masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgAdam Jones did more today than give the Orioles an early lead. He also moved into a tie with a Hall of Famer.
Jones hit his 179th home run as an Oriole, a solo shot off Nationals starter Max Scherzer in the first inning that allowed him to join Frank Robinson in eighth place on the club’s all-time list.
Jones has played in 1,109 games with the Orioles. Robinson played in 827 before – and this is still too soon for me – being traded to the Dodgers on Dec. 2, 1971.
Scherzer struck out Manny…

Adam Jones did more today than give the Orioles an early lead. He also moved into a tie with a Hall of Famer.

Jones hit his 179th home run as an Oriole, a solo shot off Nationals starter Max Scherzer in the first inning that allowed him to join Frank Robinson in eighth place on the club’s all-time list.

jones-pointing-up-white-sidebar.jpgJones has played in 1,109 games with the Orioles. Robinson played in 827 before – and this is still too soon for me – being traded to the Dodgers on Dec. 2, 1971.

Scherzer struck out Manny Machado and Jimmy Paredes to open the inning. He threw Jones two sliders, two fastballs and a curveball that Jones launched for his 13th home run of the season.

Jones has nine home runs in 41 career games against the Nationals.

The day began with Jones, Machado, Zach Britton and Darren O’Day receiving their All-Star Game jerseys before the anthem. The crowd gave them a loud ovation.

Wei-Yin Chen escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the top of the first after Yunel Escobar reached on an infield hit and Bryce Harper doubled over Chris Davis’ head in right field. Davis ran down Wilson Ramos’ fly ball in right-center field.

Update: Chen allowed three runs in the top of the fourth on Dan Uggla’s two-out single and Tyler Moore’s two-run double. The last run was unearned after Jones’ throwing error allowed Uggla to take second base.

Update II: Chen allowed three runs (two earned) and eight hits in eight innings, with no walks and seven strikeouts. He was lifted after 102 pitches.

Chen has gone eight innings in four of his 17 starts. He’s registered five quality starts in a row to lower his ERA to 2.78 in 110 innings.

The Orioles have three hits off Scherzer, who retired 14 in a row before Jonathan Schoop singled in the sixth.

The Orioles are in danger of losing for the 10th time in 13 games and settling at the .500 mark for the first time since June 14.

Today’s attendance: 46,247, the sixth sellout of the season. The three-game series drew 137,031.

Update III: Jones homered again off Scherzer with two outs in the ninth, but Drew Storen struck out Chris Davis to pick up the save in the Nationals’ 3-2 win over the Orioles.

Jones has 180 home runs as an Oriole to pass Robinson for sole possession of eighth place. He also has seven career multi-homer games.

The Orioles are 12-13 in one-run games.

Bring on the All-Star break.