CLEVELAND -- The Orioles haven’t been scoring many early runs of late. They’ve often been playing from behind, which is not a formula for long-term success.
But sometimes, it can still work out just fine. That was the case Monday, when Baltimore erased a six-run deficit in a come-from-behind win over Arizona. It was also the case again Friday night.
After the O’s offense was blanked for the first seven innings, they orchestrated an impressive six-run rally against the Guardians’ bullpen in the eighth that lifted them to a 6-4 victory. And, of course, it was red-hot Jeremiah Jackson who delivered a go-ahead three-run home run.
Manager Craig Albernaz pushed all the right buttons once the Orioles finally got going.
Right-hander Shawn Armstrong loaded the bases with no outs via walks to Taylor Ward and Dylan Beavers that were sandwiched around hitting Pete Alonso with a pitch. At that point, Albernaz pinch-hit right-handed-hitting Johnathan Rodríguez for lefty-hitting Samuel Basallo to face left-hander Erik Sabrowski.
Rodríguez quickly got Baltimore on the board, hitting a sac fly off Sabrowski’s first pitch.
After Leody Taveras walked to reload the bases, Albernaz sent right-handed-hitting Weston Wilson to the plate in place of lefty-hitting Colton Cowser. That move worked even better, as Wilson hit a two-run double off the left-field wall to cut Cleveland’s lead to 4-3.
Sabrowski struck out Coby Mayo swinging. Then, the Guardians inserted right-hander Connor Brogdon into the game with runners on second and third and two outs.
Brogdon was promptly greeted by Jackson, who clubbed his fifth home run of the season into the left-field seats. It’s been quite a week-plus for the 26-year-old Jackson, as he’s hitting .406 (13-for-32) with 13 RBIs over his past eight games. All five of his homers have come over his past seven contests.
Jackson atoned for an earlier error. His misplay on a Steven Kwan grounder at the beginning of the bottom of the seventh started the Guardians’ rally that later featured a grand slam from Daniel Schneemann (which had accounted for all the scoring to that point).