Colorado cools off the Orioles

Goodman has 2 hits, scores winning run as Rockies halt slide

After an early delay caused by bees, some of the buzz Sunday was about Hunter Goodman.

Goodman had a memorable major league debut in front of an ecstatic group of friends and family at Camden Yards. The 23-year-old Colorado prospect had two hits and an RBI, scoring the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning of a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles that stopped the Rockies’ six-game losing streak.

The loss dropped Baltimore’s American League East lead to two games over Tampa Bay.

The game was held up for five minutes in the bottom of the first inning because of a swarm of honey bees in left-center field.

“I thought all around it was a good day,” Goodman said. “I had a lot of fun.”

Goodman was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 amateur draft, and the 23-year-old was at Double-A before he was moved up to Colorado’s top farm team, Albuquerque, on Aug. 8. After hitting .371 with nine and 33 RBIs in 15 games with the Isotopes,

Goodman was brought up to the Rockies on Sunday when they released Jurickson Profar.

His parents, Stephanie and Robert, were at Camden Yards along with his fiancée, Sydney.

Batting sixth and playing first base, Goodman was 2 for 4. He flied out in the second, struck out in the fifth, hit an RBI single off starter Jack Flaherty in the sixth for a 3-1 lead and reached on an infield single against Yennier Cano (1-3) leading off the ninth with the score 4-all.

Goodman advanced on shortstop Gunnar Henderson’s throwing error, took third on Michael Toglia’s groundout and scored on a high-chop groundout by Elias Díaz.

Colorado (49-81), one loss from its fifth straight losing season, was the first team since 1900 to lose six in a row while holding a lead in the sixth inning or later of all six.

Pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn tied the game 3-3 with an eighth-inning homer off Jake Bird. But Baltimore struggled against Colorado lefty starter Ty Blach.

“We didn’t adjust very well,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “I don’t think we swung the bats very well.”

Ryan Mountcastle went 1 for 3 with a walk for American Leaguebest Baltimore (81-49), which had been 33 games over .500 for the first time since 1997.

Marlins 2, Nationals 1: Jorge Soler hit a two-run drive for his 35th homer, and host Miami avoided a series sweep.

Luis Arraez reached on a leadoff single in the third inning before Soler connected against Trevor Williams, giving Miami a 2-1 lead. It was Soler’s 19th go-ahead homer of the season, extending his major league lead.

Jacob Stallings had two hits for the Marlins, who had dropped six of seven to fall back to .500. Washington had won five of six.

Late Saturday

Orioles 5, Rockies 4: Ryan Mountcastle doubled in two runs in the sixth inning to put Baltimore ahead for good, and the Orioles got an effective performance from their realigned bullpen.

Before the game, Baltimore placed All-Star reliever Félix Bautista on the 15-day injured list with an injury to the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Bautista will undergo further tests before the Orioles determine his status.

Kyle Bradish (9-6) struck out eight in six-plus innings, and Yennier Cano got three outs for his fifth save.

Colorado starter Chris Flexen (1-6) was charged with three runs in five-plus innings.