April 08, 2011|By Dan Connolly, The Baltimore Sun
He retired nine of the next 10 batters he faced before Tigers catcher Alex Avila continued his hot series with his second home run and his sixth RBI in the past two games. Three batters later, Brennan Boesch doubled home Rhymes to give Detroit a 4-2 lead and end Tillman's night.
"I think that's probably the one thing I take out of this game as a positive," Tillman said. "After that first inning to come back strong, I think, you guys can be the judge of it, but I think in the past that first inning is one of those innings that really would get away from me."
The young righty was charged with four runs on six hits and two walks in 42/3 innings. He was replaced by Jeremy Accardo, who allowed one run in 12/3 innings. Jim Johnson (1-0) and Koji Uehara combined for 22/3 scoreless innings.
Tillman also had one major call go his way in the fourth. With a runner on first and no outs, Martinez hit a deep fly to right-center that Jones tracked down. The ball hit his glove and bounced out. Jones attempted to snag it barehanded, and it slipped out and hit the outfield wall, moments before Jones crashed into the wall. Markakis, who had converged from right, caught the carom and threw back to first.
The ball clearly hit the wall and should have been a hit, but the umpires ruled that Markakis caught it.
"Adam is Adam, he is going to run into walls. He's got our backs and I think as a pitcher it makes us feel real good," Tillman said. "I think he made a great play on that one, whether he caught it or not, I don't know."
In the end, the Orioles caught a break, and, this time, the offense picked up the pitching in its best output of April.
"It's pretty easy to win games when your pitchers are giving up no runs," Reynolds said. "It's bigger for this offense being able to put up a nine-spot."
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