— Wei-Yin Chen walked out of the bathroom and was greeted with a shower of Gatorade and shaving cream. He kept a ball from his first major-league win, and was still speechless long after he left the mound.This was one fun night for the Baltimore Orioles.Chen pitched effectively into the sixth inning and Nolan Reimold homered for the fourth consecutive game, helping Baltimore beat the White Sox 3-2 on Tuesday.
“This is just like a dream come true,” Chen said through an interpreter.
Baltimore had just one hit before Robert Andino singled with one out in the sixth. Reimold then hit a drive to left-center off John Danks, giving the Orioles a 2-0 lead. J.J. Hardy followed with a drive to virtually the same spot for his third homer. Reimold also had a big home run Monday night, helping Baltimore rally for a 10-4 victory over the White Sox in 10 innings. He is batting .394 (13 for 33) in the past eight games.
“Just staying calm,” said Reimold, who also made a terrific diving catch in left field. “No real secret to it. It’s just kind of happening. Just been feeling good, keeping my swing short and not moving my head too much.”
Chen allowed two runs and six hits over 5 1/3 innings in his second career game. The left-hander, a Taiwan native who pitched in Japan for the past four seasons, also was effective in his first start, allowing two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Yankees.
“I feel like I’m really lucky tonight because compared with last start, I don’t have really good command,” Chen said. “I feel like last start was pretty good. Today is so-so.”
Chen (1-0) was working on a shutout before the White Sox chased him in the sixth. A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run double into the right-field corner before Alex Rios singled to put runners on the corners with one out.Orioles manager Buck Showalter then brought in sidearmer Darren O’Day, who got Alexei Ramirez to pop up and picked off Rios to end the inning. O’Day also worked the seventh, striking out Brent Morel with a runner on third to preserve the lead.Troy Patton and Luis Ayala combined to work the eighth before Jim Johnson wriggled out of a jam to record his fifth save in five chances.The White Sox had runners on the corners with one out when pinch-hitter Kosuke Fukudome lined to third. Alejandro De Aza then walked to load the bases but third baseman Wilson Betemit made a great play on Morel’s chopper to end the game.Baltimore has won four of five with five games left on a 10-game road trip.Pierzynski and Rios had two hits apiece, which has lost three straight. Danks (1-2) allowed five hits, struck out five and walked two in seven innings.
“I’d like two pitches back,” Danks said. “I felt like I made a good-enough pitch to Andino for the single. I just made a mistake to a pretty hot hitter in Reimold. Got in a hitter’s count with Hardy. He’s a good hitter. He did what he’s supposed to do with that pitch.”
The White Sox had a chance for a fast start when De Aza got a leadoff walk in the first and Morel followed with a sinking liner to left. But Reimold hustled over and made a sprawling grab for the out.
NOTES—Luke Scott was the last player to homer in four consecutive games for Orioles, accomplishing the feat from May 27-30, 2009. … The Orioles claimed C Luis Exposito off waivers from the Boston Red Sox. “He’s a catcher. We’re a little thin there, depth-wise,” Showalter said. “I’m not exactly sure where they’re gonna send him or what the plan is.” INF Josh Bell was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. … Andino and Reimold were the last combination to hit consecutive homers for Baltimore, on Sept. 19 at Boston. … Joe Torre, Major League Baseball’s executive vice president for baseball operations, took a triple away from De Aza, changing his fly ball in the eighth inning of Friday night’s game against Detroit to an error on left fielder Delmon Young. That means both runs charged to Tigers reliever Daniel Schlereth are unearned. … The gametime temperature was 51 degrees and the announced crowd was 11,267.