Strong pitching by Tillman, Guthrie leads Orioles to sweep of Tigers, 10-6 and 2-1

Orioles sweep skidding Tigers, 10-6 and 2-1

BALTIMORE — Jeremy Guthrie allowed two hits over eight shutout innings, Nick Markakis homered and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers 2-1 Friday night for a doubleheader sweep.

In the opener, Chris Tillman pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and Adam Jones drove in four runs to lead the Orioles to a 10-6 victory.

It was the second time in three days that Detroit was swept in a doubleheader; Cleveland did it Wednesday. The Tigers (80-80) have lost five straight and must win at least once this weekend to avoid a losing season.

Robert Andino had four hits in the nightcap for the Orioles, who have won three in a row to improve to 33-22 since manager Buck Showalter made his debut on Aug. 3. With its first doubleheader sweep since June 2006, Baltimore reached the 65-win mark — one more than it had last year.

Guthrie (11-14) struck out five, walked one and permitted only one runner past first base. The right-hander went 8-4 with a 2.75 ERA in 14 starts after the All-Star break.

Koji Uehara yielded a two-out solo homer by Don Kelly in the ninth.

Rick Porcello (10-12) gave up two runs and 12 hits in 6 1-3 innings. Bidding to win his sixth straight decision, Porcello fell behind when Markakis opened the third by driving an 0-2 pitch into the right-field seats.

Baltimore made it 2-0 in the seventh, chasing Porcello on singles by Andino, Brandon Snyder and Julio Lugo.

In the first game, Tillman (2-5) gave up one run, had a season-high seven strikeouts and walked two to earn his first win in six starts since July 10. After allowing a second-inning homer to Kelly, the right-hander did not permit a runner past first base.

Tillman couldn’t have asked for a better conclusion to a season in which he failed to make the team out of spring training and then bounced back and forth from the minors and majors. His third recall to Baltimore came on Sept. 5.

“That last start of the year is always a big boost for the offseason,” Tillman said. “Last year I had that tough one going into the offseason (six runs in two innings against Cleveland), and it kind of sat with me the whole offseason. It’s a lot better to end the season on a good note.”

Felix Pie and Craig Tatum each had three RBIs for the Orioles, who took control with a six-run fourth inning against Jeremy Bonderman (8-10).

Will Rhymes had three hits for the Tigers.

Down 1-0 after being held hitless through three innings, the Orioles sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth against Bonderman, who fueled the uprising by hitting two batters and walking one.

After a bunt single, a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases, Pie smacked an RBI single off the right-field wall and Jones lined a three-run double inside the third-base line. Bonderman then hit Andino with a pitch before Tatum doubled in two runs with a drive off the base of the center-field wall.

“Bondo started out really good and all of a sudden they had four hits — one was a bunt single — and they had six runs out of it,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. “Just had a bad inning. Control was not good.”

Pie chased Bonderman with a two-run triple in the fifth, and Jones greeted Eddie Bonine with an RBI single to make it 9-1.

Bonderman gave up a season-high nine earned runs.

“Just walking guys. Bad pitches, fall behind in counts. … I just got beat pretty bad,” he said. “Embarrassing.”

NOTES: The first game was a makeup of Thursday night’s rainout. … Orioles 2B Brian Roberts missed both games with headaches. … Detroit C Gerald Laird left the nightcap with a bruised left shoulder.