Early hits wipe away losing streak
Four O’s players get 2 or more hits in 2nd victory this month
An early hit parade helped the Orioles build a massive early lead Saturday night in Kansas City, one they used to secure an 8-4 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Ramón Urías led the way with a pair of run-scoring singles, while Cedric Mullins doubled twice as one of four Orioles with a multi-hit game to help end a five-game losing streak and give the Orioles (29-62) their second win in July.
Urías, one of the Orioles’ hottest hitters of late, began their scoring with a single in their two-run second inning before things exploded off Royals starter Brady Singer in the third.
Ryan Mountcastle, DJ Stewart, Anthony Santander, Urías and Pedro Severino all had singles to drive in runs in the five-run third inning, and Trey Mancini hit a rare triple to begin the fourth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Mountcastle.
López returns
Right-handerJorgeLópezreturnedfromthe bereavement list for Saturday’s start and began hissecondhalfsimilarlytohowhespentthefirst half. Facing his former club in Kansas City for the first time since the Orioles claimed him on waivers last summer, López allowed one run in
the first four innings before he quickly loaded the bases in the fifth and had all three of those runners score without finishing the inning.
López entered Saturday with a 4.24 ERA from the first to the fourth inning and a 14.11 ERA from the fifth inning on.
PaulFryfinishedthatfifthinningwithoutany
furtherdamageandpitchedacleansixthbefore Dillon Tate, Tanner Scott and Tyler Wells kept the Royals scoreless the rest of the way.
Rotation update
With Matt Harvey starting the series finale Sunday, manager Brandon Hyde said Spenser Watkins will start Monday’s series-opener at the Tampa Bay Rays and John Means will start Tuesday. The All-Star left-hander has been on the injured list since June 6 recovering from a shoulder injury.