O's use early homers to back McFarland and beat Texas 8-3

In his second major league start, T.J. McFarland went five innings to get the win, and for the second night in a row, the O's starter got plenty of early run support. The Orioles hit three homers in the first two innings on their way to an 8-3 win over Texas tonight at Camden Yards. They've taken the first two of this four-game series. The Orioles improved to 44-39 and stay one game back of first-place Toronto, who beat Milwaukee this afternoon. For the second night in a row, the Orioles hit two homers in the first inning. Steve Pearce hit a solo shot down the line off the left-field foul pole for a 1-0 lead and Nelson Cruz made it 2-0 two batters later. It was No. 10 for Pearce, his third in two nights, and No. 26 for Cruz who homered on his 34th birthday. An inning later, Caleb Joseph hit a two-run shot for a 4-2 lead. The Orioles added four runs in the fourth to lead 8-2. That inning featured a key bases-loaded error by shortstop Elvis Andrus that might have ended the inning and prevented any runs. But the O's went on to get one on that error, two on a bases-loaded double by Nick Markakis and one on Pearce's sac fly. Pearce has six homers and 15 RBIs over his last 13 games. The Orioles led the majors with 46 homers in June, and they start July with three more. They have now hit 13 in the last five games and 25 in their past 11 games. McFarland went five innings and gave up seven hits and two runs with no walks and two strikeouts, throwing 68 pitches. He is now 1-1 with an ERA of 2.84. The Orioles are 4-1 against Texas, and they have scored 35 runs in those five games, hitting 13 homers against Rangers pitching. They hit seven homers in 10 innings against Texas starters the last two nights, with four off Joe Saunders on Monday and three tonight against Nick Martinez. The O's are now 5-4 on this 11-game homestand and 21-21 at home for the season. They have won nine of their last 14 games and are 18-12 (.600) over their past 30 games. In the third game of the series on Wednesday night, Chris Tillman (7-4, 4.18 ERA) faces right-hander Nick Tepesch (3-3, 3.65 ERA).