 in the fourth inning, a bounce-back performance by Clarke (3-3) and a little late-inning drama.Arizona's Yoshihisa Hirano and Archie Bradley worked out of bases-loaded jams in the seventh and eighth innings.Greg Holland started the ninth, but was visited by Arizona's trainer after a walk, then was removed by manager Torey Lovullo following another walk. Yoan Lopez got the final three outs for his first career save.''I'm not sure what exactly was going on with the command,'' Lovullo said. ''He wasn't hurt - we went out there with the trainer - his stuff just wasn't what we've seen it. Those are hard decisions I have to make.'' Ketel Marte also hit a solo homer to become the first Diamondbacks player to hit 10 or more homers from both sides of the plate.Trey Mancini and Anthony Santander homered for the Orioles, who squandered multiple opportunities late. Baltimore went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left the bases loaded twice in late innings to spoil the chance to win its first series after the All-Star break.''We didn't make enough contact late in the game with runners on base,'' Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. ''We had them on the ropes a few times and just didn't do a good job of putting the ball in play.'' Clarke had a shaky return from the injured list because of back inflammation, allowing four runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings against Milwaukee on Friday.The right-hander had the Orioles guessing most of the afternoon, but made a couple of mistakes: Santander homered in the fourth inning and Mancini hit another, his 22nd of the season, in the sixth.Clarke allowed two runs and four hits and struck out seven in six innings.''He needed to step up and get the job done and he did,'' Lovullo said. ''There's a lot of toughness there.'' Means stranded runners in the second and third innings, quickly running up his pitch count. He ran into trouble in the fourth inning, when Kelly hit a three-run homer and was pulled after the next two batters reached base.Means allowed three runs and six hits and threw 95 pitches in 3 1/3 innings. He also legged out an infield single in the third inning for his first career hit.''I felt good in the beginning and then in that fourth inning, I was overthrowing pitches,'' Means said. ''I got out of my motion and there was a lot that went wrong.'' UMPIRE INTERFERENCEThe Diamondbacks appeared to have added a run in the seventh inning when Baltimore catcher Pedro Severino's pickoff attempt at first sailed into right field and Jarrod Dyson scored from second.Plate umpire Nic Lentz called interference on himself when Severino's arm hit him on the mask before the throw. Lovullo quickly came out of the dugout to argue with Lentz, but the call stood and both runners returned to their bases.''I was assuming called batter obstruction,'' Lovullo said. ''At that point, I backed down because in that case the umpire was right.'' TRAINER'S TABLEDiamondbacks: David Peralta was activated from the 10-day injured list and grounded out as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning. He had been out since July 5 with right AC joint inflammation. Arizona optioned INF Ildemaro Vargas to Triple-A Reno to make room on the roster.UP NEXTOrioles: RHP Tom Eshelman (0-2, 6.91 ERA), Thursday's starter against the Angels, is seeking his first quality start since joining the rotation at the beginning of the month.Diamondbacks: RHP Zack Greinke (10-4, 2.93) could be making his final start in an Arizona uniform Thursday at Miami. The two-time Cy Young Award winner is rumored to be on the trading block so the Diamondbacks can shed the $64 million remaining on his contract after this season.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Orioles hope there's Means to an end vs. D-backsFLMThe Baltimore Orioles will send out their best starting pitcher Wednesday afternoon as they try to win a second consecutive series when they face the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.Baltimore split the first two games in the interleague series after winning two of three games at home against the Boston Red Sox.Rookie left-hander John Means (8-5, 2.95 ERA) picked up one of those victories over Boston by allowing two runs and four hits over six innings on Friday."He did what John Means has done all year, keep guys off balance," Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. "I love that he flashed more breaking balls." Means enters Wednesday's rubber match on a hot streak, having given up more than two earned runs just once in the past eight starts. He is 3-1 in those eight starts, losing only when he yielded six runs in six innings to the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on July 13.Means will be opposed by another 26-year-old rookie -- right-hander Taylor Clarke (2-3, 6.50 ERA).Clarke struggled Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers, pitching for the first time since going on the injured list July 3 because of a back injury. The Brewers knocked him around for seven hits and four runs in 3 2/3 innings.Arizona has been in one-step-forward, one-step-backward mode for more than a month. The Diamondbacks have not been more than two games above or below .500 since June 18. Baltimore won 7-2 Tuesday night to drop the D-backs to 51-51."Couldn't really get anything going offensively," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. "This is one of those games we have to throw it out, because the turnaround is pretty quick. We have to wash this one off as fast as we can so it doesn't linger into a day game." Arizona optioned infielder Ildemaro Vargas to Triple-A Reno after the game, with a corresponding transaction to be announced Wednesday. The move could be the return of outfielder David Peralta (shoulder) from the injured list. He has been rehabbing in the rookie-level Arizona League.One of the issues for Arizona lately has been that it hasn't scored after the fifth inning in any of the past six games, posting a 2-4 record in that span. Baltimore took a 7-2 lead in the third inning Tuesday night -- and that was that."Was it a bad loss? Yes," Lovullo said. "I think after the seven runs were scored, we got a little flat-lined. No doubt about it." Baltimore's Renato Nunez has homered in each of the first two games of the series -- and in three of his past four games -- to give him a team-leading 24. He is usually the designated hitter for the Orioles but made his first start of the season at third base while playing under National League rules.Hyde wanted to keep Nunez's bat in the lineup, along with Chris Davis, who played first. Nunez has 10 starts at first base this season after starting 56 games at third last year. Hyde has indicated that Nunez could see more time in the field at the corner spots."It feels great to be back over there," Nunez said on MASNsports.com. "I'm going to practice a lot, take a lot of ground balls and just enjoy the time there." --Field Level Media
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