O's offense slowed again as A's win big in doubleheader opener

A team struggling to score runs faced a hot pitcher. It was not a good combination today for the Orioles. They lost Game 1 of the split doubleheader 8-4 to Oakland and left-hander Rich Hill.

The Orioles had scored just two runs their previous 30 innings until they scored three in the ninth today. The Orioles fall to 16-12 overall and 11-5 at home. Oakland ended a four-game losing streak, improving to 14-16. Oakland had lost nine of 12 games before this win.

Hill had pitched to an ERA of 1.42 over his previous three starts and the Orioles did little against him this afternoon. Over 5 2/3 innings, he gave up two hits and one run to improve to 4-3 with an ERA of 2.39. In 12 career appearances (two starts) against Baltimore, the one-time Oriole is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.83 over 21 2/3 innings.

Oakland hit four mostly well-placed singles around a double-play ball to take a 1-0 lead in the second off right-hander Mike Wright. No. 9 hitter Marcus Semien singled in that run. The A's made it 2-0 an inning later. Jed Lowrie led off with a single, advanced to second on a bunt and moved to third and home on fly outs for the 2-0 lead as Stephen Vogt came up with the sac fly. Josh Reddick's booming RBI double to center in the fifth extended Oakland's lead to 3-0.

Oakland added three in the sixth - two on Jed Lowrie's two-run single off Dylan Bundy - to take a 6-0 lead. Marcus Semien's two-run homer in the eighth off Brian Matusz completed their scoring. Semien drove in three, and the bottom three batters in Oakland's lineup scored six runs.

Wright gave up several seeing-eye and/or soft hits and allowed 10 hits and five runs (four earned) over five innings plus two batters. He threw 97 pitches and is now 1-3 with an ERA of 5.52.

The Orioles had scored just one run their last 27 innings when they came up in the sixth and got another one. Manny Machado singled to lead the inning and later scored on an Adam Jones fielder's choice grounder, his eighth RBI. Machado went 2-for-4 and is batting .348.

The O's added three runs in the ninth on Joey Rickard's RBI infield single, which gave him a two-hit game. Pedro Alvarez added a two-run double.

Now the clubs will play the nightcap of this doubleheader tonight at 7:05 p.m. Ubaldo Jimenez (1-3, 5.20 ERA) gets the start for the Orioles against Oakland right-hander Jesse Hahn (1-0, 0.00 ERA).