Lee and Markakis with early RBIs for the Orioles

Nick Markakis and Derrek Lee tried to quiet their critics with RBIs in the early innings tonight at Kansas City. The Orioles lead 2-1 in the third inning. Lee's sac fly in the first scored Brian Roberts, who had doubled and advanced to third on a fly ball. It was Lee's seventh RBI on the year and his fifth over the past seven games. Markakis had an RBI single in the second which, at that point, gave the O's a 2-0 lead. He entered tonight with just three RBIs over his last 17 games and in a 12-for-70 slump over those 17 contests. Jake Arrieta gave up a run in the second inning when he threw a whopping 35 pitches. He is 2-0 with an ERA of 3.18 over his last three starts and is 3-0 with an ERA of 2.12 this year versus American League Central teams with wins over the Twins, Tigers and White Sox. In the minors this afternoon, Single-A Frederick beat Winston-Salem 9-3 as LJ Joes went 5-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI. He is the first Keys player to have a five-hit game since Bobby Stevens on May 10, 2009. Hoes' bat is heating up. Over his last six games, he is 12-for-27 with two homers and eight RBIs as his average has increased from .191 to .263. Miguel Abreu hit a grand slam for Frederick today. It's the first in the regular season by the Keys since last April 25 when Ronnie Welty did it.