Hardy wins long battle with Urias, O's get lead (Dodgers win 7-5)

LOS ANGELES - Looking to snap a four-game losing streak, the Orioles got the jump on the Los Angeles Dodgers and their talented young left-hander tonight.

After 19-year-old Julio Urias retired the Orioles on just 10 pitches in the top of the first, they worked him for three runs as he needed 41 pitches to get three outs in the second inning.

That frame started with a Mark Trumbo single and a Chris Davis walk. Matt Wieters lined to right and both runners moved up. Shortstop J.J. Hardy then worked the count full and lined a 3-2 pitch in the gap in right center for a two-run double and 2-0 lead. Hardy hit a 95 mph fastball on the 10th pitch of the at-bat. With two outs, pitcher Yovani Gallardo drew a walk. That was important as it got Adam Jones to the plate. His single to center produced his 52nd RBI and a 3-0 lead.

Over the last four games, four Dodgers starting pitchers had combined to allow just one run over 23 innings for an ERA of 0.39. The O's tripled that total in the second inning.

Los Angeles quickly cut into that deficit. Yaisel Puig and Yasmani Grandal hit back-to-back homers to start the Los Angeles second inning. It is the first back-to-back homers for the team this year. Puig hit seventh on a 1-0 curveball. Grandal hit his ninth on a 2-2 slider off Gallardo.

O's pitchers allowed 10 homers in the series in Seattle and that is 12 given up over the last five games.

The Orioles are 47-34 overall, 16-21 on the road and 2-4 on this road trip. Los Angeles has won four in a row, six of seven and 14 of its past 19 games. The Dodgers have won nine games in a row and 17 of 20 at home. Their nine-game streak is their longest home win streak since 13 in a row from April 13-May 6, 2009.

O's add to lead: The Orioles scored two more runs and knocked Urias out of this game in the fourth inning. Wieters led off with a single and moved to third on Hardy's second double of the game. Joey Rickard's line drive single to left plated both runnners for the 5-2 lead.

Urias was replaced after just 3 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and five runs. He threw 75 pitches and Louis Coleman, a right-hander, replaced him. This was the second shortest of Urias' eight major league starts. He went just 2 2/3 innings in his debut on May 27.

Gallardo goes just four: The Dodgers pulled to within 5-4 on RBI singles in the fourth by Chase Utley and Corey Seager. Seager, a strong NL Rookie of the Year candidate, has a 17-game hitting streak, longest in the NL this year.

Mychal Givens came on to pitch in the last of the fifth. Gallardo goes just four innings on 95 pitches, allowing six hits and four runs with three walks and five strikeouts. O's starters have pitched just 22 innings the past five games allowing 25 runs.

Fit to be tied: Now this game is tied 5-5. Against Odrisamer Despaigne in the sixth, Will Venable after reaching on a fielder's, advanced to second on a balk. He scored on Chase Utley's single. The Dodgers have come from three runs behind twice to tie this game.

O's now trail: For the first time tonight, Los Angeles has the lead. Seager led off the seventh with triple and scored on Justin Turner's sac fly to put the Dodgers ahead 6-5 in the eighth.

O's lose series opener: The Dodgers run their home winning streak to 10 games tonight, beating the Orioles 7-5 in front of 47,378 at Dodger Stadium. The Orioles got another short start - this time just four innings from Gallardo - and fell two runs short.

They fall to 47-35 and have lost a season-high five in a row. Their American League East lead is down to two games over Boston. O's starting pitchers have allowed 25 runs in 22 innings during the losing streak. They've pitched five or fewer innings in seven of nine and 14 of the past 22 games.

An entry with clubhouse quotes is still to come tonight.