Rasner was solid inallowing one run on five hits in six innings and striking out three against one walk. But Olson was even better in shutting down a lineup that entered the game ranked sixth in the American League with a .262 batting average.

The left-hander went seven innings and yielding no runs on three hits with seven strikeouts against four walks to improve to 4-1.

The win moves the Orioles (25-25) back to .500  ? and a game in front of New York (25-26), which fell into last place in the American League East.

Left fielder Nick Markakis broke a scoreless tie in the sixth when he smacked a 423-foot home run over center field fence for his team-leading ninth home run of the season, bringing the crowd of 34,928 to their feet.

An inning later, third baseman Melvin Mora and Markakis hit  consecutive run-scoring singles before designated hitter Aubrey Huff‘s 400-foot three-run homer to center field capped the Orioles’ scoring and give them a six-run advantage.

“I’ve been struggling a little bit,” Markakis, who went 3-for-4 and recorded his major-league leading eighth outfield assist, said. “But that’s baseball, and I’ve been in before games working at it.”

Rasner (3-1) continued to build upon a solid season after beginning the season in AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The performance was much more unlikely for Olson, as the second-year pitcher was rocked less than a week ago by the same lineup in New York. Olson lasted just 2 2/3 innings in that start, allowing six earned runs, eight hits in an 8-0 loss.

The reason for the improvement?

“I thought that I threw more curveballs today,” Olson, who did not allow a run for the first time in 13 major league starts, said. “When I did slow the bats down I went back to my fastball and that worked well.”

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