Chris Sale strikes out 12 as Chicago beats the Orioles

Well, the Orioles could not buy a run off Chris Sale.

When talented pitcher met struggling offense today at Camden Yards, the pitcher won out. Sale pitched 7 2/3 scoreless and fanned 12 as Chicago beat the Orioles 3-2 in Game 1 of a doubleheader.

Down 3-0 with two outs in the last of the ninth, Delmon Young singled off Zach Duke and then Chris Davis hit a two-run homer to right to make it a 3-2 game. It was Davis' 11th homer and third in two games. Prior to yesterday, he had three homers in his first 23 games in May.

But, Jake Petricka came on and got pinch-hitter Travis Snider looking at a called third strike to end the game.

Sale and O's rookie Tyler Wilson, making his first major league start, were locked in a pitchers' duel. Chicago finally broke through in the top of the sixth.

Wilson got through five scoreless innings on just 66 pitches. Adam Jones threw Adam LaRoche out trying to tag up and advance from second to third in the second. Then, Wilson pitched around a leadoff single and stolen base in the fifth.

But he walked Adam Eaton leading off the sixth, his only walk. Eaton would score on Melky Cabrera's double to left, and a LaRoche double to center scored Cabrera for the 2-0 lead. In the ninth, J. B. Shuck singled off Tommy Hunter and scored on Tyler Flowers fielder's choice groundout.

Wilson on the day: 6 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout.

He threw 86 pitches, 53 for strikes, and fell to 1-1 with an ERA of 3.38 in three major league appearances.

Sale struck out the side in the first and sixth. In fanning 12 without a walk, he reached double digit strikeouts for the third time this year and the 21st in his career, a franchise record. He has fanned 12 or more 11 times, the most in the majors since 2012.

Sale allowed four hits, all singles, and threw 120 pitches to improve to 4-2 with an ERA of 3.66. He entered this start with a career record of 0-2 and 5.06 ERA versus the Orioles in nine games.

Manny Machado slammed his bat to the ground after striking out in the eighth inning and was ejected by home plae umpire Toby Basner. It is Machado's third career ejection.

The Orioles fall to 21-24 and to 13-10 at home. They have scored two runs or less in nine of their past 17 games. They avoided a fourth shutout with that homer in the ninth.

In the second game of today's doubleheader, Mike Wright (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitches against right-hander Chris Beck, who is making his major league debut. He went 3-2 with a 3.30 ERA at Triple-A this year.