Orioles homer their Way to Victory against Rangers

Dylan Bundy #37 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 2, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland.

(Aug. 2, 2016 - Source: Greg Fiume/Getty Images North America)

The Baltimore Orioles (60-45) hit four home runs as they beat the Texas Rangers (62-45) 5-1 in the opener of their three-game series.

Baltimore broke the deadlock in the fifth inning with a leadoff home run from DH Pedro Alvarez. It was his 14th long ball of the season.

The Orioles doubled their lead when CF Adam Jones hit his 21st home run of the year to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning.

Baltimore homered two more times in the seventh frame. With one out, Pedro Alvarez hit his second dinger of the night and C Matt Wieters followed with his 10th home run of the year to put the Orioles up 4-0.

The Rangers loaded the bases in the eighth with a one-out walk to C Jonathan Lucroy and back-to-back singles from RF Nomar Mazara and 1B Mitch Moreland. SS Elvis Andrus followed with a sacrifice flyball and drove in Jonathan Lucroy for Texas’ only run of the game.

Baltimore restored their four-run lead in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Hyun-soo Kim was hit by a pitch and 3B Manny Machado singled. 1B Chris Davis followed with another single and Hyun-soo Kim came home for the final score of 5-1.

Texas’ SP Yu Darvish (2-3) worked 6.1 innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 walk and 3 earned runs while fanning 9. He now has a 3.29 ERA with a 1.12 WHIP on the season.

Baltimore’s SP Dylan Bundy (4-3) pitched a seven-inning gem, giving up only 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 7. His ERA and WHIP improved to 3.05 and 1.29, respectively.

Pedro Alvarez went 2-for-3 with 2 runs, 2 HR and 2 RBI. He is batting .250 and has 27 runs, 15 HR and 35 RBI this year.