Holliday gains first hit, scores key run
Rookie able to spark Orioles past Brewers
Jackson Holliday delivered his first big league hit in the seventh inning, then scored the tiebreaking run to help Baltimore avoid a sweep with a victory over Milwaukee.
Holliday, baseball’s top-ranked prospect, struck out in his first two at-bats and was 0 for 13 with nine K’s since his call-up from the Norfolk Tides before he came up with the Orioles down 4-3 in the seventh. With a man on first and no outs, Holliday pulled a 99 mph offering from Abner Uribe (1-1) into right field for a single. Then the rookie infielder flashed his speed, barely making it from first to third on Gunnar Henderson’s RBI single.
That was an important extra base, because it enabled Holliday to score and put the Orioles up 5-4 when Adley Rutschman bounced into a double play. Colton Cowser went deep in the following inning for Baltimore’s third solo homer of the day. Holliday stranded two runners that inning with a groundout.
“Pretty relieved,” Holliday said. “It’s very nice to finally get it out of the way and just kind of enjoy playing baseball now versus trying to fight for a hit. …
“If you go 0-for for three or four games, it’s going to happen in baseball. I’d prefer it not to be at the beginning of my career, but it’s going to happen. I’m glad to hopefully learn from it.”
Yennier Cano (2-1) got four outs for the win, although he allowed a solo homer in the seventh by Blake Perkins that put the Brewers up 4-3. Danny Coulombe finished the eighth, and Craig Kimbrel allowed two singles in the ninth but struck out three for his third save.
Athletics 7, Nationals 6:
Abraham Toro hit a go-ahead, two-run single in a six-run sixth inning, and host Oakland rallied from five runs down to win three straight series for the first time since 2021.
Oakland took two of three for the third straight series, having gone 4-2 on a trip to Detroit and Texas. The A’s are 6-3 following a 1-6 start. They had not won three consecutive series since winning five in a row from May 31 to June 16, 2021.
A crowd of 8,637 attended the game, raising the total to 17,744 for the three game series. The A’s have announced plans to play in Sacramento from 2025-27 until a new ballpark is built in Las Vegas.
Washington led 6-1 in the sixth before Toro walked against Trevor Williams leading off and JJ Bleday hit a one-out double.
Tyler Nevin and Lawrence Buter had two-out, run-scoring singles off Derek Law (0-1), whose run-scoring wild pitch cut Oakland’s deficit to 6-4.