A day after Hanser Alberto’s two home run game, his double play partner Jose Iglesias hits two as well to lead the Orioles to a 7-5 win over the Pirates.
Orioles Lineup vs RHP Chris Stratton
- Austin Hays – CF
- Andrew Velazquez – CF
- Dwight Smith Jr. – LF
- Renato Nunez – 1B
- Rio Ruiz – 3B
- Pedro Severino – C
- Anthony Santander – RF
- Hanser Alberto – 2B
- Jose Iglesias – SS
Starting pitcher: Wade LeBlanc (0-1, 4.26)
The Orioles got on the board first in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Renato Nunez, who had doubled earlier in the inning, scored when Pedro Severino grounded into a double play to make it 1-0.
The added to their lead the next inning when Austin Hays hit a two-out solo home run (3) to left to make it 2-0.
DH Colin Moran got the Pirates on the board with a 5th inning solo home run to cut the lead to 2-1. The Orioles though got that run back in the bottom of the 5th when Jose Iglesias hit his first Orioles homer to left, making it 3-1.
In the 6th inning, the Pirates got to Orioles starter Wade LeBlanc when catcher Jacon Stalling hit a two-out, two run homer to tie up the game. At just 71 pitches, Hyde left LeBlanc in and Erik Gonzalez teed off for a back to back homer that gave the Pirates a 4-3 lead.
Pirates starter Chris Stratton was cruising since the Iglesias homer until he face Iglesias again with two outs on the bottom of the 7th, when Iglesias muscled up for a deep home run to center to tie the game at 4-4. It’s a two-homer game for the Orioles shortstop.
Wit the game knotted up and LeBlanc at 94 pitches and with the 2-3-4 batters coming up, Brandon Hyde went to his pen and brought in Richard Bleier. Bleier though hit the first batter before getting Josh Bell to fly out. Then, Gregory Polanco smacked a single into RF to put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Needing a strikeout, Hyde went to Hunter Harvey to face Stallings who homered in his last at bat. Stallings was ready though and hit a long fly ball to centerfield that Hays caught on the warning track, plenty deep enough to score the go ahead run and make it 5-4, Pirates. Harvey struck out Gonzalez to end the inning.
At 89-pitches, the POirates let Stallings start the bottom of the 8th but Andrew Velazquez ended his night with a sharp single up the middle. That brought right-hander Michael Feliz into the game. Dwight smith Jr. met Feliz with a hard single to right but too hard to advance Velazquez to third base bringing up the red hot Renato Nunez with runners on 1st and 2nd. Nunez hit a hard liner towards right field but second baseman Adam Frazier dove and caught the ball to rob Nunez his 4th hit of the game and potentially an Orioles tie run to score.
Feliz then got Rio Ruiz to strikeout looking but Pedro Severino lined a single up the more that allowed Velazquez to slide head first in with the tie run, making it all tied up at 5-5. That brought up Anthony Santander with runners on 1st and 2nd. Santder, who was batted .118 on the season and had been ofer the day, lined a Feliz pitch down the left field line bringing in both runners with him moving to 3rd on the throw to the plate that wasn’t in time as the Orioles jump back to a 7-5 lead.
Hyde brought in closer Mychal Givens to attempt to close out the game in the 9th. Givens was perfect striking out two of the three batters he faced to pick up his 3rd save. Orioles win 7-5 and improve to 7-8 on the season after their 4th straight win. Harvey picks up his first win of the season.
Orioles Player of the Game: Jose Iglesias (2-for-2, 2 HRs, 2 RBI)
Minor League Highlights
Norfolk win 5-1 (2-1)
Bruce Zimmerman allowed just one earned run over six innings while striking out four, and Ryan Mountcastle (1) hit a three-run homer to lead the Tides to a 5-1 win. Cedric Mullins went 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.
Bowie win 3-2 in 10 innings (2-1)
Kyle Bradish, who came over in the Dylan Bundy trade from Anaheim, allowed two runs over five innings while striking out four. CF Ryan McKenna went 2-for-5 to lead the offense.
Keys won 8-4 (2-1)
Adley Rutschman went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI to lead the Keys to a win. Keys starter Brenan Hanifee allowed four runs over six innings of work. SS Cadyn Grenier had a great night at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI and two walks.
Delmarva split double header losing 1-9, and winning 6-3 (1-3)
In the first game, a big error by SS Darrel Hernaiz allowed for six unearned runs to score in the first inning and saw starter Kevin McGee pulled due to pitch count after getting just two outs. Ryan Conroy came in and allowed just one run over four innings of work, striking out five. Joseph Ortiz went 1-for-2 with a solo home run to account for the Shorebird scoring.
In game two, Conner Gillespie got the start and struck out seven in 5 IP but also allowed three earned runs. Clay Fisher homered and Andrew Daschbach went 2-for-4 to lead the offense.
