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Jones homers in 9th, Orioles rally to beat Royals

May 25, 2011 - 4:45 AM Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - Adam Jones hit a game-winning two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Baltimore Orioles a dramatic 5-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Felix Pie had an RBI double earlier in the inning, as Baltimore rallied for three runs to overcome a 3-2 deficit.

J.J. Hardy had two hits and Matt Wieters chipped in with an RBI double for the Orioles, who pushed their winning streak to three games.

Orioles pitcher Alfredo Simon (1-0) tossed a scoreless ninth to pick up the victory.

Alex Gordon had two hits for Kansas City, including a solo homer in the third inning, while Joakim Soria (3-1) blew his third save of the year to extend the Royals' losing streak to three games.

"We hate closers. We want to give all closers [losses], and we were able to do it," Jones said.

Billy Butler and Jeff Francoeur also had two hits for Kansas City.

The decisive inning began innocently when Mark Reynolds flew out to center. Hardy stepped up next and smashed a double down the third base line to give the Orioles life. Pie then came up as a pinch hitter and ripped another double to score Hardy and knot the game at three. Jones followed with his home run, belting an 0-2 pitch over the wall in dead centerfield for the walkoff win.

"It was up and away and [Jones] hit it good," Soria said of his last pitch. "In this ballpark, if you hit it well, it's gone."

Kansas City got off to a quick start in the first after Gordon led off the game with a drag bunt up the third base line and Melky Cabrera smoked a single up the middle to put two on with no outs. After blue-chip rookie Eric Hosmer struck out, Francoeur laced a single into left to score Gordon from second, giving the Royals an early 1-0 lead.

Kansas City extended its lead in the third when Gordon blasted his fifth home run of the season to right off of Orioles' starter Zach Britton to give the Royals a 2-0 lead.

The Royals padded their lead again in the sixth when Francoeur led off with a single up the middle. He then stole second and scored on a single by Butler, giving KC a 3-0 lead.

Baltimore got on the board with two runs in its half of the sixth. Nick Markakis led off with a walk. After Vladimir Guerrero flied to right, Markakis stole second and scored on a long double off the right field scoreboard by Wieters to cut the Royals lead to 3-1.

Wieters advanced to third on a wild pitch by Royals' reliever Louis Coleman, who replaced starter Danny Duffy. Pinch-hitter Luke Scott got an infield single, which scored Wieters from third and cut the Royals lead to 3-2.

Game Notes

It was the first game of a six-game road trip for the Royals after the team struggled through a 2-5 homestand, capped by a 9-8 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 10 innings on Sunday...Baltimore leads the all-time series against Kansas City 245-188...Britton entered Tuesday's game looking for his sixth win of the season. He gave up three runs on nine hits in six innings...Duffy yielded two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings...The Orioles are 3-3 on their eight-game homestand...Guerrero extended his hitting streak to nine games.