Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman came into Tuesday night’s start with a chance to become the first 15-game winner in the major leagues, but the Colorado Rockies would not cooperate.
Tillman (14-3) had been dominating in July, with four straight victories and a 1.29 ERA, but he faltered in a four-run third inning and the Rockies notched a 6-3 victory before 23,677 at Camden Yards.
The whole game hinged on that third inning, because Tillman was one strike from getting out of it without giving up a run when Carlos Gonzalez doubled down the left field line with the bases loaded to drive in the first two runs. Tillman also had two strikes on rookie slugger Trevor Story before he followed with a single to left for two more runs.
The Rockies extended the lead to 6-0 in the fifth when Nolan Arenado doubled home a run and eventually scored on a wild pitch by Tillman, who gave way to reliever Tyler Wilson after giving up nine hits and striking out four over five innings.
Tillman didn’t spend a lot of time second-guessing himself afterward.
“You’ve got to give credit to them,’’ he said. “They put some huge at-bats together and made some really good swings. I wouldn’t change anything. I missed with a couple, but I also made some really good pitches today.”
Adam Jones finally got the Orioles on the scoreboard in the bottom of that inning with his 18th home run of the year, a two-run shot that followed a two-out single by hot-hitting J.J. Hardy. Jones also scored the Orioles’ third run of the game after he drew a leadoff walk in the eighth and scored on a wild pitch by Colorado reliever Boone Logan.
If there was a silver lining in this game, it was the performance Wilson, who was recalled over the weekend to fill in while Ubaldo Jimenez was on paternity leave. Wilson pitched the final four innings of the game and did not give up a hit or a walk.
“I thought Tyler was outstanding,’’ manager Buck Showalter said. “He really gave us a blow down in the bullpen. But Chris, the pitches he elevated they didn’t miss, but he was very close to having a better outing. But he got through five and we just didn’t do much offensively.”
The loss ended the Orioles’ winning at five and evened the series heading into Wednesday night’s homestand finale, which features the third major league start by O’s rookie Dylan Bundy.
Two-strike rally: Tillman couldn’t seem to throw that third strike by anyone in the Rockies’ four-run third inning. The Rockies slapped five hits in the inning and every one of them came after there were two strikes on the hitter. Four of them were singles that came on a 1-2 pitch. Carlos Gonzalez’s two-run double came on a 2-2 pitch.
Tillman’s streak ends: The Orioles’ ace came into the game riding a string of four consecutive starts in which he worked seven innings and gave up exactly one run. The club record for consecutive starts of seven innings or more and one earned run or fewer is held by Jim Palmer, who did it eight times in a row in 1978. In the third inning, of course, Tillman equaled all the runs he gave up in those previous four games.
Jones' 18th: Things were looking pretty grim at that point, but the Orioles finally answered in the bottom of the fifth. Hardy lined a two-out single to left field for his second hit of the game and Jones launched a first-pitch homer into the left field bleachers to whittle the Colorado lead back to four runs.
Kim jumps right back in: Hyun Soo Kim was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday and re-entered the starting lineup in his usual No. 2 hole. In his first at-bat, he plopped a bloop single into center field and finished the game with a hit and a walk in four plate appearances.
Photos by Nick Wass and Matt Hazlett
