O's fall one run short in San Francisco, as Giants even series

The Orioles' unbeaten run on their road trip ended today with a one-run loss to San Francisco. The Giants scored three times in the sixth off Wei-Yin Chen to beat the Orioles 3-2. The O's fall to 3-1 on this trip and 64-52 overall. With a win, the O's would have moved to within a half-game of the second AL wild card spot. The Giants were down 1-0 when they came to bat in the sixth and Chen had retired 13 batters in a row, but they scored three times to get the lead. After a leadoff single and sac bunt, a Marco Scutaro RBI single tied the game 1-1. Later, after a double and intentional walk to Buster Posey, Hunter Pence drove a two-run double down the right-field line for a 3-1 lead. The O's cut that to 3-2 when Chris Davis hit a 448-foot homer to right center in the eighth. It was his 42nd homer and fifth in the last 10 games. The Orioles put runners on first and second with one out after that homer, but reliever Santiago Casilla then struck out Ryan Flaherty and pinch hitter Matt Wieters to end that threat. The Orioles had taken a 1-0 lead in the third on an Adam Jones sac fly. It scored Nate McLouth, who walked and went to third on an error. Chen went six innings, allowing five hits and three runs on 72 pitches before he was pulled for a pinch hitter. This was his sixth quality start in a row, but he takes the loss to fall to 6-5 with an ERA of 3.06. O's starters have recorded five consecutive quality starts, pitching to an ERA of 3.00 in that span. Today, they needed more offense, which did not come. They went 0-for-8 this afternoon with runners in scoring position after going 11-for-33 with RISP during a 3-0 start to this trip. The Orioles are now 9-3 this season when playing in California, 31-27 on the road and 8-5 against the National League. They are 5-6 all time against the Giants. In the series finale Sunday at 4:05 p.m., Bud Norris (2-0, 2.25 ERA) pitches for the Orioles against Matt Cain (7-7, 4.47 ERA).