The Orioles immediately responded with a pair of homers in the first inning. Grayson Rodriguez delivered six strong innings, and Craig Kimbrel slammed the door for a series victory.
The Orioles took one on the chin yesterday, but they certainly flushed it in a hurry. Baltimore sprung for four runs in the top of the first, and Grayson Rodriguez delivered a quality start in a 6-3 victory.
The Orioles clearly wanted to make a statement after the drubbing on Saturday. Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman made quick outs, but the heart of the order followed with some quality two-out lightning.
Oakland starter Mitch Spence was a pitch away from ending the inning, but Anthony Santander had other plans. Santander hooked a low slider and kept the ball inside the foul pole for Baltimore’s first run of the game. The blast marked Santander’s first career homer in Oakland.
Ryan O’Hearn followed with a sharp single to center, and Jordan Westburg squeezed out an infield single when Spence failed to make a good throw to first. O’Hearn advanced to third on the mishap to place runners on the corners for Heston Kjerstad.
As it turned out, O’Hearn did not need the extra 90 feet. Spence grooved Kjerstad a 90-MPH cutter right down the middle, and the rookie did not miss. Kjerstad slapped the ball 406 feet to left-center, and the O’s held a four-run advantage before the first Oakland player stepped into the batter’s box.
Oakland gifted Baltimore its fifth run with some sloppy defense in the third. Santander reached when Brett Harris failed to find a shallow fly ball in the sun. Santander advanced to second on a wild pitch, and Kjerstad put the ball in play again with two outs.
Kjerstad sailed a towering fly ball to right center. Both JJ Bleday and Lawrence Butler attempted to make the play, but the ball bounced off of Bleday’s glove. Kjerstad raced all the way to third, and Santander easily scored from second.
The bats took a nap after that. Rodriguez cruised through the first five innings, but Oakland finally broke through in the sixth. Bleday worked a leadoff walk, and Rodriguez plunked Rooker to put two one with one out.
Tyler Soderstrom worked ahead in the count before punching a sinker the other way. The ball snuck down the third base line for a double, and the A’s had their first run of the game. Shea Langeliers followed with a sacrifice fly to left to trim the deficit to three.
The traffic prompted Jacob Webb to start getting loose, but Rodriguez struck out Zack Gelof to end the inning. Rodriguez somewhat surprisingly returned for the seventh, but Webb finally entered after a pair of singles to start the frame.
Webb pitched well enough to escape the inning unscathed, but it didn’t quite happen that way. He struck out Max Schuemann for the first out and generated what could have been an inning-ending double play.
Gunnar Henderson caught the throw from Ramón Urías and tagged the base for the second out, but he fired wide of first. The throwing error allowed Oakland’s third run to score, but Webb retired Miguel Andujar to end the inning with a two-run advantage.
Yennier Cano pitched well in the eighth, and Baltimore’s bats finally woke up in the top of the ninth. Ryan Mountcastle took a leadoff walk and gave his spot to pinch-runner Jorge Mateo. Mateo stole second, and Urías followed with the second walk of the inning.
Henderson delivered the clutch hit with a single right up the middle. Mateo scored with ease, and Baltimore spotted Craig Kimbrel a three-run advantage for the bottom of the ninth.
Kimbrel struck out the first two batters he faced before allowing a single to center. Kimbrel generated a harmless fly ball from Bleday to end the game.
The game marked Baltimore’s final time playing at the Oakland Coliseum. The Orioles will take tomorrow off before starting a three-game series against the Cubs.