Jake Arrieta had a 7.12 ERA and a 2-5 record at Camden Yards in his last full season with the Orioles

BALTIMORE -- Before Friday's game, manager Joe Maddon talked about how his offense really needed to get going if the Chicago Cubs wanted to make a second-half move after batting just .239 in the first half.

The Cubs showed plenty of punch and power Friday, hitting five homers in a 9-8 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. The Cubs hit four of those homers and scored eight runs in the first three innings.

Now, Chicago will try for more offense when the defending World Series champions continue a three-game series with Baltimore.

"I think the real surge in the second half really is going to lie within some offense here where we're using the whole field, getting better situationally," Maddon said. "The first half was difficult on a lot of different levels, also encouraging because there's a lot left in the tank for a lot of our guys."

The Cubs (44-45) got homers from Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber in the first inning for a quick 4-0 lead on Friday. Later came round-trippers from Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward and the game-winning solo shot from Addison Russell off Brad Brach in the ninth.

Former Oriole Jake Arrieta (8-7) faces Baltimore Saturday for the Cubs (1-0, 1.29 versus Baltimore), and Wade Miley (4-7, 4.97) opposes him.

Maddon knows it can be tough to pitch against your old team, so he just wants Arrieta to get locked in pretty quickly.

"Might be a little bit overamped possibly, early on, maybe a good crowd on a Saturday night, all that kind of stuff," Maddon said. "I just want to see him settle in and see him pitch the game he's capable of pitching."

The Orioles (42-47) would like to see the same thing from Miley, who has often battled command issues that quickly pushed up his pitch count in several starts.

The left-hander is 4-1 with a 3.46 career ERA versus the Cubs.

Both the Orioles and Cubs are trying to bounce back after sluggish first halves that left both teams with losing records, so each is trying to shake things up.

The Cubs made a big move by acquiring left-hander Jose Quintana in a blockbuster deal with the cross-town White Sox Thursday. Quintana will start the series finale Sunday.

"I'm so excited to be here with this team," Quintana said. "I just want to help this team and do my job. I'm really happy."

Maddon said he was not aware that deal had been in the works but certainly liked the news because Chicago needed pitching help.

Baltimore did not make any trades, but got back power-hitting first baseman Chris Davis from the disabled list, where he'd been for about a month (right oblique strain. Davis was 1-for-5 with an RBI double.

Also, manager Buck Showalter moved Adam Jones back to the leadoff spot, where he'd been much of 2016 and for part of this year.

Jones went 0-for-4 and got hit by a pitch Friday.

"It's just something Adam and I talked about last week," Showalter said. "We'll see where it takes us as we go forward. It just kind of fit us a lot better, and we'll see how it goes."

Mets got the 1st YES & 1/3 of the way for the game

The Mets are 6th in home runs hit and 4th in runs allowed, an excellent combination for OVER bettors.

SAN DIEGO -- Some will say the wheels fell off for the San Francisco Giants after ace Madison Bumgarner tumbled from his dirt bike.

Bumgarner (0-3, 3.00 ERA) faces the San Diego Padres on Saturday night in his first outing in three months. The Giants standout missed most the first half of the season with a sprained left shoulder, the result of his motorcycle mishap on April 20.

It'll be a treat for San Francisco to see the 2014 World Series MVP back on the mound as the Giants go for their second straight win. They are buried in the National League West cellar and any hopes of returning to respectability will hinge partly on Bumgarner's pitching.

"(I'm) ready to help contribute, like I should have been doing this whole time," Bumgarner told mlb.com after his final rehab start.

Bumgarner landed on the disabled list for the first time, getting hurt on a Giants off day. The Giants, who went to the playoffs last year, have been off-kilter since.

"It was an unfortunate incident he feels terrible about," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's seemed a lot longer than it's been for him, as far as his return."

In his first start back, Bumgarner will try to do something he hasn't done in his last three starts against the Padres: win. Bumgarner has lost three straight and his last four outings against San Diego. He has been knocked around pretty good, losing all three of his decisions and pitching to a 4.73 ERA.

But all that is overshadowed by the competitive southpaw taking the mound again.

"You've got one of your guys back, his intensity, his presence, all that," Bochy said.

The Padres will counter with right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, hoping he can continues a good run of outings. Chacin has won four of his last six starts since June 9. In each of those outings, he has surrendered two-or-fewer runs.

Lifetime against the Giants, Chacin is 7-6 with a 3.33 ERA.

"I think for the most part Jhoulys has been pretty solid for us all year long," Padres manager Andy Green said. "But his slider has played really well his last couple of starts."

Chacin's previous two times out, both wins, were impressive.

He held the Philadelphia Phillies to one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings in the Padres' road-series win leading up to the All-Star break.

Before that against the sizzling Los Angeles Dodgers, Chacin pitched five scoreless innings, dinged for only four hits.

Green said what stood out in that game was Chacin's motivation to shine, even if he wasn't sharp.

"He's one of the few guys who has beaten the Dodgers in probably the last three weeks," Green said. "And in that start against L.A. there was a will to win there that you appreciate. Even though it really wasn't his best stuff that day, he just wasn't going to get beat."

Everyone, it seems, is beating the Giants. But maybe the return of Bumgarner, who is 10-8 lifetime against the Padres, give them back the swagger that the three-time World Series championship club once possessed.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Alex Cobb will start on Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels, wearing a Tampa Bay Rays uniform.

And it's a uniform Cobb hopes he'll continue to wear throughout the season.

Cobb has been mentioned as someone the Rays could trade before the non-waiver trading deadline July 31, provided Tampa Bay management feels the club doesn't have a chance to make the playoffs.

But the Rays, thanks in part to what Cobb has been able to do, are hanging around in the American League wild card race. After Brad Miller's tiebreaking double in the 10th inning was the difference in a 2-1 win over the Angels on Friday, the Rays currently hold the first wild card.

The better the Rays do, the better the chances that Cobb stays.

"I hope so," Cobb told the Tampa Bay Times. "I think management has done a really good job of putting together a really good team this year. Since the day I got drafted by the Rays (in 2006) it's always been a dream of mine to not only play in the playoffs but win a World Series.

"I was fortunate enough to play in the playoffs here and taste just how awesome that excitement was. I want that again, and I want it to be greater. This is my home. It would be more special than anywhere else for me to win here."

Cobb is 7-6 with a 3.75 ERA in 18 starts -- numbers that look mediocre. But Cobb has had dominant games, including two of his last three starts. Just before the All-Star break, Cobb threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings against the Red Sox, allowing just two hits.

And on June 27, he allowed two hits over eight scoreless innings against Pittsburgh.

"This team feels really good when he's on the mound," Rays manager Kevin Cash told the Times. Whenever his day comes up, the guys in the clubhouse are energized. They know we've got Alex Cobb the competitor coming out, and he's going to do everything he can to give us a chance to win."

Cobb, though, has not pitched well against the Angels in his career, going 1-2 with a 6.51 ERA in five starts. And the Angels' biggest hitters have hit Cobb especially hard.

Albert Pujols is 6-for-9 with a double and home run, and Mike Trout is 5-for-9 with two homers. Trout will play in his second game after going 1-for-5 in his return from a torn thumb ligament.

JC Ramirez, who will start for the Angels, began the season in the bullpen but is now the club leader in wins at 8-7 with a 4.46 ERA. He's coming off one of his better starts of the season, shutting out the Texas Rangers on two hits over six innings last Sunday.

Part of the reason for his success in that game was his decision to re-incorporate the four-seam fastball into his repertoire. He had all but abandoned it this season before the Texas game.

"They've been seeing the righties, the ball's been going to them (with the two-seam fastball)," Ramirez told mlb.com. "Now, they start looking for two-seam and I'll throw a four-seam, or they'll be looking for a four-seam and I'll throw a two-seam, so it'll make my day easier."

None of the Rays have faced Ramirez very often. All-Star outfielder Corey Dickerson is 1-for-4 against Ramirez, the one hit being a home run.

NY YANKEES are 15-0 (+15 Units) against the run line as a road underdog when the run line price is -190 to +165 this season.

love those Mets OVERS

Mets got the 1st YES & 1/3 of the way for the game

The Mets are 6th in home runs hit and 4th in runs allowed, an excellent combination for OVER bettors.

Mets have been another ATM for you brother! Excellent find! Any ump info today? I can't seem to find it as readily as you

only thing i have are 2 dog plays today
GL

Mets got the 1st YES

Yes Sir!

these Mets OVERS are bankroll builders