want them to understand that hard work works out. My oldest, he wants a toy every time we go on a trip. I can afford a toy, which is cool, but I want them to definitely understand that hard work works out. And my wife, she's definitely not going to allow slacking. We've got it covered on both sides I think very, very well."

Jones on linking his work on and off the field: "My production between these lines has helped fuel everything off the field. If I wasn't that good a player, ain't nobody coming out to (the events) ... Ain't nobody coming to these tailgates. When we started these tailgates six years ago, we had no idea what we really were doing. Now it's one of the hottest tickets in the city. I know this year it's going to be a hot ticket.

"This city has just supported me through everything and everything I've done between these lines, they've appreciated throughout the years, and at the end of the day, what I do between these lines dictates what happens away from it, or had. It's been a blessing to be a productive player to where I can venture myself out and loan myself out and loan my likenesses out to the city."

Jones on being considered one of the great Orioles: "Yeah, there's some great players on that list and it's great to be in that conversation. It's still a lot to be done to obviously rise on that list, but to be in that conversation is a blessing nonetheless because I've met a majority of the greats and they're fantastic. So, just to be in the conversation with them is pretty cool."

Jones on whether Baltimore will always be special: "My wife's parents still live here. I think for some holidays, I think they'll be smart and be willing to come to California for the holidays for Thanksgiving and for Christmas. I think they will be willing to come to California. Our family is here, so there will always be that our family's here. I don't know. We live in San Diego, so there's that dynamic, but I'm sure there will always be events and things that go on here that we'll fly into BWI."

Jones on whether he wants to return: "Well, who holds the cards? I think now we kind of both do. But I'm not the one making business decisions on their regards. All I can do is make business decisions on my behalf now."

"I nixed the (trade) because it wasn't a good move for Adam Jones as a player and going forward. That's why I nixed the trade. And I bless Philly, I wished them nothing but the best. And they're going to be damn good next year, too. It wasn't the best move for Adam as a player going to free agency to go platoon in a position I wasn't playing."

Jones on whether he regrets not waiving no-trade: "No, not a bit. Why would I? If anyone can give me one reason why. There's no reason why."

Jones on whether his charities played into his decision: "Well, gaining a 10-5 allows you to go on your own terms. You have that right. It's just like gaining tenure at any other job. You gain tenure and you have the right to do things. People hate that you gain tenure. A lot of people hate on people who gain tenure.

"The charitable stuff, I know it's being announced now. This stuff has been in the works for months. My wife has had all of this stuff orchestrated for months. I think now it's the perfect time to put it out. It's good for the last weekend. I get all that stuff. But we've had all this stuff done for a while because we really wanted to get it moving and get it going. But when you don't control the funds and have to wait for the funds to come ... It's like your kid asks you for allowance. He gets it when you give it to him, right? And that's what we did and I guess we have our allowance for our programs.

"I'm glad that the groups now are getting the money and getting the opportunity to further the programs that we've talked about, so hopefully some players if I'm not here can pick up the slack for some of these programs because they are great programs. It's Baltimore helping Baltimore and Baltimore investing in Baltimore."

Jones on whether he has any regrets during his time in Baltimore: "Taking Lombard Street sometimes when I should have went around. I've done everything. I show up to work ready to play. I've done everything I can do. I still got a lot in the tank. There's a lot left in the tank. The oil got changed. There's a lot left in the tank."

Jones on whether anyone in the clubhouse can do his charitable work: "I think they all can. Being good between the lines enables that. If you're up and down between here and Triple-A, you can't plan anything. You don't know if you're going to be here. Me being good between the lines enabled us to be able to plan an event. It didn't matter what event, we were able to plan it during the season.

"Manny (Machado) plans his event, the bowling tournament. You can't plan that if you don't know if you're going to be in the big leagues. If you ain't good here, there's that. Hopefully, somebody can just take the reins between the lines and take over and become a really good player and involve themselves in the community."

Jones on whether he still thinks he's the coolest Oriole: "Oh, yeah, by far. Hand downs. My swag is through the roof. Swaggy T, though, is catching me, but my swag is still through the roof."

Audie Jones on the charitable donations: "Adam and I have always been passionate about social mobility. We used this money to make sure that it would go to organizations that do things to create that for people that are less fortunate. We are really excited to be able to do this and we went and visited all these organizations and were able to meet the kids and see where exactly the money was going to go and who it was going to help. It's really great and we are really excited we were able to do this.

"I'm born and raised from here, so obviously Baltimore has a special place in my heart. And Adam has been here so long, he's been able to get to know the community and meet people and make it like a second home for him. It was a no-brainer to do this, to have the opportunity to do this. I'm just really happy we could do this for Baltimore."

Audie Jones on whether it's been a tough season for her husband: "You know, he always stays positive and I'm really impressed with how positive he has stayed. We wanted to stay around because we did have so many charitable interests that we wanted to see through and make sure that they were followed through. We are happy that today we're going to be able to show all the hard work and time we have spent with these organizations and we're going to see finally the money is going to be dispersed. We're just really, really happy."

Update: George Springer hit a two-run homer off Bundy in the sixth inning and Carlos Correa homered on the next pitch to give Houston a 3-0 lead.

Update II: DJ Stewart hit a game-tying three-run homer off Joe Smith in the seventh.