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Davis, Orioles hold on against Detroit

Aug 19, 2012 - 5:03 AM Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - Chris Davis hit a three-run homer, Zach Britton threw seven scoreless innings and the Orioles held on for a 3-2 win over the Tigers on Saturday night.

Davis' blast in the seventh was the difference and Britton (2-1) got the win after being called up from Triple-A Norfolk before the game, giving up six hits and three walks with five strikeouts in his sixth start of the season.

Baltimore snapped a two-game losing streak, including a 5-3 loss in the series opener on Friday, and moved to 10-4 in the last 14 games.

Jhonny Peralta had a two-run single in the eighth for the Tigers, who hit into three double plays and had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Rick Porcello (9-8) gave up seven hits, including Davis' homer, and a walk with six strikeouts in six-plus innings.

Davis went the other way on a 1-1 fastball for his 19th homer of the season, knocking it into the Detroit bullpen behind left field to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead in the seventh.

"He made one mistake and I was able to get a hold of it," said Davis. "These are the kind of games that you want at the end of the season. They're playoff atmosphere, they're close games and they really test the character of the team."

Tigers manager Jim Leyland liked Porcello's location on the pitch and gave all the credit to Davis for hitting it.

"It looked like it was on the black (of the plate) and down. You gotta give him credit, it was a good piece of hitting," said Leyland.

Adam Jones and Matt Wieters had stroked back-to-back base hits to lead off the inning and Mark Reynolds followed Davis' blast with a single to chase Porcello for Brayan Villarreal, who escaped the inning.

Pedro Strop replaced Britton to start the eighth, giving up a leadoff single to Austin Jackson and hitting Miguel Cabrera with a one-out pitch. Peralta knocked both runners in, but was thrown out trying to take second base, ending the inning.

Orioles closer Jim Johnson then threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 36th save.

Nine combined hits in the first six innings produced zero runs with the Tigers finding it hard to get out of their own way.

They loaded the bases in the first inning but got nothing after Peralta grounded into a double play. They hit into another double play in the second and back-to-back singles leading off the third failed to produce a run for the Orioles.

Jackson was stranded after a leadoff double in the bottom of the third and Andy Dirks was caught stealing after starting the fifth with a single for Detroit. The Tigers then hit into a third double play to end the sixth.

"A couple early opportunities got away from us. We didn't score, and that happens," said Leyland.

Game Notes

Detroit is 3-2 in the season series. Sunday is the final meeting between the teams this year...Britton had been sent down Aug. 8. To make room for him, the Orioles sent infielder Joe Mahoney to Norfolk.