Tillman can't clear the fifth

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

April 07, 2011, 4:42pm

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Alex Avila has struck again. Get this guy out of town. Avila homered and drove in five runs last night, and his solo homer tonight broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning. Keep in mind that Avila had one RBI before last night. A two-out double by Brennan Boesch scored Will Rhymes, who walked, and knocked Chris Tillman out of the game. Tillman threw 97 pitches, 59 for strikes, in 4 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs and six hits, with two walks and four strikeouts. His fastball stayed in that 86-89 mph range. Jeremy Accardo began to warm in the bullpen - at least somebody is warm - after Rhymes walked. Boesch followed with a double into right-center field, and manager Buck Showalter had seen enough. The Orioles had to figure it would be a short night for Tillman after he threw 32 pitches in the first inning. He retired 10 of 11 batters before Avila's homer, raising hope that he could clear the fifth. It didn't happen. We don't expect to find out why shortstop J.J. Hardy was scratched from the lineup until after the game.