Nelson Cruz homers twice, but O's lose series finale at Milwaukee

Nelson Cruz put on a homer display and the Orioles rallied again, but this time came up short. Up by just one late in the game, Milwaukee scored four times in the eighth to pull away for an 8-3 win over the Orioles at Miller Park. The Brewers took two of three in the series and the Orioles lost for the seventh time in the last 11 games to fall to 26-25 as their three-city road trip now heads to Houston. O's pitching has allowed 63 runs the last 10 games, allowing eight runs or more five times. Bud Norris had early control issues as the Brewers led 4-1 after three innings. Norris walked two in the first and Carlos Gomez singled in the game's first run. Ryan Braun came up with a two-run double in the second. Norris hit Gomez leading off the third. Gomez later scored on a sac fly. The Orioles have been outscored 106-86 in the first four innings. Cruz hit his 18th homer off Yovani Gallardo on a 1-1 pitch in the second and his 19th on the first pitch of the sixth. Cruz has hit seven homers in his last nine games, nine in the last 14 and has 17 over his past 35 games. Last year, Chris Davis hit his 19th homer in his 52nd game. Tonight, Cruz hit his 19th in his 50th game. Cruz has 12 homers in May, his most ever in a month. Manny Machado's RBI single pulled the O's to within 4-3 in the seventh, but Davis struck out with runners on second and third with two outs. In the last of the eighth, Milwaukee got an RBI single by Rickie Weeks and a three-run homer from Khris Davis off Brian Matusz. Norris took the loss, giving up five hits and four runs over six innings. He threw 111 pitches and is now 3-5 with an ERA of 4.04. So after their stirring comeback win on Monday afternoon, the Orioles lost the last two games of the series in Milwaukee. Now it's on to Houston for a four-game series. The Astros have won five in a row. In the series opener on Thursday night, Ubaldo Jimenez (2-6, 4.98 ERA) faces right-hander Brad Peacock (1-4, 5.20 ERA).