Orioles erupt for season-high 15 runs to beat Red Sox in series opener (updated)

Jorge Mateo leaped in the air tonight as his fly ball cleared the left field wall, pumped his fist above his head and stuck the landing.  The two runners ahead of him kept circling the bases. Mateo walked back to touch first with hands still clenched.

Every at-bat seems to matter more in a pennant race, and especially for an offense that’s sputtered in the early innings. Mateo can be forgiven for hurdling the bag after wiping out a two-run deficit.

Those same hands must have tightened in frustration before opening again for high-fives in the victory line.

The Orioles built a six-run lead and almost lost it the fifth, but they tied a season high with five homers and outlasted the Red Sox 15-10 before an announced crowd of 33,136 at Camden Yards.

The Red Sox responded to Mateo’s homer by scoring twice in their next at-bat to reclaim the lead, the Orioles got it right back on Anthony Santander’s two-run shot, and then the game veered into crazy.

No GPS could bring it back to normal. Just enjoy the ride.

The Orioles had 18 hits by the fifth, one short of their season high. Their 11 extra-base hits were one away from the club record on Aug. 17, 2008 and Aug. 14, 2009. Rougned Odor was the only starter without a hit. The 15 runs are the most scored in 2022.

This is the 13th time in club history that the Orioles had at least 39 total bases.

"It was obviously a weird night in a game like this," said manager Brandon Hyde.

"It just felt good to be out there today," Mateo said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. "There were some sort of wow moments to see everything going on and I was just super happy for me and my teammates, the way we were able to go out there and compete and finally just win the game in the end."

Santander and Adley Rutschman each came within a triple of the cycle, their three hits packaged in five innings, and the Orioles began another important division series by improving to 62-57 and creeping to within 1 1/2 games of the last wild card.

Boston scored five unearned runs off Keegan Akin in the fifth after the Orioles built a 10-4 lead. Odor committed a throwing error, Rutschman was called for catcher’s interference, and Akin didn’t make it out of the inning – the big blow Tommy Pham’s three-run double, which was followed by Alex Verdugo’s RBI single.

No problem. The Orioles sent nine batters to the plate for the second consecutive inning in the bottom of the fifth and matched Boston’s five runs for a 15-9 lead. It began with Ramón Urías’ leadoff home run and included Santander’s two-run double – giving him four RBIs – Ryan Mountcastle’s run-scoring single and a gift RBI double for Austin Hays after the Red Sox botched his bouncer up the middle.

"We haven't had very many games like that on the mound," Hyde said. "These games happen. Fortunately for us tonight, we scored 15, so I'm taking that out (of it). I'm taking our offense and how we drove the ball in the middle of the field and we had a bunch of extra-base hits and hit the ball the other way."

Asked how nervous he became with the score 10-9, Hyde said, "I was uneasy until two outs in the ninth."

"That's a deflater there when they score five in the fifth. And we match with five, that shows you a lot about our hitters."

Rutschman homered in the fourth inning after Cedric Mullins’ second double, and Mountcastle greeted reliever Hirokazu Sawamura with a two-run shot into the Orioles bullpen. The rout was on until it dissolved into drama.

Santander hit his career-high 21^st home run in the bottom of the third after Rutschman singled, and the Orioles continued to batter Kutter Crawford, who allowed eight runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Sawamura didn’t start the fire, but he couldn’t put it out.

Plate umpire Todd Tichenor ejected shortstop Xander Bogaerts and manager Alex Cora after a called third strike to end the fourth. The pitch was low, Bogaerts slammed his bat, and Cora sprinted onto the field but couldn’t save him. Cora was tossed during a heated argument, twice swiping the dirt in the batter’s box with his hand.

Pham left the game after the fifth with lower-back tightness. An all-around dud of a night for the Red Sox, who had 19 hits but lost - equaling the most allowed by the Orioles this season.

Mateo’s three-run shot came in the second inning after Hays laid down a bunt hit and Urías lined an opposite-field single with two outs. Crawford hung the next pitch, a curveball, and Mateo reached the first row of seats in left for a 3-2 lead.

For the record, Mateo is pretty sure that he stepped on first base on his initial attempt.

"I don't even think I missed it," he said, "but I just wanted to go back and make sure I touched it."

Santander’s two-run shot was a line drive inside the right field foul pole, and the Orioles expanded the lead to 6-4 on Odor’s sacrifice fly after Kyle Stowers singled and Hays doubled.

"I thought our at-bats were the best they've been all year tonight," Hyde said, adding that he hopes confidence builds from this kind of production.

"It's all about the next day's starting pitcher, obviously, but it was good to see our guys have some success. When that ball went out for Mounty, you could see he was really pumped, so a lot of positives there."

A four-run fourth included Stowers’ second single of the night in his Camden Yards debut. His exit velocities were 107.6 mph and 106.9 mph. Nothing cheap.

Stowers immediately was cheered for a throw to the plate in the second inning that reached Rutschman on the fly. The ball was up the first base line, but the runner held at third and the crowd roared.

The rookie flied to the right field fence in his first at-bat and received another ovation just for the loud contact and momentary flirtation with a home run.

Jordan Lyles labored throughout his four innings, his second-shortest outing with the Orioles. The leadoff batter reached in every frame, and he allowed four runs and nine hits on 89 pitches.

"It was awesome to see how our guys responded after my lackluster performance," said Lyles, who campaigned hard to come back out for the fifth. "This game was different, this was a different one. This is once, twice, in a 162-game season type of game. It was a crazy one. After I left, I became a fan watching the broadcast from the clubhouse. Contemplated, do I need to put some new pants on and go back to the dugout type of situation.

"This was a crazy one, it was a fun one. Every fan that paid for a ticket, they definitely got their money's worth and plus some, for sure."

Kiké Hernández gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead with a two-out, two-run double in the second, and they used four singles in the third to move ahead 4-3.

Verdugo’s bouncer eluded Odor’s backhand attempt leading off the inning, and he later scored on Christian Arroyo’s ground ball. Eric Hosmer reached on an infield hit, diving into first base, and Rob Refsnyder lined an RBI single into left field.

Hosmer had a run-scoring single in the fifth, when the Red Sox sent 10 batters to the plate.

Nick Vespi allowed a run in the sixth to reduce the lead to 15-10, but he was credited with the win. Dillon Tate replaced him and fired a pitch to the backstop, but Rutschman played the carom and threw out Reese McGuire at second base.

Always room for more weirdness.

"You throw the cards out on this game," Lyles said. "This is a different one. This is nothing you plan for, nothing you expect. You sit back and watch and just be a fan. I was a fan after I, unfortunately, started this game with the runs and hits and all kinds of stuff, but you sit back afterward. I've been a part of this game long enough to realize that, hey, we're watching a little something special right now, something crazy."

"A little crazy every now and again, that's OK."

Down on the farm, Double-A Bowie shortstop Joey Ortiz hit his 15^th home run, and his third this week, and Connor Norby had a walk-off single in the 10^th inning. Cade Povich, acquired from the Twins in the Jorge López trade, allowed two runs and three hits with six strikeouts in five innings.

Triple-A Norfolk’s Jordan Westburg hit his 10^th homer, a three-run shot, and finished with four RBIs. Mike Baumann allowed two runs and six hits in five innings, and he struck out four batters. Alexander Wells, who reported to the Tides earlier today on his rehab assignment, allowed three runs and four hits in 2 2/3 innings.

Billy Cook hit his 15^th home run with high Single-A Aberdeen.