SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On a night when runs were at a premium, and their bullpen opened the door for an Athletics comeback, the Baltimore Orioles needed a rally.
Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand delivered. The two infielders came through with clutch RBI singles in the 10th inning Friday to help the Orioles shake off an eighth-inning hiccup by Rico Garcia for a 4-3 win. Alex Hoppe allowed the A’s to pull back to within one in the bottom half of the frame, but he held on for his first career MLB save.
Baltimore (66-69) picked up its fifth win in its past seven games and pulled to within two games of the Cleveland Guardians for the third wild-card spot in the American League.
Brandon Young mowed down the A’s with seven innings of one-run baseball to send the Orioles into the late innings with a lead, but Garcia allowed them to tie it on an RBI single by right fielder Lawrence Butler in the eighth. It took an outfield assist by Dylan Beavers, cutting down second baseman Jeff McNeil trying to score from first, to keep the game tied.
Although it did cost Young from reaching double-digit wins on the season, the Orioles’ other relievers picked Garcia up. Yennier Cano got them out of the eighth to prevent further damage, and Andrew Kittredge tossed a scoreless ninth. That gave the lineup a chance to finally break through with the automatic runner at second base, and Mayo cashed in with a single to right field that Lawrence Butler bobbled for no play at the plate.
Encarnacion-Strand then followed with an RBI single of his own in a hit that loomed large. Hoppe, acquired from the Seattle Mariners at the deadline in the Taylor Ward trade, allowed a run-scoring hit to infielder Zack Gelof in the bottom of the 10th before getting Butler to ground out to end the game.
Young was efficient as he was methodical, getting out in front against nearly every batter he faced and limiting the Athletics to five hits — with one solo home run — for one of his best outings of the season. Although he had been relatively shaky of late with a 4.91 ERA over his past five starts, he returned to form Friday to look more like the pitcher who had been the Orioles’ biggest success story of the season.
His seven innings matched his season high and, while a solo home run by catcher Jonah Heim in the seventh spoiled his chance at a shutout, Young did well to limit traffic on the base paths.
The Orioles improved to 18-5 with Young on the mound this season, their best mark of any starter on the staff. He lowered his ERA to 3.38 with the performance.
A pair of early runs appeared at first to be all Young and the Orioles’ bullpen would need. Mayo reached on a hit by pitch against A’s starter Jacob Lopez in the second, and he later came around to score on a two-out single by Beavers. The Orioles then picked up an unearned run one batter later when Carlos Narváez hit a dribbler up the first-base line that Lopez couldn’t handle. The pitcher and catcher collided, allowing Leody Taveras to score.
They nearly scored another when Blaze Alexander, leading off and starting at shortstop after being reinstated from the injured list before the game, hit a ground ball that ricocheted off the first base bag and into the air. However, Beavers got caught too far off the third base bag, and he tried to dash home only to be thrown out on the play.
After that, the offense struggled to come through with runners in scoring position. They had an opportunity for some insurance in the sixth when Colton Cowser collected a pinch-hit double, and the A’s walked Beavers with two outs, but manager Craig Albernaz opted not to pinch-hit for Narváez, and he grounded out to end the inning.
It wouldn’t be until the 10th that they would get another chance like that, and they made sure not to waste it a second time.
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