Davis hits No. 40, McLouth adds slam as O's top Seattle

The Orioles scored four runs in the first inning tonight and they were just getting started. Nate McLouth hit his first career grand slam and Chris Davis became the fifth Oriole to hit 40 homers as the O's beat Seattle 11-8 in a series-opening slugfest. The O's put up so much offense tonight that Chris Tillman matched his season high with six earned runs, but still got his 14th win, one off the major league lead. Davis crushed a pitch from Aaron Harang 442 feet onto Eutaw Street in the third and joined Brady Anderson (50 in 1996), Frank Robinson (49 in 1966), Jim Gentile (46 in 1961) and Rafael Palmeiro (43 in 1998) as the only Orioles ever to hit 40 or more homers in a season. It was his third homer in four games after he went a season-high 10 consecutive games without one. McLouth went into last night's game with just two RBIs over his previous 24 games, but now has six over the last two games. He had been 0-for-12 this season with the bases loaded until connecting off Brandon Mauer in the sixth. After scoring just 19 runs over an eight-game stretch, the O's have scored 17 the last two nights. Tillman gave up eight hits and six runs over 5 1/3 innings, throwing 102 pitches. He is now 14-3 with a 3.89 ERA. That is one win behind the MLB leader, Detroit's Max Scherzer. Tillman improved to 5-0 in five career starts against his former club. Adam Jones tied his season high with a three-RBI night and Ryan Flaherty went 3-for-4 with a double and solo homer, his seventh. The Orioles scored so much tonight that Seattle hit four of the game's seven homers - two in the eight off Francisco Rodriguez - but still lost for the seventh time in a row at Camden Yards. The Orioles improved to 33-23 at home, 2-0 in August, 19-9 vs. the AL West and 61-49 overall.