Jorge Soler began a three-run rally with his 18th homer and sparked the visiting Atlanta Braves to their ninth straight win, a 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
The win completed a 9-0 road trip for Atlanta, which swept consecutive three-game sets against Washington, Miami and Baltimore. The Braves have won 16 of their last 18 games.
The loss extended Baltimore’s losing streak to 18 straight, the longest in the American League this season and the second-longest in club history. The Orioles lost 21 in a row to begin the 1988 season.
Soler, who went 2-for-4, started the fourth inning rally with a long solo homer to left-center field. It was his fifth home run since joining the Braves at the trade deadline. Atlanta took a 3-0 lead when
Adam Duvall’s double to center field drove home Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson, giving the veteran left fielder 86 RBI.
The winning pitcher was Touki Toussaint (3-2), who allowed one run on five hits, three walks and five strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. It was the sixth time in seven starts that Toussaint has allowed two or fewer earned runs.
Relievers A.J. Minter, Chris Martin, Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson and Will Smith covered the final 3 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out seven, three by Jackson. Smith worked around a leadoff double from
Ramon Urias the ninth, fanned two and earned his 27th save.
The losing pitcher was John Means (5-6), who pitched six innings and allowed three runs on four hits, two walks and five strikeouts. It was the third consecutive loss for the southpaw who no-hit the Seattle Mariners on May 5.
The Orioles cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth. Trey Mancini doubled and scored on a two-out double by Ramon Urias.
Baltimore’s Ryan Mountcastle went 0-for-3 and saw his 13-game hitting streak come to an end. The rookie struck out with two runners on the end the seventh inning.
Baltimore was only 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and grounded into a three double plays.
–Field Level Media