The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Cleveland Guardians (74-73) 9-5 Wednesday night to finish the home stand with a 2-5 record. With 15 games remaining in the season, winning can be the only thing on the mind of the Orioles.
The Orioles spotted the Guardians a pair of runs in the first inning. With Steven Kwan on first, Chase DeLauter sent Shane Baz‘s (6-15) ninth pitch of the game 410 ft. to right center field for a two-run homerun.
The Orioles sent 14 batters to the plate in the third inning to give Baz an eight-run gift. The first seven batters reached base to score four runs before the first out was recorded. Dylan Beavers (2 for 5, R, 3 RBI) hit a two-RBI double, Christian Encarnacion-Strand (0 for 3, R, RBI) took a RBI-hit by pitch and Jackson Holliday (1 for 4, R, RBI) hit a RBI-single to account for the four runs. A sacrifice fly by Rece Hinds (0 for 2) brought home the fifth run and then back-to-back RBI-singles by Jeremiah Jackson (1 for 4, RBI) and Leody Taveras (2 for 4, R) tacked on two more runs before Beavers (2 for 5, R, 3 RBI) singled in the eighth run of the inning.
The Guardians put three runs on the board in the sixth inning on a Nathaniel Lowe two-run homerun with two outs followed by an Angel Genao single and a Patrick Bailey RBI-double. That hit marked the end of the night for Baz who finished his start with 5 runs allowed on 6 hits and a walk and 5 strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
Coby Mayo (1 for 3, R, BB) put the exclamation point on the Orioles scoring with his 22nd homerun of the season, a 407 ft. shot to left center field in the sixth inning.
Rico Garcia came into pitch with two runners on and one out in the eighth and got the Orioles out of that jam. In the ninth he gave up back-to-back one out singles before striking out Jose Ramirez and Jo Adell to end the game and earn his seventh save of the season.
Wednesday’s win was a nice bounce back from Tuesday’s 9-5 loss but the O’s will need more of these wins to stay in the AL Wild Card race.
2026 Record: 71-76
Next Game: Fri. 9/11 @ 7:07 pm @ Toronto Blue Jays
