Ubaldo Jimenez pitches eight scoreless innings as the O's top the Angels

After pitching to an ERA of 10.61 over his last four starts, Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez hit the first batter he faced tonight. But it got a lot better for him from there. Jimenez did not allow a hit until Cole Calhoun doubled with two outs in the sixth as the Orioles blanked Los Angeles 5-0 to even this series at a win each.

With the win, the Orioles improved to 56-53. They have won 10 of 14 games and are now five games back of first-place New York and two games behind the Angels for the American League's second wild card berth.

Jimenez gave up just two hits over eight scoreless innings. He walked one and fanned six to improve to 9-7 with an ERA of 3.79. This was a big turnaround for Jimenez after he allowed 22 runs in 18 2/3 in four second-half starts. He was also 0-5 with a 5.34 ERA in five career starts versus the Angels.

But today, he was in charge and he needed this outing. So did the O's rotation, which had pitched to an ERA of 7.07 over the last eight games. Jimenez tied his season high going eight innings and set a season high throwing 118 pitches.

Darren O'Day pitched the ninth and allowed three hits, but still was able to complete the Orioles ninth shutout of 2015. Mike Trout tried to score on a fly ball to center, but was thrown out at the plate by Adam Jones. Trout was initially ruled safe, but the call was overturned on a replay review.

In the second inning, the Orioles had a 1-0 lead erased after a replay review. J.J. Hardy doubled to right-center and Jonathan Schoop scored from first. But the review showed that on his slide at home, Schoop's left leg was elevated and missed the plate, and he was tagged before his right leg touched home.

An inning later, the Orioles did get a 1-0 lead. Adam Jones plated Manny Machado on a fielder's choice grounder for his 57th RBI. In the fifth, Machado blasted a solo homer for a 2-0 lead. He hit No. 24 on a 3-2 slider. He hit his previous career high of 14 homers in 667 at-bats in 2013. He hit his 24th this year in his 421nd at-bat. The O's made it 3-0 in the sixth. Chris Davis led off with a double, reached third on an error and scored on Schoop's sac fly.

Schoop added a second sac fly for a 4-0 lead in the eighth. It scored Davis again. This time he singled, stole his first base of the year and went to third on a Matt Wieters single. Caleb Joseph's solo homer in the ninth made it 5-0 and was Joseph's 10th home run.

Machado went 4-for-5 with three singles and the homer. His first four-hit game of 2015 raised his average to .300 and was his 36th multi-hit game of the year. Machado is 7-for-10 in this series.

In the series finale at Anaheim on Sunday afternoon, Miguel Gonzalez (9-8, 4.32 ERA) pitches against Los Angeles right-hander Jered Weaver (4-8, 4.75 ERA).