O's use Britton and longball combo to top the Angels

Zach Britton had given up eight runs in 10 innings over his last two starts, but tonight the rookie lefty had an excellent outing against the Los Angeles Angels, pitching the Orioles to a 6-2 win at Camden Yards. Britton took a no-hitter into the fifth and gave up just three hits and one run over seven innings. He improves to 10-10 with an ERA of 4.28 after his 105-pitch outing. Britton walked two and fanned a career-high seven batters. That makes four straight games where the Orioles' starter has pitched exactly seven innings. In those games, the starters' ERA is 1.61 allowing 19 hits and five runs over 28 innings. The Orioles, who had been outscored 107-50 this year in the first inning, took a 5-0 lead in the first tonight. After Matt Angle led off with a walk, J.J. Hardy hit a two-run homer to left. It is his 27th of the year to set a new career high. Hardy has 27 this year in 118 games. He hit 26 for Milwaukee in 2007 in 151 games. Five batters later, Mark Reynolds hit a three-run homer to left for a 5-0 lead. It was number 34 for Reynolds. That ties him with Miguel Tejada (from 2004) for most homers by an Oriole in the 2000s. In the third inning, Reynolds was hit by a pitch in the helmet. He stayed in the game then, but was replaced when the Orioles took the field in the top of the fifth. With the win, the Orioles have won four in a row and seven of their past 10 games. They are 15-11 over their last 26 games and 62-88 on the season and go for a sweep of the Angels here on Sunday afternoon.