Brian Matusz pitched eight stellar innings and Brian Roberts highlighted a four-run seventh with a two-run double as the Baltimore Orioles extended their winning streak against the Texas Rangers to five games with a 4-0 victory.
Corey Patterson went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Nick Markakis also drove in a run for the Orioles, who halted a two-game skid and improved to 11-6 under manager Buck Showalter.
Matusz (5-12) was locked in a pitchers' duel with Colby Lewis for six innings before Baltimore broke through in the seventh. One-out singles by Felix Pie and Matt Wieters put runners on the corners for Patterson, who plated the game's first run with a base hit.
After Cesar Izturis' groundout, Roberts doubled to center to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead and chase Lewis. Darren Oliver came in and yielded an RBI single by Markakis that capped the rally.
Matusz, who failed to pitch more than three innings and posted an 0-1 record and 18.57 ERA in two previous starts against Texas this year, looked like a different pitcher this time around. The 23-year old left-hander allowed just four singles and a double with a walk and six strikeouts while improving to 2-7 at home.
Koji Uehara worked the ninth to complete the shutout.
Lewis (9-10) suffered his fifth consecutive loss, yielding four runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 frames for the Rangers, who have lost six in a row on the road and four straight overall.
Texas | Baltimore | |
Colby Lewis | Player | Brian Matusz |
Loss | W/L | Win |
6.2 | IP | 8.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 6 |
9 | Hits | 5 |
5.40 | ERA | 0.00 |
Texas | Baltimore | |
Vladimir Guerrero | Player | Corey Patterson |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 2 |
.667 | Avg | .667 |