Orioles 8, White Sox 2: Nick Markakis denied a potential two-run homer with his glove before belting one of his own to highlight a five-run eighth inning as visiting Baltimore won the opener of a three-game series.

Jonathan Schoop ripped a bases-clearing double, Nelson Cruz launched his American League-leading 32nd homer and J.J. Hardy also went deep as the Orioles improved to a majors-best 29-13 since June 30 and opened a 7 1/2-game lead in the American League East. Steve Pearce had an RBI double and matched Markakis with three hits while Bud Norris (11-7) scattered three hits over seven innings to win his third straight start.

Avisail Garcia had a two-run single to bring Chicago within 3-2 in the seventh before Conor Gillaspie's bid for a two-run homer was thwarted by a leaping catch in right field by Markakis. Baltimore quickly loaded the bases in the eighth and Schoop slapped a first-pitch sinker from Matt Lindstrom into left to extend the lead to 6-2 before Markakis drilled a slider over the wall in right for his 11th homer.

Hardy opened the scoring in the second inning by depositing a 1-0 fastball from Chris Sale (10-3) over the wall in left field for his seventh homer. Pearce had an RBI double in the fifth before Cruz led off the sixth by sending a 1-2 changeup into the left-field seats to pull even with Miami's Giancarlo Stanton for the major-league lead in homers.

Norris allowed Jordan Danks' one-out single in the third and breezed into the seventh inning before Garcia's base hit to right plated Alejandro De Aza and Alexei Ramirez. The right-hander allowed just those two runs and struck out five en route to handing the White Sox their 10th loss in 15 games.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cruz sits one homer shy of his career high, which was set with Texas during the 2009 season. ... Sale fell to 0-2 in his last four starts after permitting three runs on eight hits in six innings. He also yielded more than one homer in a game for the first time since Sept. 15, 2013. ... White Sox 2B Gordon Beckham went 0-for-3 to see his five-game hitting streak come to a halt.