Wrapping up an 11-5 win

MINNEAPOLIS - The fire alarm didn't sound at Target Field today. It only looked like a drill as the Orioles rushed to get out of the ballpark and catch their flights home for the All-Star break.

Stragglers were in danger of being left behind.

The Orioles ended the first half with two consecutive wins, including today's 11-5 romp over the Twins to leave them 42-46 and in fourth place in the American League East, 7 1/2 games behind the first-place Red Sox and four out of the wild card.

"It's been obviously a challenge," said manager Buck Showalter, whose club closed the half with series in St. Petersburg, Fla., Toronto, Baltimore for three games, Milwaukee and Minnesota. "This is our fifth city counting Baltimore and our guys have come out with these two day games against a really good club and finished playing two really good baseball games. That's encouraging.

"And these guys, I hope they get far away from it and kind of recharge the batteries a little bit. It's been a challenging two weeks for us."

The formula that's been missing returned again today. The starter, in this case Ubaldo Jiménez, was good enough to get through five innings and survive a serious squeezing from plate umpire Lance Barrett. Contributions were made throughout the lineup, with Adam Jones homering twice. The defense was good except for Rubén Tejada's error in the eighth. The bullpen was exceptional, with Richard Bleier allowing an unearned run in 2 2/3 innings and Zach Britton dominating in the ninth.

"I thought our guys had a lot of want-to today," Showalter said. "They jumped out early and kept going after it. You could tell they wanted to end on a good note.

"Jon (Schoop), wishing him well at the All-Star Game. He's a very deserving representative for us. Tejada had a big day offensively and the runs that were there for us to score, we took advantage of. A lot of times you leave those out there. A lot of good, professional at-bats."

Bleier threw 29 of 34 pitches for strikes and lowered his ERA to 1.48 in 30 1/3 innings.

"That's one of the things that was attractive about him when he was available was his ability to defend himself against right and left, and also give us multiple innings," Showalter said. "That's unusual to have that. It's one of the things that (T.J.) McFarland when he was with us. He's also shown the ability to pitch in shorter roles, too."

Britton's third appearance since coming off the disabled easily was his best. He retired the side in order with two ground balls and a strikeout.

"That was one of the most encouraging things about today," Showalter said. "Warming up we noticed it. Just a better feel. It's important. He needs to pitch. He's been pitching every other day. He's going to throw Tuesday at Camden Yards and a light one on Thursday and get back at it. If we can get him back in the picture that would be big for us."

Said Jones: "What'd he throw, a few pitches and 1-2-3? That's what a closer is supposed to do."

Jones was one of the last players to leave the clubhouse as his teammates raced out the door, some of them sharing rides to the airport and flights back home.

"The break is good so everybody can get away from this game mentally and come back with one goal in mind and that's to win games," Jones said.

Winning the last two meant a lot to a club that's been in a freefall.

"Yeah, especially after the way this series started off, and then we got a nice performance yesterday, and to end it on splitting the series and winning two to end the first half is really big," said catcher Caleb Joseph, who had three hits and three RBIs.

"We know what we have to do and the last two days, we've been able to do it. Our offense has padded some cushion for the pitchers and they've come out and responded well. It's four days off, so momentum as Buck says is only as good as your next starter. Of course, you feel better leaving this place after a W than after a loss. That's for sure."

Joseph now has 17 RBIs after being shut out in 2016.

"Seventeen times zero," he said, smiling. "I mean, you want to try to do more, obviously. You're never satisfied as a player, so to get those two (in the fifth), even if it was a cue shot right in the Bermuda Triangle, you'll take them because I went a whole season without getting one of those last year. But feeling better, feeling good, feeling confident. Just trying to keep seeing the ball well and putting good swings on it."

Jiménez retired seven batters in a row after allowing four runs in the second inning. He hit a batter and walked three while trying to figure out Barrett's strike zone.

"I thought Ubaldo was good," Showalter said. "For obvious reasons he deserved a better fate. We were hunting balls today for both sides. It was a challenge for him. You don't ever see him get that frustrated with it. That was a game he deserved to win.

"And Richard has done a really good job for us here in the last month. He's really stepped forward in a time of need. We knew in this park ... they're a good team and you better stay on top of them or they'll slip back in the game."

Jiménez, who hasn't been told whether he's starting Sunday, checked the tape to make sure he wasn't imagining that his pitches were better than the calls he received.

"We were watching videos and all those pitches were in the strike zone," he said. "I don't know what happened. I respect what the umpires do out there, because it's just like us, they're trying to do the best they can. But that inning, I think it was too many times.

"It's tough. When you're throwing pitches right down the middle and they're not being called strikes, you have no way out. You have to throw the ball where the hitters can't hit it, but it's a part of the game. I know he's trying to do his best out there, but he just had a tough day.

"I felt good that I was able to go out there. It was all about the guys. They all gave me a chance to do that. We put up five runs, so I just had to go back and concentrate on throwing strikes."

Said Joseph: "Unable to get the low call and that really hurt him that inning. He threw quite a few quality pitches. But he was consistent with it throughout the rest of the inning and throughout the rest of the day. So, sometimes you have to work around that. And I thought when he came back out for the next inning, he worked around it. You have to do that.

"It wasn't just him. Their guy (Kyle Gibson) wasn't getting some of the low pitches, too, so you have to adjust, and I thought (Jimenez) did a really nice job of adjusting and put up some zeros for us and we were able to add on after that."

The Orioles staked Jiménez to a 3-0 lead after the first and a 5-0 lead after the second. The scored four in the fifth after the Twins drew to within 5-4 and two more in the eighth.

"The momentum was for them that inning, but the guys, they didn't give up," Jiménez said. "They kept swinging the bat and they put a lot of runs on the scoreboard."

"They did it to us twice out of the three games," Joseph said. "They kept coming at us, kept charging. They have a hungry lineup over there. When you smell blood you just have to get in there and do your best to keep tacking on runs. And that's what we did. That's part of the reason why we won the game.

"Our pitching really held up toward the back end. Rich did a really nice job throwing 2 2/3. That was really big for us. Zach came in and did a really nice job. But the tack-on runs, those are the nails in the coffin that kind of put the game away."

Jones jumped on the first pitch he saw from Gibson in the first inning and drove it into the second deck behind the bullpens in left-center field.

"I think you can look and see," he said. "It was a slider up and I'm not going to take that too often."

The Orioles were 51-36 at the break last season. Their 42-46 mark this summer is an obvious concern, but it's funny how a couple of wins at the end can bring some comfort. Especially the manner in which they were achieved.

"It's always a good thing going into a break or a day off with a win," Jones said. "The last two games we played really good baseball. We've got some days off and hopefully we can mentally just get away from this game, mentally put behind us the last two months of baseball and come out the second half blazing saddles ready to attack this East, because it's not going to get any easier and I think all the guys understand that. Let's go do what we have to do.

"Our style is the pitcher attacks the zone, our defense plays well behind him and we get some longballs. And the last two games, actually this series, we been able to do a few of those things. It all comes down to the starting pitching. They are the ones who set the tempo and we feed off their energy."

The Orioles will be healthier to start the second half with first baseman Chris Davis expected to come off the disabled list. Shortstop J.J. Hardy probably won't be back before the second week of August. No matter who's in the lineup or the rotation, the Orioles fully expect to make a run at a playoff berth. The last two days served as a blueprint for getting it done.

"I'm always optimistic," Showalter said. "I haven't talked about getting guys back. I don't get involved in that. It's part of it. Guys who were picking up slack for whether it be a (Ryan) Flaherty or a Britton or a Hardy, that's a great opportunity they need to take advantage of.

"Finished on a high note. There are a lot of good things that happened. I try to dwell on that, too, but also have a sense of reality. There are some things that are going to have to get better."