Orioles 5, Reds 4: Bud Norris withstood two early rain delays lasting more than two hours to pitch six scoreless innings and host Baltimore held on to beat Cincinnati in the opener of a three-game interleague series.

Jonathan Schoop homered and Nelson Cruz had two hits and an RBI as the Orioles won for the seventh time in nine contests to open a 9 1/2-game lead atop the American League East. Chris Davis and Caleb Joseph had run-scoring singles in a four-run first inning to provide an early cushion for Norris (12-8), who struck out seven and allowed four hits.

Jay Bruce belted his third career grand slam in the eighth inning for the Reds, who fell to 1-3 on their six-game road trip and dropped seven games back of the second wild card in the NL. Mat Latos (5-4), who went 3-0 in six August starts, was rocked for five runs on 10 hits over five innings.

After a rain delay of 23 minutes held up the start of the contest, another delay of 1:46 followed after Billy Hamilton led off the game with a single and stole second. Baltimore bunched five singles against Latos in its first at-bat, including back-to-back ones by Cruz and Davis before a run-scoring groundout by Jimmy Paredes and Joseph's RBI hit made it 4-0.

Schoop blasted a towering shot to lead off the second and it remained a 5-0 lead until Baltimore reliever Darren O'Day unraveled in the eighth, giving up a walk and hitting a batter sandwiched around an error by Paredes to set up Bruce's blast to right field. Brad Brach got the final out in the eighth before Zach Britton worked out of a jam in the ninth to register his 32nd save.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Hamilton broke the franchise rookie record for stolen bases when he swiped his 55th in the first inning, eclipsing the mark set by Bob Bescher in 1909, and also recorded his ninth assist to tie for the NL high for center fielders. ... O'Day had not allowed a run in his last 12 outings and had surrendered only one run in his previous 27 appearances for Baltimore, which was without SS J.J. Hardy (back spasms). ... First-base umpire Mike DiMuro was knocked out of the game after Hamilton collided with him on an infield single to lead off the contest.