Mullins’ walk-off homer gives Orioles sweep
Suárez tosses gem after promotion from Tides
Cedric Mullins hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday to give the Baltimore Orioles a 4-2 victory over Minnesota and a three-game sweep of the Twins at Camden Yards.
“I wasn’t trying to do too much right there,” Mullins said. “Mounty (Ryan Mountcastle) got us going with a single. I was trying to follow it up with another single.”
With one on and one out, Mullins hit a drive to right field off Griffin Jax (1-2) for his fifth homer of the year. Winner Craig Kimbrel (3-0) worked a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.
Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander also went deep Wednesday for the Orioles, their fifth straight game with at least three home runs. Baltimore had a streak that long only twice before in franchise history, in 1996 and 1987.
Pablo López allowed a leadoff homer to Henderson in the first but was outstanding after that. He exited after six innings and 87 pitches, having allowed a run and two hits with seven strikeouts.
Baltimore’s Albert Suárez pitched 5 ⅔ scoreless innings in his first big league appearance in seven years. The 34-year-old Suárez was called up from the Triple-A Norfolk Tides before the game because the Orioles needed somebody to pitch after Tyler Wells went on the injured list the previous day.
“I worked hard for it. I think when you work hard and you have faith in something, it happens,” Suárez said. “I think I enjoyed this moment more than the first time I got called up.”
Nationals 2, Dodgers 0: CJ Abrams homered in the first at-bat of the game, and Washington took its second victory of a three-game series in Los Angeles.
Nationals starter Jake Irvin (1-1) threw six innings and gave up just four hits. Landon Knack took the loss in his major league debut for the Dodgers.
After a five-hit game the night before, Dodgers star Mookie Betts was 0 for 4. Shohei Ohtani was 3 for 4 with three singles. Abrams smacked the second pitch of the game to right-center field for his third career leadoff home run. Joey Meneses hit a sacrifice fly to center to score a run for a 2-0 lead, also in the first.
Kyle Finnegan earned his seventh save of the season.
Late Tuesday
Orioles 11, Twins 3: Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg and Ryan O’Hearn homered, and Grayson Rodriguez pitched six solid innings for a win.
Colton Cowser had two more hits for the Orioles. Rodriguez (3-0) allowed two runs and four hits. He walked three and struck out six.
It was the fourth straight game Baltimore homered at least three times, the first time the team had a streak that long since 2013.
Dodgers 6, Nationals 2: Mookie Betts tied his career high with five hits, doubling twice and driving in two runs to lead Los Angeles to a home victory.
Betts raised his average to a major league-leading .388. It was the third five-hit game of Betts’ MLB career, his first since Aug. 23 against Cleveland.
Andy Pages, a 23-year-old Cuban outfielder, went 1 for 4 in his major league debut for the Dodgers. He lined an opposite-field single to right on the first pitch he saw, a 91.9 mph fastball in the second inning, then scored on Austin Barnes’ single.
Former Old Dominion star Ryan Yarbrough (2-0) gave up two runs, two hits and three walks in five innings of relief to win for the Dodgers.
Jesse Winker hit a two-run homer for the Nationals.