Slugfest in Baltimore: O's win 9-7 to get series finale

To win today, the Orioles needed to outscore the AL's leading offense. That is just what they were able to do.

Manny Machado's sac fly in the last of the eighth broke a 7-7 tie as the Orioles beat Houston 9-7 at Oriole Park. They salvaged the final game of the series, completed a 5-5 homestand and now hit the road with a 47-51 record.

No. 9 hitter Rubén Tejada doubled with one out in the eighth off Luke Gregerson and advance to third on Adam Jones' single to center. Jones went 4-for-5 with four singles. The four hits tied his career high and it was the 20th time he did it. Machado's first-pitch sac fly gave the O's the lead and Jones took second on it. He would score on Jonathan Schoop's flare single to center for a 9-7 lead.

That was Schoop's 70th RBI and it gave him an RBI in seven straight games with 16 total in that span. He began today third in the AL in RBIs.

After Mychal Givens pitched a scoreless seventh, Zach Britton picked up his sixth save of the year and first since April 14. That save is Britton's 55th straight and that sets an American League record. He had shared the mark of 54 straight with Tom Gordon. The all-time record is 84 in a row by the Dodgers' Eric Gagne.

Houston tagged Dylan Bundy with seven runs today, but the O's offense matched them this afternoon.

The relentless Houston offense knocked Bundy from the game during a four-run sixth to take a 7-6 lead. With two on and one out, Norichika Aoki's three-run homer down the right-field line tied it at 6-6 and was his second home run this season. After walking Jake Marisnick, Bundy was replaced by Miguel Castro. Jose Altuve's single put runners on the corners and a Josh Reddick sac fly put Houston ahead 7-6.

But that lead didn't last too long. Mark Trumbo's solo homer to left field off Chris Devenski tied it 7-7 in the seventh. He hit No. 17 on a 1-2 changeup.

Bundy allowed a season and career-high seven runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings with three walks and four strikeouts. His ERA grew to 4.53 and he has allowed five or more runs in five of his past seven starts.

Earlier the Orioles led 3-0 in the second but were quickly tied up 3-3 in the third. The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the second on a Chris Davis single, a hit by pitch and a walk and got three runs. They scored once on Hyun Soo Kim's bases loaded hit by pitch, once when Tejada bounced into a double play and got a third run on Jones' two-out single to left.

Jones was 2-for-2 in the game after that single and that gave him 1,548 career hits with the Orioles. He moved into sixth on the club's all-time hits list ahead of Nick Markakis. Next up is Boog Powell in fifth at 1,574 hits.

The lead didn't last long either. Jose Altuve's three-run shot in the third tied it 3-3. That extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games.

But the O's would get the lead back and then add to it before Houston's rally in the sixth. They went ahead 4-3 on Trey Mancini's RBI single in the last of the third.

Then they added to the lead, scoring twice in the fifth. After Schoop's single and Trumbo's double to left, a Davis sac fly and Mancini's RBI double made it a 6-3 lead.

The Orioles now hit the road and play at Tampa Bay on Monday night when Kevin Gausman (6-7, 6.11 ERA) faces lefty Blake Snell (0-5, 4.98 ERA).