O's cap furious rally with win over Crew in 10

MILWAUKEE -- Nick Hundley's first game as an Oriole was a memorable one.

The catcher, traded from San Diego on Saturday, made an errant ninth-inning throw that nearly negated an impressive two-out rally off Brewers closer Francisco Rodriguez to tie the score in the top half.

But right-handed reliever Darren O'Day didn't panic, stranding a pair of runners in scoring position to give Hundley a chance to redeem himself. And Hundley did with the game-winning single off reliever Rob Wooten, as the Orioles won, 7-6, in 10 innings on Monday afternoon at Miller Park.

Not exactly how Hundley would draw things up in his first start with his new team, but the backstop certainly wasn't complaining.

"You put your team at a disadvantage. You get picked up and then the guys in front of you get on base. To come through on that and get a hit to win the game was huge," said Hundley, after his first hit in an Orioles' uniform scored J.J. Hardy from second.

"I was excited for the opportunity to make up for it. That's all you can ask for is one more chance."

Hundley, who was acquired as the Orioles wait to find out if catcher Matt Wieters will need surgery, was attractive to Baltimore in part because of his experience. And the veteran's calm demeanor was on full display as he strolled to the plate with two outs in the 10th.

"He looks at it like, 'The baseball gods are shining on me to give me an opportunity,'" manager Buck Showalter said. "That's what separates everybody at this level. They're very confident and they want to be in that situation. There were a lot of things to get to that point."

While Hundley's first hit in an Orioles uniform was the highlight, it was an impressive afternoon of offense all-around from the visiting club, playing in front of a sellout crowd of 42,889.

The victory saw the Orioles (26-23) total 14 hits -- including a pair of homers from Jonathan Schoop -- score the most runs Brewers starter Kyle Lohse has allowed this season and hand Rodriguez just his second blown save in 19 opportunities.

The Orioles also overcame another disappointing outing from starter Chris Tillman, who went 5 2/3 innings, as the bullpen tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings, capped by Zach Britton's third career save.

"That was a big win for us, down two runs with two outs and the guys come through there," Hardy said. "It was a good way to tie it up and then to finish it off in the 10th."

It was a laborious game for both sides, with the Brewers putting the potential winning run 90 feet away with one out in the ninth after Jonathan Lucroy's single off O'Day and Hundley's throwing error on Carlos Gomez's sacrifice bunt. But former Oriole Mark Reynolds lined into a double play to send the game into extra innings.

"He was going on contact," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of pinch-runner Elian Herrera being caught several feet off the third-base bag. "Any time there's just runner on third base, I have a decision to make. Those are hard because sometimes you want that next batter to come up. But if there are runners at second and third, we're always going on contact. The one thing that's going to hurt you is a line drive and that's what happened. That's not his fault at all; he was doing what he was told to do."

The Orioles forced that play to matter, staging an impressive comeback against Rodriguez. Down to their last out, Schoop sent the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall for the first multi-homer game of his career, keeping the O's hopes alive.

Pinch-hitter Delmon Young followed with a single, before Nick Markakis punched a double into left-center field to tie it up at 6.

"I don't know how many times I've told him just to relax and keep doing good," Hardy said of the 22-year-old Schoop. "He comes in after he's got two homers and he's like, 'Man, I'm mad.' I'm like, 'What are you mad about?' He goes, 'I just missed that last one.' I'm like, 'What are you talking about? You had a great game, you just relax.'" He is young and the sky is the limit for him. He's got some serious potential and he is doing great."

That the game was still close was a testament to the team's bullpen, with right-hander Brad Brach pitching two scoreless innings and working his way out of a bases-loaded jam. Brach, on after Ryan Webb finished the sixth for Tillman, was able to escape trouble by striking out pinch-hitter Rickie Weeks and getting Jean Segura to ground out.

"Anytime your team comes from behind and wins, it's a good thing," Tillman said. "Personally for me, not good enough, have to be better. But happy we came out with the win."

The curious case of Tillman continued on Monday, as the Orioles Opening Day starter -- who tossed a shutout on May 16 at Kansas City -- has allowed 12 earned runs over his last two starts, failing to go at least six innings in six of eight games.

"He was fortunate to get out of a lot of things," said Showalter, who added that Tillman has grown tired of people asking if he's injured. "It's something he and we are going to have to get corrected or it's going to be a problem. It's frustrating because we see what he's capable of."

Tillman, who has not allowed 12 runs over a two-game stretch in his career until now, put his team in an immediate hole on Ryan Braun's double after Segura opened the first inning with a triple.

Despite giving up some loud outs, Tillman was able to get out of the inning, although the trouble wasn't over. He issued four walks over the first four innings, including a pair of one-out walks in the fourth that helped pave the way for another pair of Brewers runs.

Tillman, who has issued three or more walks in three of his last four starts, allowed multiple homers for just the second time this season on back-to-back blasts from Khris Davis and Lyle Overbay in the sixth.

"Just inconsistent," Tillman, who threw 65 of 103 pitches for strikes said of his last few weeks. "I always go back to it but I think when you are consistent in your delivery, on the mound you are able to get on a roll. And I'm not able to carry it over. Just, comes down to my mechanics, my delivery. It's close. But you got to be able to execute."

Lohse outlasted Tillman by an inning, despite one of his poorer performances, including a season-high nine hits allowed. The Orioles scored three runs off Lohse in the third inning, matching the most runs the righty had given up through 10 games.

Things got going with a pair of one-out singles from Markakis and Manny Machado. Adam Jones -- who has reached base in 20 consecutive games -- tripled to score both runs. Nelson Cruz followed with an RBI double into center field, extending his team lead to 45 RBIs. But Lohse -- who got a visit from pitching coach Rick Kranitz after Hardy's two-out single -- settled down to get a pair of groundouts to end the inning.

After Milwaukee put up a six-spot off Tillman, Schoop brought the Orioles within two with his fourth home of the year to start the seventh inning.

"I just like to see guys get a return for what they're putting into it," Showalter said. "Jon never has a bad day, regardless, and he's been so consistent defensively. He's beaten himself up the last few days, getting himself out. When he stays in the zone…both of those home runs he hit, he was trying to stay in the middle of the field and just reacted. The last one was a breaking ball. That was a pure strength home run."

Schoop has been encouraged by his teammates to try to stay true to who he is, an aggressive hitter, and it paid off again on Monday.

"They felt good," he said of the pair of homers, both to left field. "Especially to put us on the board. For us to score and for us to make a comeback. I feel really good. I feel better at the plate. And have got to keep working."