O’s rally in 9th again
Mullins’ 3-run homer caps 2nd consecutive late comeback win
Another day, another ninth-inning comeback for the Baltimore Orioles.
Cedric Mullins hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning to rally the visiting Orioles past the Houston Astros 8-7 on Monday night in a matchup of American League division leaders.
The stirring victory came a day after Baltimore scored the tying run in the ninth inning against Tampa Bay and went on to win 5-4 in 11 innings on a sacrifice fly by Mullins.
“Extremely impressed by the grit of our team,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “How tough they are, how we continue to battle.”
Houston led by two entering the ninth before closer Ryan Pressly (3-5) allowed consecutive singles to Ryan O’Hearn and Austin Hays with one out. Mullins then hit his 15th homer into the seats in right field to put the
Orioles on top.
“It was devastating,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “But you’ve got to get over it. … That hurt a lot.”
Yordan Alvarez reached second to start the bottom of the ninth on a throwing error by Gold Glove third baseman Ramón Urías. Pinch-runner Jake Meyers advanced when José Abreu lined out to right field, but held at third when Kyle Tucker grounded out to second. Cionel Pérez was replaced by Yennier Cano, who struck out Chas McCormick to get his seventh save.
Gunnar Henderson got three hits, including his AL-leading ninth triple, and O’Hearn had a career-high five hits with two RBIs for the AL East-leading Orioles a day after they clinched their first postseason berth since 2016.
“I seemed to have a magic wand tonight,” O’Hearn said. “Putting together good at-bats, balls were finding holes and it was awesome.”
Baltimore moved 2 ½ games ahead of the second-place Rays.
Mike Baumann (10-1) pitched 1⅓ innings for the win.
Houston starter Justin Verlander, a former Old Dominion star, allowed eight hits and three runs in six innings.
Baltimore starter John Means yielded four hits and a run over five innings in his second start since having Tommy John surgery in April 2022.
Mike Clevinger pitched a six-hitter for his third career complete game, and Chicago beat host Washington.
Luis Robert Jr. hit a threerun homer for Chicago, which improved to 5-12 in September. Tim Anderson had four of the team’s 15 hits.
Clevinger was working on a shutout before Dominic Smith hit his 10th homer with two out in the ninth inning.
Washington was eliminated from postseason contention with the loss. The Nationals, who have dropped six of seven and 16 of 21, have missed the playoffs in four consecutive seasons since winning the World Series in 2019.