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WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Orioles had gone two consecutive series without allowing four earned runs or more. They, of course, won all six of those games.
Tonight, Baltimore allowed four earned runs by the end of the third inning. The offense couldn't find the right hits, and the O's fell 5-4 to the Athletics, snapping Baltimore's six-game winning streak.
A lefty starter on the mound presented a tall task for an Orioles lineup that had been the worst in baseball at hitting southpaws this season. Perhaps some struggles evaporate in the midst of a winning stretch.
The hometown kid got things started.
It would take about 20 minutes for Dylan Carlson to hop in the car and drive from Sutter Health Park, the site of the O’s series against the Athletics, to Elk Grove High School, his alma mater. A late game might help him beat some traffic, too.
“Grew up coming to the stadium as a kid, sitting right above the first base dugout,” Carlson said before the game. “Get to be in the first base dugout playing a game today.”
He played a few games here in high school, he said, but this was his first as a professional.
"It was a unique experience, something I’ll remember," Carlson added postgame. "You don’t hear it every day, catching fly balls down the line, people yelling out your hometown."
His high school games surely went well, as Carlson was the 33rd overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft out of Elk Grove, forgoing a verbal commitment to Cal State, Fullerton. His first professional game started off with a bang.
Carlson got the Orioles on the board with a two-run home run to left-center field in the top of the second inning. That improved his batting average to .318 in his last 15 games, including six extra-base hits. It also gave the O’s a 2-0 advantage.
The offense was humming for the Birds early on. Jackson Holliday led off the third with a left-on-left double against JP Sears, and flyouts from Adley Rutschman and Ramón Laureano brought him home.
"Yeah, it’s a good confidence builder facing lefties," Holliday said. "I’m just happy with the at-bats today."
That 3-0 lead was short lived, however.
It was smooth sailing for Dean Kremer through the first two innings, but the right-hander found trouble in the third. After a leadoff walk and a pop out, the Athletics went: single, double, single, double, productive out, out.
Just like that, a promising start for Baltimore became advantage Athletics, 4-3 at the end of three innings.
"Probably a combination of a couple of different things there," Kremer said reflecting on the third. "That was a mental error on the walk to lead off that inning, and it kind of spiraled from there. Butler hit a ball hard and Rooker hit a ball hard. Other than that, just some bad luck there."
In the fourth, Jorge Mateo nearly put the Orioles back on top. He drove a center-cut fastball to the left-center field gap with two runners on, only for Athletics center fielder Denzel Clarke to make an indescribable catch. It ended the inning and the Birds’ scoring chance.
"There’s not a lot of guys that make that play," Tony Mansolino noted. "That’s a play that, I don’t know if he’ll ever make that play again, to be honest with you. That’s a dynamite play. It’s incredible. It was a game changing play, you know? So, it’s a credit to him and to that team, that was really good.”
It may have squashed one opportunity for runs, but it would be far from Baltimore's last.
Holliday kept his excellent night going, mashing a solo home run to kick off the fifth inning. His eighth home run of the season tied things up at four runs apiece and added to his already strong All-Star case.
The back-and-forth affair wouldn’t stop there.
In the bottom of the frame, the Athletics came right back. With runners on first and second, a Brent Rooker flare into center field scored Lawrence Butler and pushed the A’s back on top 5-4. Kremer’s fifth earned run of the night matched his total from his previous three games combined.
The Orioles offense had another golden opportunity in the sixth. Coby Mayo’s first big league extra-base hit was a hard-hit double to center field, and it pushed runners to second and third with one away. But Carlson and Mateo strikeouts stranded them there. Gunnar Henderson was, notably, an option to pinch-hit for Mateo. The All-Star had the night off and appeared later in the game, but Mansolino didn't want to use him so early.
"To be honest with you, I didn’t even want to hit him in the eighth ... the goal today was to give Gunnar a blow," Mansolino said. "He seemed great today, man. He was in a great mood, he was happy during the game. So I felt like we accomplished that, and, more importantly, we got him up in a pretty big leverage at-bat as well in the eighth.”
More on that later.
Kremer’s night was done after five and a third, but his execution seemed to be better than his line with the A’s finding some good batted ball luck. All in all, the right-hander allowed five runs on eight hits, only striking out two and walking one.
With his exit, the O’s found themselves in a sticky situation in the bottom of the sixth.
With the bases loaded, Keegan Akin entered the game to face Butler, who was already 2-for-3 with a double on the night. The A’s raucous faithful made the small ballpark feel full, but Akin delivered a huge punchout to keep the O’s deficit at just one run entering the seventh inning.
The bullpen continued to do their job, with a clean inning from Seranthony Domínguez in the seventh.
Colton Cowser injected some more life into the offense in the top of the eighth. With one away, Cowser roped a double into the gap. Henderson entered the game for Mayo and angrily walked, bringing up Carlson in another big spot. The hometown outfielder walked, bringing up pinch-hitter Heston Kjerstad with the bases loaded.
Out stepped Mason Miller: one of, if not the best, closers in the game. He was tasked with a five-out save.
Miller won the first battle against Kjerstad. Three sliders, three strikes, strikeout.
"As a hitter, if I’m standing in the box, I’m probably cheating and swinging at the fastball," Mansolino said. "If it happens to be the slider, I’m probably not going to look good, and it kind of happened right there to a couple of our guys. I think we can all understand that.”
In stepped Holliday with two outs and the bases juiced.
103.1 mph up and in, and Holliday went down swinging.
Gregory Soto kept the A's off the board, and the O's had one more chance in the ninth.
Miller got the job done with far less drama than the previous inning, and down went Baltimore, 5-4.
The O's win streak ended at six games. After so many close wins, Baltimore finally found themselves on the other side.
The Birds will have a chance to get back in the win column tomorrow with Charlie Morton on the mound. The veteran has completed six innings in each of his last two starts, surrendering just two total earned runs and striking out a dozen.
