Jacob Stallings came off the bench and delivered a clutch two-run double after another Orioles catching injury.
The Orioles and Braves combined for a competitive back-and-forth contest today in Atlanta. The game had it all with lead changes, towering homers, extra innings, and another Orioles catching injury. In the end, Ramón Laureano and backup catcher Jacob Stallings came through in a 9-6 Orioles win.
Dean Kremer failed to build off his recent success working in day games. The righty ran into trouble right away with Matt Olson smacking a one-out double 105 MPH off the bat in the first inning. Kremer followed with a get-me-over type of cutter to Austin Riley, but Riley ambushed the middle-middle first pitch. Riley sent the ball 429 feet to dead center, and the Braves took a 2-0 lead after one.
Lefty opener Aaron Bummer kept the Orioles off balance in his first two innings, and Atlanta sent him back out for the third. Bummer hung a sweeper to Tyler O’Neill, and the big guy reminded everyone what he can do against left-handed pitching. O’Neill skied a ball 445 feet into the left field stands.
O’Neill cut the deficit in half, but the Orioles kept their foot on the gas. Cedric Mullins walked and stole second before advancing to third on a grounder by Jackson Holliday. Jordan Westburg could have settled for a sacrifice fly, but the third baseman wanted more. Westburg destroyed a ball 461 feet that found the water around the batter’s eye in center field. The two-run homer provided the Orioles a 3-2 lead heading toward the top of the third.
Kremer eliminated any hope for a shutdown inning right away. Kremer left a curveball up to Olson, and the 31-year-old evened the score with his 17th homer of the season.
The game continued to swing back and forth in the fourth inning. Ryan O’Hearn ripped a double down the right-field line, and Colton Cowser delivered Baltimore’s third big fly of the day. Cowser got all of a cutter and sent it 426 feet for a left-on-left blast. The swing provided Kremer and the Orioles a 5-3 lead.
Kremer made a slightly better attempt at a shutdown inning by recording the first two outs, but he allowed a two-out double to the nine hitter Nick Allen. Kremer followed with a walk to Ronald Acuña Jr., and Olson got the best of Kremer once again. Olson drove in Allen with a base hit to right field, and Riley lined a ball to the left field corner.
Acuña scored the tying run with ease, and Olson broke for home looking to secure the lead. Cowser corralled the ball, fired a strike to Gunnar Henderson, and Henderson made a strong throw to secure the third out at home plate. Gary Sánchez caught the ball and applied the tag, but he appeared to aggravate his right knee on the play. Sánchez had banged his knee against the wall making a play on a foul ball earlier in the contest, and he left the game after the fourth inning.
The Birds went quiet over the next two innings, and Atlanta stole the lead in the seventh inning. Scott Blewett allowed a leadoff single to Allen before walking the bases loaded. Blewett recovered with an impressive strikeout of Riley, but Jurickson Profar hit a weak grounder that only allowed for a play at first. Blewett generated a harmless ground ball to end the inning and escaped with only one run allowed.
This time it was Baltimore’s turn to strike back. Mullins struck with a one-out double, and Jackson Holliday snuck a ball beyond a diving Ozzie Albies. Holliday’s clutch hit evened the score at six, and Baltimore’s bullpen ensured it stayed that way. Andrew Kittredge, Bryan Baker and Félix Bautista posted zeros to help guide the game to extra innings.
Mullins walked and stole second in the ninth, but Westburg popped out to end the inning.
Baltimore’s offense went out and won the game in the top of the tenth. Henderson moved Westburg to third with a grounder to the right side, and Ramón Laureano came through with another big knock. Laureano ran the count full before tucking a splitter on the right side of the left field line for a 7-6 advantage.
Atlanta intentionally walked Ryan O’Hearn to get to backup catcher Jacob Stallings. Most of Birdland was just hoping that Stallings would stay out of the double play, but the former Pirate made the most of his opportunity. Stallings worked the count full before punching a double of his own to left field.
Laureano raced home, and Buck Britton continued with his windmill antics at third base. O’Hearn turned and burned his way toward home, and a throw slightly off the mark came in too late. The backup backstop provided Baltimore a three-run advantage, and Tony Mansolino turned to Yennier Cano to close things out.
Cano retired the side in order to earn his first save of the season.
Mansolino said that Sánchez underwent an MRI after the game and that he would have more information tomorrow.
The extra-inning win also secured a series victory for Baltimore. Both teams moved to 39-49 on the year, and the O’s can secure a sweep in a early Roku game at 11:35 tomorrow morning.