Orioles respond to lopsided loss with McKenna walk-off homer in 10th (updated)

Flush it.

The best advice that the Orioles could give themselves last night after a 12-run loss. Don’t dwell on the mistakes and the embarrassment. Move on as quickly as possible. Nothing good comes from wallowing in it.

"That's definitely one you need to let go right away and come back tomorrow,” manager Brandon Hyde said after Friday's game.

“It's one of those weird ones where a couple big innings kind of did us in,” said starter Kyle Gibson, “and you've got to be able to flush it and not let one loss turn into two.”

Or a deuce, as it were.

The Orioles took their third lead today on Aaron Hicks’ 426-foot home run to center field in the sixth inning. Anthony Santander had his first four-hit game in two years before leaving for a defensive replacement, and they got a big out at the plate in the eighth.

Sounded like flushing, except that the Mariners weren’t out of rallies. They weren’t done hitting home runs.

Fortunately for the Orioles, unlike in past seasons, they didn't spiral. A reserve with two hits this month saved them.

Mike Ford’s 434-foot shot to right field off closer Félix Bautista’s 100.4 mph fastball with two outs in the ninth produced another tie and silenced the crowd. But Mike Baumann stranded the automatic runner in the top of the 10^th, striking out two, and Ryan McKenna hit a two-run homer off Justin Topa to give the Orioles a crazy 6-4 win before an announced crowd of 32,384 at surprisingly sunny Camden Yards.

Cedric Mullins stood at second base as the automatic runner when McKenna, who replaced Santander in right field in the ninth inning, hit his second home run of the season. He cleared the right field fence, rounded third base and chucked his helmet about halfway to the plate before getting doused and taking a quick sip from the hose.

"It's awesome," he said. "Stuff you try to visualize. Try to be prepared for that moment. Winning the game like that is always sweet."

McKenna took some swings in the cage, had a game plan. This wasn't his first time coming off the bench and being thrust into a pressure situation.

"I faced him last night, so I kind of had a good visual, the pitch movement," he said. "Just try to get a pitch I could hit."

A 95 mph sinker disappeared into the right field seats and bedlam ensued. The player known more for defense and speed turned on the power for his sixth career home run in 252 games.

"When you're with him every day, you really appreciate how much energy he brings to our team," Hyde said. "Just the kind of person he is is phenomenal, and he's a great athlete that has helped us the last couple years in a lot of ways. So fun to watch him get this moment today, and he's earned it."

"He does a lot of stuff behind the scenes, like in the dugout, as far as picking up guys and stuff over the course of the game," said Dean Kremer. "So, he's a big part of this team."

McKenna is the sixth Oriole in the last 10 years enter a game late and hit a game-winning homer, and the first since Rougned Odor on May 20, 2022, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

Santander claims that he knew it all along, from the moment that he swapped places with McKenna.

"I called it," he said with a big smile on his face.

Hyde saw the scrum in front of Santander's locker as he headed for the kitchen and yelled, "Tell them how I took you out just at the right time!"

The fun never really stops. It's just paused on occasion.

"I told Hays, 'Come here. Don't get ready,'" Santander continued. "(McKenna) is an animal off the bench. That's awesome, I'm so happy for him. He's been ready all game. He really pays attention to the game. When his opportunity comes, he's ready, and I'm so happy that he hit that homer for us right there."

The bounceback win, the fourth walk-off and first of McKenna's career, improved the Orioles’ record to 46-29 and moved them within 4 ½ games of the first-place Rays, who have lost five of their last seven.

The Orioles lead the majors with a 20-9 record following a loss. They have 26 comeback victories, second-most in the majors.

"That's our mentality," Santander said. "What happened in the past stays in the past. We just have to come to the field with the right mentality, great energy. And that's been really good for us."

"It doesn't matter the score, I think we're always in it," Kremer said. "Our offense is pretty potent. It only takes one swing."

Kremer would have improved to 9-3 with his seventh quality start, going a season-high seven innings and allowing three runs on solo homers, but Bautista suffered his fifth blown save.

His last, on May 23 in New York, also was his last home run until today.

Yennier Cano allowed back-to-back singles in the eighth on ground balls up the middle that eluded him and the middle infielders. Teoscar Hernández grounded to shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who threw home to cut down J.P. Crawford for the second out.

Danny Coulombe retired Jarred Kelenic on one pitch to send the lead to Bautista, who retired the first two batters on a fly ball and strikeout. So close to his 21^st save.

"Félix isn't going to be perfect this year and everybody knows that, and those things are going to happen at times," Hyde said.

"Just two outs, one pitch, Ford ambushed him. And then Baumann was fantastic in the 10th."

Gabe Spier, the third Seattle pitcher of the day, retired Henderson for the second out in the sixth before Hicks demolished a sinker and reminded everyone that Mullins’ return doesn’t make him expendable.

Fans stood to cheer Mullins in the bottom of the first inning. He flied out on the first pitch, disinterested in milking a moment.

Mullins went 0-4 in his return from a groin strain that cost him nearly a month of the season. His leadoff walk in the third was followed by Adley Rutschman’s double play grounder, but Santander tied the score with his 13^th home run of the season and his fourth in five games – a 415-foot shot to right-center off Bryce Miller.

"Just keep working, you know?" Santander said. "Get on time with the fastball, recognize better pitches, swing at better pitches. Sometimes when we struggle a little, it's because we chase a lot. Just try to hit my pitches."

Matt Brash inherited two runners from Miller with one out in the fifth, and Santander lined a tie-breaking single into right field. But Julio Rodríguez led off the top of the sixth with a laser into the home bullpen.

Henderson was lowered to sixth in the order, and he singled and scored in the second inning on Adam Frazier’s two-out single. Frazier got caught in a rundown, Ramón Urías broke for the plate, and he was thrown out 9,3,6,4,2.

The lead was gone two batters into the third, when Ford hit a towering fly ball to right that carried onto the flag court. A 46-degree launch angle might have brought rain a little earlier in the day before the sky cleared.

Crawford lined a home run to right with two outs in the inning, on a ball first ruled a triple before the umpires convened. The 21-degree launch angle only brought confusion.

Kremer had retired the first seven batters, and 16 of his 19 pitches were strikes through the second. A 22-pitch third included Rodríguez’s two-out single and stolen base before Ty France struck out on a cutter.

The three home runs increased Kremer’s season total to 17 in 16 starts, one fewer than teammate Tyler Wells. He retired the side in order in the fourth on only six pitches and stranded a runner in the fifth, but Rodríguez barreled a sweeper.

The other homers came on Kremer’s four-seam fastball and cutter.

"It is what it is," Kremer said. "Just kind of flush it and continue to keep throwing."

A 96-mph fastball produced a called third strike on Eugenio Suárez with a runner on second base and two outs in the sixth, a pitch that missed outside but fooled plate umpire Jacob Metz.

The Orioles needed some breaks after running themselves into three outs, including Santander after his go-ahead single. After Rodríguez made a leaping catch to rob Ryan O’Hearn of a two-run homer in the seventh, keeping the score 4-3. After Henderson was picked off first base to end the eighth. And after pinch-runner Jorge Mateo was doubled off first base in the ninth on Mullins’ popup behind the plate, which moved the game to extras.

Freebies that stung before and after Ford’s second homer.

"I think they were a little bit unusual," Hyde said.

"We've run the bases well this year. Today, we ended some innings, unfortunately, on the bases and hurt us a little bit, but we've done a nice job."

Kremer threw 10 pitches while retiring the side in order in the seventh to leave him at 87. The next steps seemed predictable. Cano would get the eighth and Bautista the ninth, and most of the large crowd would go home happy.

The jam and Coulombe’s appearance were wild cards.

The Orioles are serious about claiming the top one, if not the division title.

"Our team, we're never out of it," McKenna said. "Our mentality is always, we're going to win. It's not over until the last pitch."

* Reliever Mychal Givens won't pitch for Triple-A Norfolk Sunday on his rehab assignment. He's returning to Baltimore for a follow-up evaluation on his right shoulder.

* Norfolk outfielder Hudson Haskin was placed on the seven-day injured list with left hamstring tightness. The No. 13 prospect in the system, per MLB Pipeline, is batting a combined .287/.394/.444 in 33 games at three levels.

Haskin also went on the IL April 18 with a strained hamstring.