It was the case of not finding the strike zone. The Orioles scored two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning and defeated the Red Sox, 5-4, at Camden Yards on Saturday night. Baltimore's losing streak was snapped at six games and improved the club's record to 13-14.
The Red Sox had taken a 4-3 lead in the 10th, but closer Matt Barnes couldn’t find the plate. Rio Ruiz scored on a wild pitch, and before anyone knew it, the Orioles had the bases loaded. Pedro Severino stepped up, hitting a single to left-center field and scoring Cedric Mullins.
“It was extremely exciting when you are coming off a six-game losing streak,” said right-hander Alex Cobb, who pitched five strong innings and ended up with a no-decision. “Any type of win is going to be exciting right now. It was one of those days we had to force a win out. We got it. … We got the big hits when we needed them.”
Cobb believes another winning streak is coming. He said the Orioles have the roster to put another one together. However, Anthony Santander, the MVP of the team so far in 2020, can’t do it by himself.
“We have some guys who are high-caliber big league players. … We are going to need more production from other guys,” Cobb said.
At first, it looked like the Orioles were going to lose the game after a rough top of the 10th inning. Right-hander Cole Sulser couldn’t find the plate and it proved costly. Red Sox left-fielder Alex Verdugo started the inning at second base as the automatic runner per the new extra-innings rule. Shockingly, Sulser couldn’t throw strikes. All of a sudden the Red Sox had the bases loaded and Verdugo scored on a walk to Mitch Moreland.
It took reliever Miguel Castro to come in and stop the bleeding. He struck out Christian Vázquez and was able to get Kevin Pillar to pop out to end the inning.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said he kept Sulser in the game because he was successful against left-handed-hitters before Saturday’s game. It also helped that Sulser punched out Rafael Devers that inning.
“It looked like [Sulser] lost command. But one of the heroes of the game was Miguel Castro coming in in a big spot with the bases loaded and getting two [big] outs [to keep the Red Sox from scoring more than one run],” Hyde said. “It gave us an opportunity [to score in the bottom of the inning].”
During the first seven innings, the Orioles couldn’t do anything offensively against left-hander Martín Pérez, who pitched seven solid innings and left the game with a 3-1 lead. Baltimore’s only run against the left-hander came in the second inning, when Pat Valaika hit a solo homer. It was the third straight game in which Valaika went yard.
Baltimore had another opportunity to score off Pérez in the seventh inning. The Orioles had two runners on base for the first time in the game with one out, but Ryan Mountcastle grounded out and Bryan Holaday flied out to right fielder Pillar to end the threat.
Pérez was out of the game by the eighth inning when Red Sox left-hander Josh Taylor allowed a game-tying two-run homer to Santander. The homer extended Santander's hitting streak to a Major League-leading 17 games.
“Anthony is having a great year offensively. He plays great defense. He is in the lineup every day. He has become an impact player in our game,” Hyde said. “He takes really good at-bats. He is just coming into his own offensively, but he is not one dimensional. He runs the bases well. He plays really good defense and is a great team guy.”
Saturday was also a night of firsts for both Mountcastle -- the O's No. 5 prospect per MLB Pipeline -- and Ramón Urías, who each recorded their first hit in the Majors. Mountcastle's came on a soft grounder to Devers at third in the ninth and Urías' on a grounder to left field in the third.