Orioles finally defend home field vs. Red Sox
BALTIMORE — Cedric Mullins raced around the bases for a bizarre bloop triple, Trey Mancini hit a goahead solo home run, and the Baltimore Orioles four-hit the Boston Red Sox for a 4-1 victory Monday night.
The Orioles had dropped their first six games at Camden Yards this season against the Red Sox and avoided a four-game sweep. It was the first time the home team won in 10 games between the teams this season.
“To salvage a series like this, it’s not exactly easy to do when you’re down 3-0 in a series,” Mancini said. “They’ve been playing great baseball over there. That’s a fantastic team they have. To win the fourth one and go into a two-game series tomorrow feels good and shows the resolve this team has.”
Boston still has the best record (22-14) and the best road record (125) in baseball.
Mullins’ heads-up baserunning helped the O’s add an insurance run in the eighth. He hit a high popup into shallow left field leading off, finding an open spot against Boston’s shifted infield defense. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts raced over from near second base and deflected the ball twice before it fell.
Mullins alertly sprinted all the way to third, diving under catcher Christian Vazquez’s tag.
“It was a fluke play,” Boston Manager Alex Cora said. “Everybody reacted the right way. A good heads-up play by their guy.”
Two batters later, Mancini’s sharp single against Boston’s drawn-in infield made it 3-1, and Freddy Galvis’ sacrifice fly later in the inning supplied the Orioles’ final run.
Baltimore’s bullpen combined for 31/3 scoreless innings, retiring all 10 batters it faced. Tanner Scott (2-2) struck out his only hitter to complete the sixth, Travis Lakins Sr. and Paul Fry both completed perfect innings, and Cesar Valdez worked the ninth for his eighth save.
Mancini put the Orioles ahead 2-1 with a blast to center off reliever Matt Andriese (1-2) to lead off the sixth.
ANGELS 5, ASTROS 4 Jared Walsh homered and matched a career high with four hits, Justin Upton also connected and the Los Angeles Angels rallied in the sixth inning to beat Houston. Walsh also doubled and had two RBI as the Angels got their third win in four games. The Angels trailed by three and Houston starter Luis Garcia had retired seven in a row before Walsh homered to the corner of right field with one out in the sixth. Upton followed with his shot. Brandon Bielak (1-2) walked Jose Rojas before a double by Taylor Ward. The Angels tied it when Rojas scored on Phil Gosselin’s single on a groundball that shortstop Carlos Correa didn’t field cleanly. The Angels went on top 5-4 when Ward scored on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Butera.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
REDS 14, PIRATES 1 Tyler Naquin homered and drove in four runs, Tucker Barnhart keyed a six-run fourth inning with a two-run double and Cincinnati rolled Pittsburgh. Naquin’s three-run shot came in the seventh inning, bounced off the right-field foul pole and made it 11-1. He also doubled home a run during the fourth-inning outburst. Barnhart’s double to left-center field was the big blow in the fourth as the Reds snapped a 1-1 tie. Nick Senzel capped the inning with a two-run single. Eugenio Suarez broke an 0-for-15 slump with a solo home run for Cincinnati in the second. Nick Castellanos capped the scoring in the eighth with a two-run double.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, MARLINS 2 Luke Weaver pitched scoreless ball into the seventh inning for his best outing in nearly a month, which helped Arizona snap a six-game losing streak with a win over Miami. Weaver (2-3) cruised though 61/3 innings, giving up 4 hits while striking out 6. David Peralta had a triple and a double, while Asdrubal Cabrera added a two-run double.
INTERLEAGUE
GIANTS 3, RANGERS 1 Mauricio Dubon broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-out, pinchhit single, Alex Wood won for the fourth time in five starts and San Francisco beat Texas. Brandon Belt hit his eighth home run and Mike Yastrzemski doubled for San Francisco. Wood (4-0) had 7 strikeouts and allowed 1 run in 7 innings.