BALTIMORE -- Orioles center fielder Adam Jones continued his recent hot streak on Friday night and reached a major career milestone in the process.
When Jones launched a solo home run off the Tigers' Justin Verlander in the sixth inning at Camden Yards, it not only accounted for the only run of a 1-0 victory but also gave Jones 200 homers for his career. He's only the third active player to reach that mark having spent at least two-thirds of his career in center field, joining Carlos Beltran and Curtis Granderson.
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"I've been playing for a while," Jones said. "I think it's pretty cool. Glad we got the win. I think personal things are all cool and fine and dandy, and if you go out there and play and perform every day, things like this tend to happen."
All but three of those big flies have come with the Orioles, putting Jones seventh on the team's all-time list. Only Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, Boog Powell, Brooks Robinson, Rafael Palmeiro and Brady Anderson have hit 200 or more homers in a Baltimore uniform. Jones also moved into sole possession of eighth place on the Orioles' all-time RBI list with 663, passing Melvin Mora.
Jones went deep three times during stints with the Mariners from 2006-07, after which Seattle traded him to Baltimore, along with pitcher Chris Tillman, who threw seven scoreless innings on Friday.
"Awesome," Tillman said of Jones' accomplishment. "I didn't know it until after the game. That's pretty cool. It's pretty special. It's not too often you see a guy do that mostly with one club. It was good to see. He's a competitor, man. He doesn't take any at-bat for granted."
Jones was slumping early this season, with a .543 OPS, one homer and nine RBIs through his first 26 games, but he has caught fire since then. Over his last four games, Jones has gone 9-for-18 with three homers and seven RBIs.
In the sixth, he stepped to the plate against Verlander with one out. Jones jumped on a 92-mph first-pitch fastball and connected with an exit velocity of 104 mph, according to Statcast™, which projected the ball to land 412 feet away from home plate in the bullpen in left-center field.