Called on in first inning, Gabriel Ynoa pitches O's to 4-2 win

Given an unexpectedly big opportunity tonight by the Orioles, 23-year-old right-hander Gabriel Ynoa took it and ran with it.

Called on to pitch with just two outs in the top of the first, Ynoa got out of a two-on jam and then pitched scoreless ball into the seventh against the Chicago White Sox as the Orioles won 4-2 to start a five-game homestand.

The Orioles are 18-10 for the season, 9-3 at home and remain half-game behind the Yankees for first in the American League East.

Acquired for cash considerations Feb. 10 from the New York Mets, Ynoa replaced left-hander Wade Miley when he was smoked by not one, but two line drives hit by back-to-back batters in the first.

With two outs and none on in the frame, José Abreu and Avasaíl García hit liners for singles off Miley. The first ricocheted off his left forearm/wrist area and the second appeared to hit his left thigh and knocked him to the ground. Both left the bat at more than 100 mph. It was announced Miley left the game due to a left wrist contusion. He began the outing at 1-1 and his 2.32 ERA ranks 10th in the AL.

Ynoa came on in an emergency situation and had an excellent outing. He had just been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk yesterday. And while he pitched well his last game there (two runs over 6 1/3 innings), he had an ERA of 6.65 and average against of .361 for the Tides.

But tonight, Ynoa pitched six innings and gave up six hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He threw 101 pitches, 69 for strikes. His biggest jam came in the fifth when he allowed two straight two-out singles and had to face cleanup hitter Abreu. Ynoa struck him out on a slider, a pitch he used often tonight.

While he was warming up before the top of the sixth, athletic trainer Brian Ebel and manager Buck Showalter came out to look at Ynoa. It appeared he had a leg or hamstring issue, but stayed in the game. And then he retired Chicago batters in order, two on strikeouts. He had that kind of night in his first Orioles game.

Ynoa silenced a White Sox lineup that was averaging 5.9 runs per game over the last 11 games, during which Chicago went 8-3.

The losing pitcher was former Oriole Miguel González, who didn't get any run support while he was in and allowed just two runs over 6 2/3 innings to fall to 3-2 with a 3.18 ERA. The Sox are now 4-2 in his six starts.

González hit Jonathan Schoop after the Orioles loaded the bases in the first on singles by Seth Smith and Mark Trumbo sandwiched around a walk to Chris Davis. It was Schoop's 17th RBI.

The lead doubled to 2-0 when Davis homered to left-center in the third on a 2-2 slider. It was No. 4 for Davis and traveled 427 feet. He had gone 18 games without a homer and had just two RBIs since April 14. Davis had a three-hit night.

Chicago cut the lead to a run in the eighth on García's RBI groundout. But Darren O'Day, who replaced Stefan Crichton after a leadoff walk, stranded two runners as the O's took the lead to the ninth. The O's added two insurance runs in the eighth. Davis and Trumbo singled and both scored, the former on Joey Ricard's RBI double and the latter on an error by shortstop Tim Anderson.

Brach Brach, not Zach Britton, pitched the top of the ninth in a save situation and got the final three outs for his sixth save in seven chances, allowing a run on two hits.

In the second game of the series on Saturday night, Dylan Bundy (4-1, 1.82 ERA) faces Sox right-hander Dylan Covey (0-2, 7.29 ERA).