The Baltimore Orioles, who were widely expected to post one of baseball’s worst records at season’s outset, moved within a game of .500 by capping a four-game sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Angels with a 9-5 win on Sunday.
The Orioles have won eight straight games, the first time Baltimore has done that in a single season since April 22-May 1, 2005. Baltimore won 13 in a row over two seasons from Sept. 30, 2015 — April 12, 2016.
Through 79 games, the Orioles are 43-44; they needed 136 games to record their 43rd victory last season when they reached that mark on Sept. 6 and finished the season 52-110.
The Angels took a 2-0 lead in the third on Monte Harrison’s two-run homer to right that scored Michael Stefanic, who led off the inning with a single.
Jose Suarez was cruising on the mound for the Angels for the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth.
The left-hander retired the first 10 batters he faced before hitting Trey Mancini with a pitch and giving up Ryan Mountcastle’s run-scoring double.
After Suarez issued consecutive walks to Anthony Santander and Adley Rutschman to load the bases, Ramon Urias singled to center to score Mountcastle and Santander for a 3-2 lead. After Ryan McKenna struck out, Rougned Odor capped the four-run frame with a two-out single to score Rutschman.
Suarez (1-3) allowed four runs on three hits with a strikeout and two walks in 3 2/3 innings.
The Orioles extended their lead to 8-2 in the fifth, as Santander’s run-scoring double, a passed ball, reliever Elvis Peguero’s wild pitch and Urias’ single to right each plated a run during the four-run outburst.
Austin Voth (1-1) allowed two runs on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks in five innings to pick up the win.
Mancini added an RBI single in the sixth before the Angels trimmed the lead to 9-3 on Harrison’s RBI single in the seventh.
Max Stassi’s two-run homer to center in the eighth provided the final margin.
Urias went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Mancini and Mateo each went 2-for-4 for the Orioles.
Harrison went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run and Stefanic went 2-for-2 with a run and two walks for the Angels, who went 1-8 during their nine-game road trip.
–Field Level Media