masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgCoco Crisp led off the top of the ninth with a homer off Darren O’Day over the right field scoreboard and that lifted Oakland to a 2-1 win over the Orioles this afternoon in front of 33,834 at Camden Yards.

The blast, which came on a 3-1 pitch, snapped a 1-1 tie and was the seventh allowed by O’Day this season. It was the 12th hit by Crisp as Oakland improved to 72-56.

This was Chris Tillman’s fourth shot at becoming the 29th 15-game winner in O’s history and he left with a no-decision…Coco Crisp led off the top of the ninth with a homer off Darren O’Day over the right field scoreboard and that lifted Oakland to a 2-1 win over the Orioles this afternoon in front of 33,834 at Camden Yards.

The blast, which came on a 3-1 pitch, snapped a 1-1 tie and was the seventh allowed by O’Day this season. It was the 12th hit by Crisp as Oakland improved to 72-56.

This was Chris Tillman’s fourth shot at becoming the 29th 15-game winner in O’s history and he left with a no-decision after throwing three-hit ball over eight innings.

Ryan Flaherty gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead with a line drive solo homer to right in the last of the third. Flaherty hit his eighth on a 1-1 pitch.

Oakland tied it 1-1 in the sixth. Kurt Suzuki doubled with one out, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a Jed Lowrie two-out RBI double to right.

Tillman pitched a gem for the Orioles, but remains winless over his last four outings. He walked two with nine strikeouts, throwing 115 pitches, 78 for strikes.

Tillman’s nine strikeouts tied his career high set just three starts ago on Aug. 9 at San Francisco. Tillman entered this start with a 12-1 record and ERA of 2.52 in 14 career starts against the AL West.

A’s starter Jarrod Parker gets the win, allowing just five hits and one run over eight innings to improve to 10-6 on the year and 8-0 over his last 16 starts. Grant Balfour pitched the ninth to record his 32nd save in 33 chances.

The O’s offense had its chances today as they stranded two runners each in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings. The O’s went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Now 69-59, the Orioles fall back to three games behind Oakland in the race for the second wild card berth.