Mountcastle surpasses Ripken in Orioles' 3-2, 10-inning win (updated)

Individual achievements remain in play for the Orioles as the final weeks expire on their season. During those times when trying to be spoilers doesn't bring full satisfaction.

Ryan Mountcastle led off the bottom of the sixth inning today by depositing Jordan Montgomery's sinker into the Orioles bullpen, his 29th home run breaking Cal Ripken Jr.'s rookie record for a single season.

Mountcastle also cut a deficit in half and the bullpen provided 4 1/3 scoreless innings in regulation. Clay Holmes' wild pitch with two outs in the ninth and two strikes on Austin Wynns scored pinch-runner Kelvin Gutiérrez to tie the game, and Austin Hays bounced a single into left field off Wandy Peralta in the 10th to bring home Jahmai Jones and give the Orioles a 3-2 victory over the Yankees before an announced crowd of 20,164 at rain-soaked Camden Yards.

Cole Sulser stranded Brett Gardner, the automatic runner, on second base in the 10th to tack on another scoreless inning from the 'pen. Jones ran for Wynns, the only healthy catcher on the roster. Richie Martin reached on a bunt single, the Yankees walked Cedric Mullins intentionally, Mountcastle struck out and Hays handled walk-off duties for the first time in his career.

Jones was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk afterward and the Orioles will make a roster move Friday in Boston.

Martin laid down a perfect bunt along the third base line. The Yankees had no play and, eventually, no way of avoiding the loss.

"I don't think anybody realizes how hard of a bunt that is because of (Anthony) Rizzo," said manager Brandon Hyde, who warned Martin about the former Cubs first baseman and the need to avoid getting the ball near him.

"Huge play by Richie and a great bunt."

Montgomery notched his career-high 12th strikeout in the sixth, but the Orioles rallied to avoid losing their 100th game and sixth in a row. And Mountcastle had his moment - measured at 438 feet with a 113 mph exit velocity per Statcast.

The sound of Ripken's record breaking could be heard loud and clear.

"It's an amazing accomplishment for a young player," Hyde said. "Anytime you're passing somebody like Cal Ripken Jr., you're doing something very, very special. And Ryan's had a special season. A great rookie year."

Mountcastle flied out and struck out in his first two at-bats. He got ahead 2-0 in the sixth and made sure that one of the club's relievers would hold onto the ball for him.

"It's pretty crazy," Mountcastle said. "I would have never thought that I would have done that, to be honest, and it means a lot and a really cool accomplishment.

"Most of my family was Orioles fans and all their favorite players were Cal Ripken, so I knew a lot about him. I knew he was a great player, a great shortstop here. It's pretty crazy. Just to be in the same company as him is really cool."

The home run tied Mountcastle with Mullins for the team lead. Both of them homegrown players.

Montgomery allowed one run and six hits in 5 2/3 innings, and his 12 strikeouts came a day after Nestor Cortes fanned 11.

Ramón Urías walked with two outs in the sixth, Albert Abreu replaced Montgomery and pinch-hitter DJ Stewart struck out.

Stewart singled off Holmes with one out in the ninth. Gutiérrez advanced to second base on a wild pitch and to third on a grounder, and he raced home on another wild pitch before Wynns struck out for the fourth time.

Rookie Chris Ellis threw 56 pitches in two innings, but made it through 4 2/3. Mountcastle's homer reduced the Yankees lead to 2-1.

Unless the Orioles run the table, they'll eventually reach 100 losses for the third consecutive full season. The club record is 115 in 2018.

The Orioles have been swept in 17 series, but dodged the 18th tonight.

Hyde won't attempt a guess at the timeline for the rebuild to begin producing the desired results beyond the farm system's rankings and creation of analytic and international scouting departments that elevate the franchise to the level of other organizations.

Hyde lives in the present and trusts that the future will be much kinder.

"Listen, I do the best I can with what we have here right now," Hyde said earlier today, "and it's the 28 guys, it's the coaching staff, try to keep everybody upbeat, trust the process of it, trust that we're going to become more talented here going forward. And that's really all I can do."

Ellis walked leadoff hitter Brett Gardner and retired the next three batters, needing 21 pitches to prevent a run from scoring. He threw 35 in the second and fell behind 2-0 as veteran left-hander Fernando Abad began to warm.

Joey Gallo homered with one out, sending a changeup onto the flag court. Gary Sánchez and Tyler Wade walked and Gio Urshela doubled over right fielder Anthony Santander.

Ellis retired the next two batters, and though it felt like he trailed by more, it was just the two runs. He hadn't allowed more than one in each of his last three starts.

As so often happens, the next inning lasted only 11 pitches, though it included a walk to Rizzo. And Ellis retired the side in order on only seven in the fourth.

Ellis retired nine of 10 after Urshela's double. The next hit was a one-out single by Giancarlo Stanton in the fifth.

Aaron Judge struck out for the second time and Ellis left after allowing two runs and three hits. He walked four batters and struck out three.

"I kind of just started to try to get the ball over the plate and let them put it in play," Ellis said. "I got pretty lucky in the third inning, I think they hit two screamers right at guys. Got my pitch count down a little bit finally. And the defense was working for me, so I just tried to throw it over the plate. ... We've got nasty guys out there on defense, so I let them make plays for me."

Rizzo doubled off Abad and Gleyber Torres drew an intentional walk to load the bases. Trying the left-on-left matchup again, Hyde won after Gallo flied to the center field fence.

Santander singled and stole second base in the second inning, but he was stranded. Martin and Mullins singled with one out in the third and were stranded.

Mullins also singled with two outs in the fifth to give him 165 hits for the season. But he broke too soon for second base on an attempted steal and was caught in a rundown.

Urías singled with one out in the fourth, but Ryan McKenna and Pat Valaika struck out.

Urías has a hit in 10 of his last 11 games. His .358 on-base percentage to begin the day led American League rookies with a minimum of 280 plate appearances and was third in the majors.

"For me, he's increased his value from a versatility standpoint," said Hyde, who started Urías at third base today. "There were some question marks on him because I didn't see him at short much, didn't see him in the big leagues very much last year and what he's shown this year is that he's got the ability to play three spots in the infield. He's going to give you a good at-bat. It's not the new age of hitting where he's trying to go deep, but he's going to use the whole field.

"When he gets the barrel to the ball, the ball comes off hot. And I like the way he uses the whole field, I like the way he drives the ball the other way. So it's been a good year for him, from getting an opportunity, and he's putting up some good numbers."

Valaika led off the seventh with a single against Abreu and never made it to second base.

Dillon Tate tossed two scoreless innings after replacing Abad. Torres singled off Conner Greene leading off the eighth and Wynns threw him out attempting to steal. Sánchez walked and Wells struck out.

Sulser retired the side in order with two strikeouts in the ninth.

This is the first time since 2016 that the Orioles won more than seven games against the Yankees.

"That was so sick to see our team rally like that," Ellis said.

"We haven't caught a ton of breaks," Hyde said, "and we feel like we got one tonight."