O's offense shut down as Tribe wins 4-1 over John Means

CLEVELAND - For just the second time in his seven starts with the Orioles, left-hander John Means allowed more than one earned run. He didn't pitch badly, but he could have used more run support.

After scoring 12 runs on 20 hits in the first two games of this series, the Baltimore offense was held in check today as Cleveland beat the Orioles 4-1 in front of 25,652 at Progressive Field.

The Orioles were held to one hit by right-hander Adam Plutko and three relievers. They went 1-for-28 and, save for a homer, didn't have a runner reach second until the eighth inning.

The Orioles are 1-2 in this series, 1-4 on this road trip and 15-30 for the season. Cleveland is 24-20 overall and 13-4 versus Baltimore since the start of 2017.

Means, who had allowed exactly one earned run in five of his first six starts, today went five innings on 94 pitches. He allowed five hits and three runs with three walks and one strikeout. He falls to 5-4 with an ERA of 2.68.

The teams went to the fourth inning in a 0-0 game, then traded homers and Cleveland had a 2-1 lead heading to the fifth.

Trey Mancini, serving as the DH today, gave the Orioles their only hit when he lined a 1-0 changeup just over the wall in left. It was homer No. 10 for Mancini, who has hit three in his last five games and four over his past eight contests. He drove that pitch with an exit velocity of 110.6 mph and it went 384 feet for the game's first run.

But the lead didn't hold through the home fourth.

Means had not allowed a hit through 3 1/3 innings when Carlos Santana drilled a double to left-center. Batting next, right fielder Jordan Luplow hit a hanging curveball out to left for a 2-1 lead. Means threw the 2-1 pitch middle-middle and Luplow hit No. 5. Luplow began this game batting .321 with an OPS of 1.228 versus left-handed pitching.

An inning later the Tribe added on. Batting ninth Oscar Mercado doubled for his first major league hit and scored on Francisco Lindor's single for a 3-1 edge. Means got out of a bases-loaded mess there with an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. First baseman Chris Davis made an excellent scoop on the back end of that play.

The Orioles had scored just 15 runs in the six games previous to the start of this series and didn't get it going on offense today. They are 4-24 when scoring four or fewer runs.

Plutko allowed just the one hit over six innings and 83 pitches. Closer Brad Hand, now 12-for-12 in saves, got the last four outs and pitched out of a two-on, two-out situation in the eighth.

In the wrap-up game of this four-game set on Sunday, right-hander Yefry Ramirez (0-1, 5.14 ERA) gets the start versus Cleveland right-hander Shane Bieber (2-2, 3.81 ERA) at 1:10 p.m.