BALTIMORE–What happened? Gary Sánchez came off the injured list and gave the Orioles some punch against left-handed pitching.
Sánchez, who was out because of right wrist inflammation, had gone hitless in 16 at-bats against left-handers. In his first two at-bats against Angels starter Tyler Anderson, he grounded into a double play and struck out.
In the sixth, however, his first home run as an Oriole followed Cedric Mullins’ two-run homer, providing the Orioles with their margin of victory in a 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels before 26,313 at Camden Yards on Saturday.
The win allowed the Orioles (29-40) to win the series against Los Angeles (33-36). The Orioles beat the Angels in two of three games last month in Anaheim.
Mullins’ 11th home run, his first since May 19th, scored Ramón Laureano, who walked against Anderson (2-4). Sánchez then homered to give the Orioles a 6-4 lead. Both home runs traveled 394 feet and both were on changeups.
“It felt good. Even more so that we got the win,” Sánchez said through a team translator. “We got that win, we won the series. That’s important. It’s important for us to get these wins going forward.”
Mullins missed time with a strained right hamstring and returned on Tuesday.
“Just continuing the fight,” he said. “I think today we stuck to our plan really well. We wanted to be aggressive because he was going to throw a lot of strikes early. It paid off. We put some good swings on the ball and we pulled a win out.”
Mike Trout’s two-run home run against Oriole starter Tomoyuki Sugano gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead in the first. The Orioles scored in the bottom of the first when Jordan Westburg’s grounder to third scored Jackson Holliday, who had doubled.
The Orioles took a 3-2 lead in the third on RBI singles by Gunnar Henderson and Westburg against Anderson. Catcher Adley Rutschman started the rally with a two-out single and moved to second on a wild pitch. He scored on hit to right by Henderson, who then stole second and came home on Westburg’s single to right. Third base coach Buck Britton was aggressive in waving both runners home.
Taylor Ward’s RBI double against Sugano in the fifth tied it at 3.
Luis Rengifo’s leadoff home run in the sixth against Keegan Akin (2-0) put the Angels ahead, 4-3.
Seranthony Domínguez pitched a scoreless seventh. Rengifo hit his second home run with one out in the eighth against Andrew Kittredge. The inning ended when Zach Neto tried to steal second with Bryan Baker pitching and was thrown out by Rutschman.
Félix Bautista threw a hitless ninth for his 14th save. The highlight was an at-bat by Trout that featured six consecutive fastballs, two of which hit 100 mph, and ended on a fly ball to right.
Sugano allowed three runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings, his second straight outing of fewer than five innings.
“He’s been a tick off,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “What that is, I’m not quite sure. I think some of the pitches have been a little bit off the plate. Hasn’t been on the plate as much.”
Orioles outfielder Tyler O’Neill has been returned from his rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk. O’Neill, who’s been on the 10-day injured list with a left shoulder injury, has received an injection in his AC joint and will have no activity for a week.
What happened to O’Hearn? Ryan O’Hearn was scratched from the lineup with left ankle discomfort. He was clipped by the Angels’ Zach Neto in the seventh inning of Friday night’s game.
“We checked it out in the moment. It was fine,” Mansolino said. “Came in today, it was sore. My guess is that if this is September, and we’re trying to win the pennant, he’s probably playing today. I think with the idea that it’s still pretty early in the season, we want to take care of it. He was available to pinch-hit.”
Can the Orioles come back? The Orioles fell to their low point, 16-34 on May 24th. Since then they’re 13-6. They’re still 11 games under .500.
“In terms of how many games we have left and where we’re at right now, there’s going to be some losses mixed in there, of course,” Mullins said. “But we continue to try for good stretches, put a couple streaks on the board and see where we’re at.”
What does it mean? The Orioles will try for their third series sweep on Sunday. After that comes a tough seven-game road trip to Tampa Bay and New York.
What’s the stat of the day? Luis Vázquez pinch-ran in the eighth. He’s the 47th player used by the Orioles this season.
What’s the word? “He can definitely swing the bat. It was encouraging to see him get his swing off today, put one over the wall — something that we expect out of him, of course.”-Mullins on Sánchez
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Triple-A Norfolk’s game with Nashville was rained out.
What’s next? Cade Povich (1-5, 5.46) will face Yusei Kikuchi (2-5, 2.92) on Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com