The Orioles entered this homestand in need of a series win to keep their slim playoff chances afloat. Baltimore dropped the opener on Tuesday, and the team continued to spiral out of contention tonight.
Pete Alonso gave the Orioles an early two-run lead, but Dean Kremer allowed three home runs in the fifth inning. Chicago struck for five more in the seventh, and Baltimore’s rally fell short in a 9-7 defeat.
Kremer made his first mistake in the top of the third inning. The righty threw Pete Crow-Armstrong
three consecutive splitters in the same location. Crow-Armstrong went swing and a miss for strike one, swing and a miss for strike two, swing and a solo home run for a 1-0 lead.
Baltimore’s offense showed some life in the fourth inning. Blaze Alexander and Jackson Holliday put runners on the corners with a pair of singles. Gunnar Henderson bounced into a double play, but the twin killing still allowed the tying run to score.
Kremer posted a zero in the fourth with some help from a caught stealing by Adley Rutschman, and Alonso gave the Birds the lead with a two-run blast in the bottom half. Unfortunately, Kremer failed to deliver the shutdown inning.
Michael Conforto launched the first pitch of the inning over the fence in right field, and Carson Kelly obliterated the second pitch of the frame to tie the game at three. Conforto ambushed a first-pitch fastball that was north of the strike zone, but Kremer grooved a cutter to Kelly.
Kremer retired Dansby Swanson for the first out, but Crow-Armstrong stepped in for his second blast of the game. The All Star gave the Cubs the lead with a solo shot to center, and the Orioles never recovered.
Holliday led off the bottom half with an opposite-field single, but Henderson grounded into his second double play of the evening. Rico Garcia entered and posted a zero in the sixth, but Chicago broke the game open in the seventh.
Garcia retired Conforto before allowing a single and a walk. Craig Albernaz summoned Grant Wolfram to face Crow-Armstrong, and Wolfram struggled to find the strike zone. The lefty walked PCA to load the bases and surrendered a sacrifice fly to Alex Bregman.
Wolfram came within one strike of ending the inning with the game still in reach, but he lost Michael Bush to reload the bases. The Cubs scored their sixth run of the game on a wild pitch by Wolfram, and Seiya Suzuki put the game out of reach with a three-run blast.
The Orioles did their best to battle back. Tyler O’Neill hit a pinch-hit home run to start the seventh, and the Orioles used three singles to manufacture their fifth run of the game. Alonso stepped up with two outs and runners on the corners, but the Polar Bear flew out to center.
Albert Suárez tossed a scoreless eighth, and Baltimore continued to claw their way back in the eighth inning. Coby Mayo launched a ball to the second deck in left field, and O’Neill followed with his second home run of the game.
Holliday hit a ball off the top of the wall for his fourth hit of the game, and Henderson lined a ball up the middle at 103.6 MPH. Henderson nearly broke through for his first hit of the game, but Swanson made a diving catch to rob Baltimore’s shortstop and keep the lead at two.
Tyler Wells tossed a scoreless ninth, but Baltimore’s two, three and four hitters went quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Rutschman, Ward and Alonso all grounded out to prevent the tying run from ever reaching the plate.
The Orioles would have killed for seven runs in several of their recent losses, but they were done in by an 8-0 run tonight. Holliday finished 4-for-4, O’Neill tallied 40% of his home runs this season, and Mayo showed off his power against lefties. Both Ward and Dylan Beavers notched multi-hit games, but the pitching let the team down.
Baltimore fell to 42-51. The O’s will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow with Trevor Rogers on the mound.
