DAVID GINSBURG
DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
BALTIMORE — After going two weeks without hearing cheers at Camden Yards, the Baltimore Orioles wasted no time giving their fans something to yell about.
Manny Machado and Chris Davis hit first-inning homers, Ubaldo Jimenez had a season-high nine strikeouts over seven sharp innings and the Orioles celebrated their return to Baltimore with a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night.
Adam Jones also homered for the Orioles, who had lost five of six to fall into last place in the AL East.
Because of rioting and violence in the city, the Orioles last played in front of their home fans on April 26. Enjoying the comfort of familiar surroundings and fueled by a spirited crowd of 20,468, Baltimore took a quick 3-0 lead and cruised to the finish behind Jimenez (3-2).
“It felt great. It felt good to be back, having some pride,” Jimenez said. “All of the people that came to the game tonight, they were into the game since the first pitch. So that definitely motivated us to play.”
Ezequiel Carrera had two doubles and two RBIs for the Blue Jays, who fell to 5-2 against Baltimore this season.
In their previous game at Camden Yards, the Orioles beat the White Sox on April 29 behind closed doors, a decision made for fan safety. Although the atmosphere in the city remains tense, the fans appeared delighted to turn their attention toward baseball.
“It did seem different, especially at the beginning of the game because they were more into it than they usually are,” said Steve Pearce, who went 1 for 4. “I think they were just glad that’s baseball’s back. You could definitely tell.”
Wearing “Baltimore” on their home white jerseys instead of the customary “Orioles,” the home team provided many a feel-good moment.
Jimenez gave up two runs, six hits and two walks. His three wins are one more than he had all last season.
“He’s living on the corners with a lot of movement, and he’s pounding strikes,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said. “He was great.”
Darren O’Day worked the eighth and Zach Britton got three outs for his seventh save.
“It was nice to hear somebody rooting for you, and not against you, for once,” Britton said.
After Jimenez struck out the side in the first inning, Machado led off the bottom half with an opposite-field drive to right off Marco Estrada (1-2). Then, after Delmon Young drew a two-out walk, Davis hit his team-leading eighth homer.
“I made a bad pitch to Machado, he got it,” Estrada said. “I tried going up and in on Davis — and I actually got it to where I wanted to — but he got that one, so there’s nothing you can do about that.”
Jimenez struck out the side again in the fourth but gave up successive doubles to Kevin Pillar and Carrera in the fifth.
The Orioles used a sacrifice fly by Caleb Joseph to make it 4-1 in the sixth.
Carrera doubled in a run in the seventh, and Jones connected off Steve Delabar in the bottom half.
This was the beginning of a stretch in which the Orioles will play 17 of 20 games at home.
“It just feels like we’ve been away the entire first month-and-a-half of the season,” Davis said. “It’s just good to get back home and have our fans behind us.”