Orioles bounce back from blowing lead with 10th-inning rally

WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Orioles were far from perfect against the Athletics in Friday’s series opener at Sutter Health Park.

But they were good enough.

After squandering the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, Baltimore pushed Friday’s contest in West Sacramento to extra innings and came through there for a key win in the American League Wild Card race. Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand delivered back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the 10th, lifting Baltimore to a 4-3 win over the A’s.

With the victory -- the club’s fifth in its past seven games -- and the Guardians’ loss to the Royals, the O’s are now just two games out of the third AL Wild Card spot. They have a chance to continue making up ground with their next five games against the A’s and Rockies.

Starter Brandon Young pitched seven strong innings for the Orioles, allowing just one run, before reliever Rico Garcia gave up the lead in the eighth. But with two outs in the 10th, Mayo punched an opposite-field single into right, and Encarnacion-Strand followed with another run-scoring hit.