Power and 'pen lead Orioles to 6-3 win (with Showalter quotes)

This wasn't the Cincinnati version of Ubaldo Jiménez tonight. Different opponent, city, weather and result.

These were the same Orioles with a deep bullpen and power throughout the lineup.

Vidal Nuño relieved Jiménez with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, got two strikeouts to limit the damage and tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Hyun Soo Kim and Jonathan Schoop hit back-to-back home runs with two outs in the sixth to tie the game and Adam Jones launched a two-run shot in the seventh to give the Orioles their first lead.

The bullpen turned in 5 2/3 scoreless innings behind Jiménez and the Orioles defeated the Rays 6-3 before some really brave and hearty souls at Camden Yards.

The game was halted with Welington Castillo on third base and no outs in the bottom of the eighth as the rain intensified and the tarp was unrolled. The delay lasted 19 minutes.

Schoop lifted a sacrifice fly to center field off Chih-Wei Hu, making his major league debut. I'm sure someone promised him a dome.

The Orioles (13-5) have gone back-to-back three times this season, the other two combination platters served by Trey Mancini and Schoop. Kim hadn't homered before tonight. Chris Archer hadn't allowed a home run in his first four starts.

Jones collected his 1,500th career hit with a single off the out-of-town scoreboard in right field in the fifth inning. He also doubled and walked before reaching the milestone.

He reached the left field seats in the seventh after Archer hit Seth Smith, whose return to the lineup and leadoff spot also produced a double and walk.

Jiménez allowed three runs and three hits in 3 1/3 innings. Corey Dickerson homered on Jiménez's fifth pitch of the game, but the bigger frustration was the five walks, including four in the fourth before manager Buck Showalter lost patience.

Jiménez threw only 35 strikes among his 78 pitches. His lack of control on a cold and rainy night told the story and proved a huge disappointment after he shut out the Reds on two hits over 7 2/3 innings in his last start.

The Jiménez rollercoaster took another wicked dip.

Mychal Givens struck out Tim Beckham to strand two in the seventh and keep the score tied. He retired the first two batters in the eighth, striking out Peter Bourjos, and Donnie Hart struck out pinch-hitter Rickie Weeks.

Brad Brach worked the ninth for his fourth save, this one requiring that he face four batters. Givens is 3-0 this month and 13-2 in 96 major league games.

Jiménez was spared the loss, providing another reminder about the insignificance of a pitcher's won-loss record. And shouldn't Nuño also get a save for getting out of that jam and shutting out the Rays?

If I were king.

Outfielder Joey Rickard was 1-for-4 with a run scored at Single-A Delmarva.

Check back later for Showalter quotes if I can thaw out my fingers.

Showalter on the bullpen and other observations: "I think Nuño's outing was the key to the game. Came in a tough spot and got us out of it and kept us engaged in the game. Tough conditions to pitch in, too. Grip the baseball. That's one of our best wins this year. Talking to the team before the game. Tough series over the weekend, you come here tonight and you know it's going to be cold and nasty. A lot of people probably look at the weather and not come. We were going to have to really be ready to play and our guys were.

"I was really proud of them tonight. That's a tough game to win and our guys figured out a way. That was impressive."

On whether the weather hurt Jiménez in fourth: "It could be. He was struggling with his command. We walked seven guys tonight. You don't win many games walking seven. But it was disappointing. Hoping he would kind of build on his last outing, but it was tough conditions for everybody."

On Jones: "I'm continuing and I hope everybody knows ... watching how ready he was to play. He's always on. He loves to compete. That's one thing Jim Leyland was telling me during the WBC. He didn't realize. He said this guy was so engaged in the competition and winning and I think that's the thing. Adam is always on and our guys feed off that."

On whether he knew Jones reached 1,500 hits: "I didn't until I saw it up there. There's so many things that guys are starting to, guys that have been around a while like Adam are starting to show up on some impressive leader boards, so to speak. Pretty good group."

On Shane Peterson's disputed two-run double down the right field line: "I'm obviously in the replay room and after seeing the replay after they said to challenge it, they thought it was foul, I knew the probably wouldn't overturn it, though if you walk down there and ... Ask me in a couple days. I want to give it another series.

"You wish you had a little better camera angle up top but Seth was pretty adamant about there being a mark completely away from the line. A set of eyes three feet away are probably better than camera angles."

On club stepping up: "We talk about fair or foul, but Nuño came in and made that not matter. There are so many elements there. It really makes me feel good about the club we have when you see them not giving into the elements and different stuff. That's a challenge. There are a lot of different atmospheres and settings you have to play in over a major league season.

"Those RBIs with no outs, a man on third. Picking up those RBIs gives Brad a little breathing room."

More on Jiménez: "He was trying to maneuver the ball around the strike zone and he just wasn't able to do it. He never got comfortable. It's tough, he's got 78-80 pitches in 3 1/3. I felt like there was a game there to be won and I thought it was a good spot for Nuño.

"If we didn't have an off-day I might look at it differently. I didn't get a feeling like it was going to be corrected and we're playing a baseball game we're trying to win."

On Rickard: "He went 1-4. Sharp single to center, groundout to third, scored a run. Got hit on the wrist/hand, but he's fine. Trying to figure out where he's playing tomorrow."

On Orioles being 4-0 in Jiménez's starts: "Sitting out there in that cold and wind and rain and walking a lot of people, that's a real challenge. That's why I'm proud of this game as any game we've played because that tells you what kind of ballclub you've got a chance to have, when you fight your way through that. In the dugout, there's Adam acting like it's a 70 degrees, a sunny day on Sunday with a full house. That's what separates him from a lot of people."