Showalter on Jimenez, Davis and a 7-3 win

Chris Davis hit two home runs tonight and Ubaldo Jimenez worked seven innings.

Which one is more surprising?

I'll go with the latter, since Jimenez allowed two runs and four hits in the first inning. He also hit a batter and threw 25 pitches.

Jimenez retired 18 of the last 20 batters and won for the first time in the second half, and the Orioles won their fourth game in a row, defeating the Braves 7-3 before 28,592 at Camden Yards.

"I told Wally (Dave Wallace) after he was done, 'We could have made a little money there, him getting through seven,'" said manager Buck Showalter. "I was kidding him after his last outing, I asked him if he had changed his uniform because we had a different guy in there. I shook his hand after the seventh inning and said he was in the right uniform tonight.

"He was good. He actually got a little better as the game went on, I thought. He started to get a feel for starting the fastball a little bit off the plate and taking it to a corner instead of the middle."

Davis has five home runs and 12 RBIs in the last seven games. His 65 RBIs put him among the American League leaders. The night began with Toronto's Josh Donaldson and Kansas City's Kendrys Morales sharing the top spot with 68.

Asked about Davis being able to carry the Orioles, Showalter replied, "I don't use the word 'carry.' So many things have to happen to win a baseball game."

For example, Davis also made a leaping catch on the right field warning track and nearly doubled off the runner at first base.

"I was as happy, if you look at him involved in runs tonight, the catch that Chris made. You can add those runs on, too," Showalter said.

"Chris obviously had a big night offensively, but it's very hard to expect that type of production every night. Very quietly he snuck up on ... He's in the top five or 10 in RBIs in the American League. Very quietly, he's grinding out another solid year for us."

Davis is on pace for 39 home runs and 106 RBIs.

"That's a pretty good year," Showalter said. "I don't know if you expect that to continue, but sometimes you'll take it whenever it comes, whether it's bunches, because it was probably the difference in the ballgame tonight. That and Ubie."

Jimenez gave up two runs in the top of the first and Davis hit a three-run homer in the bottom half, as the Orioles answered right back. That was huge.

"I think it was," Showalter said. "I thought one of the big plays tonight was nobody getting doubled off on the (Adam Jones) line drive. That's a hard ball to read. At second base especially. Your first move is to go. It was two good baserunning plays that allowed that inning to continue and have a three-run homer instead of maybe nothing."

Wallace made an early visit to the mound, counseling Jimenez in the first inning. Jimenez didn't allow another hit after Jonny Gomes' single.

"He did tonight because he needed to," Showalter said. "Dave is as good a pitching coach as I've ever had and I'm not going to go over and ask him, 'What did you say?' I just trust him explicitly and stay out of his way. He knows he doesn't have to ask me about going to the mound. The only time I do that is when I'm trying to make sure a guy is ready. I might ask him to go for a long one as opposed to a short one."

Jimenez isn't the subject of trade rumors this summer, but Davis' name has surfaced in media reports.

"Not by us," Showalter said. "I understand this time of year. Chris gets it. If you're not a good player, your name's not floating around. We know how they slap stuff up against the wall and the one out of 50 they're right on, they go, 'I told you so.'

"Our guys don't live in that world. They really don't. They're experienced. They've been through trade deadlines and stuff. I like to feel like I've got a pretty good pulse on the players and the coaches when I'm out there. It's not a topic of conversation."

Showalter won't campaign for executive vice president Dan Duquette to bring in players from outside the organziation. He firmly believes that he can win with the current group.

"I'm going to feel that way," he said. "I'm always thinking best-case scenario. We know it's going to be a challenge, but we're competing, we're engaged and our guys will be as good as they're capable of being. I have a lot of confidence in that. We pitched well the last four or five games, and I like the moxie our guys have when the game is close."

Jimenez appeared in the first inning like he'd be part of a blowout loss, but the Orioles moved above .500 for the first time since July 19.

"In the last three or four years he's had strong second halves. Now he had a really strong first half. Go figure," Showalter said.

"He's in a good place mentally. He doesn't wallow around in self-pity. I think people really respected the way he came into camp this year. He's a guy, his teammates pull for him because he doesn't make excuses. He realizes the responsibility that comes with the commitment we made to him. We're getting a good return from it this year."

In the last five games, Orioles starters are 3-0 with a 1.56 ERA in 34 2/3 innings.