Jones not ready for scoreboard watching (Orioles lose 4-3)

DETROIT - With the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox playing each other this weekend while the Orioles face the Tigers, there is some scoreboard watching to do.

Not to mention the fact that five teams are within 4 1/2 games of the Orioles for the second American League wild card spot. The September races in the AL are wild indeed.

While there is plenty of scoreboard watching for fans to do, center fielder Adam Jones said the O's players should not be doing that.

"Can't look too far," Jones said in the visiting clubhouse this afternoon. "For our division and for the (wild card) playoff spot, there are six or seven teams competing. If we sit there every other pitch looking at the scoreboard, we'll get distracted from our goal. So worry about our stuff. Worry about what the Orioles are doing and after the game we can worry about what other people are doing."

Detroit gets early lead: As for tonight's game, Detroit got an early lead against Kevin Gausman and the Orioles in the last of the second.

J.D. Martinez singled to right with one out and advanced to second on a two-out walk to James McCann. Erick Aybar then drove one into right field for an RBI double and 1-0 lead. But batting ninth, shortstop Jose Iglesias lined out to first to end that threat and Detroit left two runners in scoring position.

Gausman's scoreless innings streak ended at 20. Over his previous three starts, he threw 19 scoreless on 15 hits with four walks and 19 strikeouts.

Tigers starter Michael Fulmer kept the O's scoreless in their first three at-bats. But he needed help from left fielder Justin Upton to end the top of the third. Hyun Soo Kim drove a 3-2 pitch to the top of the wall and Upton reached over the wall for the catch and third out. Fulmer needed 33 pitches to get the first nine outs.

Detroit looked poised for a big inning in the third, but Gausman pitched out of a first-and-third, no-outs jam. Singles by Ian Kinsler and Cameron Maybin started the frame, putting runners on the corners. Gausman then struck out Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez hit a fly ball to right that resulted in a 9-2 double play. Mark Trumbo made the catch and a strong throw without a bounce to home, where Matt Wieters applied the tag on Kinsler to end the inning.

The Orioles got their first hit - a Jones infield single - but he was stranded at second to end the fourth frame with Fulmer at 51 pitches.

Now a 3-2 Detroit lead: Gausman could not wriggle out of yet another jam, allowing a two-out, two-run single to J.D. Martinez in the last of the fifth as Detroit led 3-0. Gausman fanned Justin Upton to end that inning at 104 pitches.

Down by three, Jonathan Schoop's two-run homer cut the Detroit lead to 3-2 in the top of sixth. Schoop hit an 0-1 slider to get the Orioles on the board against Fulmer. It scored Jones, who had walked. Schoop had just three hits his last 25 at-bats before connecting for a 397-foot homer to left. So it's a one-run game with Gausman back on the mound for the last of the sixth.

Gausman goes six: It was a battling effort tonight from Gausman who went six innings allowing seven hits and three runs with two walks and seven strikeouts. He threw 114 pitches, two off a career high. His scoreless streak ended but his ERA is 1.08 his last four starts.

Fulmer was replaced by Alex Wilson to start the top of the eighth. Over seven innings, he allowed three hits and two runs on 103 pitches and he is in line for a win. His ERA is now 2.76.

He won't get that win: Jones lined a single to left off Wilson, scoring pinch-runner Michael Bourn in the eighth and this game is tied 3-3. Hyun Soo Kim doubled to left and Bourne ran for him. Jones singled and we're tied.

O's lose series opener 4-3: After the Detroit bullpen could not hold a 3-2 lead, the Orioles bullpen could not hold a 3-3 tie.

Right-hander Brad Brach came on to pitch in the last of the eighth and Victor Martinez greeted him with a homer to right-center. That broke a 3-3 tie and gave Detroit a 4-3 lead and win in the series opener in front of 32,140 at Comerica Park.

Martinez hammed a 96 mph fastball over the wall on a 2-2 pitch for his 24th homer. Brach, who has an ERA of 3.72 since the All-Star break, has allowed three homers his last nine games. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth to earn his 40th save, tying Zach Britton for the AL lead.

The Orioles fall to 76-64 and the Tigers, with an identical record, tie them for the second AL wild card spot.

Check back later for another entry with postgame quotes.