BALTIMORE — What appeared to be an early blowout quickly became a ballgame Tuesday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Fortunately for the Cleveland Guardians, their offense had multiple answers.
Cleveland watched most of a six-run lead disappear before responding with three runs in the seventh inning and pulling away for a 9-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
The Guardians wasted little time against Baltimore starter Brandon Young. Steven Kwan opened the game with a double and scored when Jo Adell lined an RBI single into left field, giving Cleveland a 1-0 advantage before the Orioles recorded an out.
Cleveland added four more runs in the second. It started when Angel Martínez tripled and scored on Patrick Bailey’s RBI single. A few batters later rookie Travis Bazzana sent a three-run homer to right-center field for his 11th of the season, extending the Guardians’ lead to 5-0.
The offensive pressure continued in the third. Nathaniel Lowe walked, Martínez singled and Halpin drove home Lowe with a base hit to right, pushing the lead to 6-0.
Baltimore began cutting into the deficit against Tanner Bibee in the fourth. Jackson Holliday scored on Samuel Basallo’s groundout to put the Orioles on the board before they made things uncomfortable with four runs in the fifth.
Blaze Alexander scored on Leody Taveras’ RBI double, and Holliday followed with a run-scoring single that pulled Baltimore within 6-3. Pete Alonso then launched a two-run homer to left field, his 34th of the season, suddenly trimming Cleveland’s advantage to one run.
Bibee allowed five runs on six hits over 4? innings. He struck out one and walked one before Tim Herrin entered and prevented Baltimore from completing the comeback.
After a scoreless sixth, the Guardians created some breathing room in the seventh.
José Ramírez singled before Adell was hit by a pitch. Martínez then reached on a fielder’s choice, with Ramírez scoring on a throwing error by Alonso. Brayan Rocchio followed with a two-run single to center, bringing home Adell and Martínez and restoring Cleveland’s four-run lead.
From there, the bullpen took care of the rest.
Herrin (3-4), Craig Yoho, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith combined for 4? scoreless innings, allowing Baltimore only one baserunner after Bibee left the game. Smith struck out two in a scoreless ninth to finish the victory.
Cleveland collected 12 hits, with Martínez, Bailey, Halpin and Rocchio recording two apiece. Every Guardians starter reached base at least once as Cleveland improved to 74-72 and evened the series.
What’s Next: The Guardians conclude their three-game series against the Orioles on Wednesday night. Foster Griffin is scheduled to start for Cleveland against Baltimore right-hander Shane Baz. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
