BALTIMORE — For one inning, everything appeared to be going Cleveland’s way. Then came the third.
The Baltimore Orioles sent 13 batters to the plate and scored eight runs in the inning, erasing an early Guardians lead before holding on for a 9-5 victory Wednesday night at Camden Yards.
Cleveland jumped in front when Chase DeLauter followed a Steven Kwan single with a two-run home run to right-center field. The blast was DeLauter’s 14th of the season and gave the Guardians a 2-0 advantage.
That was as cool as this game ever got.
Leody Taveras and Carlos Narváez opened the bottom of the third with consecutive singles before Dylan Beavers dropped a two-run double into shallow left field, tying the game. Pete Alonso walked, Coby Mayo singled and Foster Griffin hit Christian Encarnacion-Strand with the bases loaded to force home the go-ahead run.
Jackson Holliday followed with an RBI single before former Red prospect Rece Hinds added a sacrifice fly. Jeremiah Jackson and Taveras each drove home another run, and Beavers capped the inning with an RBI single off Matt Festa to give Baltimore an 8-2 lead.
Griffin was charged with all eight runs and allowed seven hits and two walks over just 2? innings. He struck out four but needed 62 pitches to record seven outs.
To Cleveland’s credit, the offense did not completely fold.
Travis Bazzana walked ahead of Nathaniel Lowe’s two-run home run in the sixth, cutting Baltimore’s lead to 8-4. Angel Genao then singled and scored on Patrick Bailey’s RBI double, bringing the Guardians within three.
The Orioles answered in the bottom half when Mayo launched his 22nd home run of the season, pushing the lead back to 9-5 and ending Cleveland’s comeback attempt.
Cleveland collected 10 hits, with Kwan, DeLauter and Genao recording two apiece. DeLauter and Lowe each drove in two runs, but the Guardians were unable to recover from the one inning that decided the game.
The loss dropped Cleveland to 74-73 and gave Baltimore the series win.
What’s Next: The Guardians have Thursday off before opening a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night at Target Field. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET.
