Orioles settle for doubleheader split with 7-6 loss in Game 2

CHICAGO - One more out and the Orioles had their first doubleheader sweep since June 25, 2016.

One more out and Gabriel Ynoa had his first major league win since Sept. 21, 2017.

One pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning, and the Orioles had to settle for a split.

Yonder Alonso lined a single into left field of Miguel Castro to score two runs and give the White Sox a 7-6 win in Game 2 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Orioles went 1-5 on the road trip and are 11-21 as they approach their latest off-day.

Ynoa gave the Orioles three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, allowing one hit and striking out five. Evan Phillips retired the side in order in the eighth, striking out two, but he walked the leadoff hitter in the ninth and Adam Engel reached on a bunt single after Chris Davis fielded the ball and glanced toward second base before making a late throw to first.

Paul Fry retired the only batter he faced on a tapper in front of the plate. Castro struck out José Rondón, José Abreu was given an intentional walk and Alonso ruined the Orioles' chances at a sweep.

"Doubleheaders are tough to win both games," said manager Brandon Hyde. "When you have an opportunity to win, it would be great. We just didn't take care of the ball defensively today and tonight. That kind of hurt us.

"Our bullpen guys threw the ball outstanding. Ynoa, and in the first game, (Branden) Kline. Phillips threw the ball well. Most everybody that came out of the bullpen threw the ball well today, so that's a real positive sign going forward."

Ynoa was removed after 36 pitches, 25 for strikes. Hyde thought about leaving him in the game.

"I did consider it, but he hadn't thrown four innings in a while," Hyde said. "I just wanted to get Phillips in the game, and Phillips had a clean eighth. Then we had Phillips and Fry in the ninth. A leadoff walk and a misplay on a bunt kind of turned the tide a little bit for us.

"We only have one left-hander, right? You're dealing with their middle part of the order and there are certain guys you don't want to beat you. José Abreu is a premier player in this league and has been killing us. I was trying to get a punchout from Rondón, which we did, and then take our chances with Alonso, and it just didn't happen."

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson committed two errors in the seventh, enabling the Orioles to break another tie. Sloppiness worked both sides of the street in the doubleheader.

Anthony Santander, recalled to serve as the 26th man and later returned to Triple-A Norfolk, led off the sixth inning with a game-tying home run to right field. Statcast measured it at 429 feet with an exit velocity of 111.6 mph.

Rio Ruiz led off the seventh with a single off left-hander Aaron Bummer and Dwight Smith Jr. reached when his ground ball scooted under Anderson's glove. Renato Núñez struck out and Davis grounded to second baseman Yolmer Sánchez, but Anderson made a wild throw to first while trying to avoid Smith's wide slide and Ruiz scored the go-ahead run.

Smith never made contact with Anderson, whose effort to avoid contact cost him accuracy and killed the chance at a double play.

Ynoa retired eight batters in a row after Anderson's infield hit leading off the fifth. Injuries kept him out of the majors last summer. He kept the Orioles in the game tonight.

Andrew Cashner didn't make it past the fourth inning because of a pitch count that swelled to 99, more defensive lapses keeping him on the mound. He was charged with four earned runs and five total and struck out eight batters. He also threw two wild pitches.

The Orioles committed three errors in Game 1 and two more in the nightcap. The second miscue cost Cashner a run in the second inning.

Ryan Cordell struck out swinging at a pitch in the dirt with a runner on first base and two outs. Catcher Austin Wynns fired to second base, with no one covering, and the ball rolled into center field and kept the inning alive.

Engel followed with an infield hit on a ball up the middle that Stevie Wilkerson backhanded before making a late throw and the game was tied.

The official scorer originally gave Sanchez a stolen base on Wynns' throw before changing it to a strikeout, wild pitch and E-2. The run was unearned and Cashner eventually made it back to the dugout at 39 pitches.

"I thought I had really good stuff," Cashner said. "Some of the better stuff I think I've had in a while. The depth of my breaking ball I thought was really good, but anytime you get a three-run lead like that you can't give it up."

Jonathan Villar had a throwing error in the first inning, but his single and stolen base in the top half was followed by Smith's run-scoring single. Villar and Smith each collected two hits off Iván Nova through three innings.

Mistakes bled onto the basepaths. Smith walked in the fifth after Ruiz's leadoff single and was thrown out trying to advance on Núñez's fly ball to left-center field. Davis flied to center field for the third out instead of a game-tying sacrifice fly.

Wilkerson probably spends more time checking which position he's playing than where he's hitting in the order. It can be any of the three outfield spots or somewhere in the infield. Tell him that he needs to catch and he'll borrow a mask.

Moving from left field to second base for Game 2, Wilkerson contributed more with his bat than his versatility by hitting a three-run homer in the fourth to give the Orioles a lead that they couldn't carry into the next inning.

Wilkerson does a nice job of separating his defensive responsibilities and constant rotating from his work at the plate.

"It's not all that new to me, moving around position-wise," he said. "You get your work in on each side of the ball and you stick to your schedule and that's what I'm trying to do."

Abreu broke a 1-1 tie with a solo home run in the third inning, a shot to left field that Statcast measured at 432 feet. Wilkerson's ball traveled 387 feet and barely made it over the fence in right field - probably scraping a little bit of the paint - but it counted for more.

Wilkerson had two RBIs before pulling a 1-2 cutter from Nova.

Both of his home runs have come against the White Sox.

"I don't know, I think it's a small sample size," he said, grinning. "I really haven't played against that many teams. But they all feel good."

The lead wasn't done changing hands. The end didn't feel good for the Orioles.

"I thought we played really well today as a whole," Cashner said. "I think our defense, we could probably clean up some things, but as far as hitting the baseball, I thought we did a really good job, especially with two games in this weather. A big hit by Steve. I just can't give up the lead right there if you want to win baseball games."

"I think we played tough," Wilkerson said. "It was a chilly day, long doubleheader and I think we battled for 18 innings. We got the win in the first one, came up a little short in the second one and I think we battled."

Said Hyde: "Really encouraged by a lot of our bullpen arms. I thought we threw the ball really good out of the 'pen and I thought today was a little bit of a hiccup for us defensively. We need to get back to and really focus on catching the ball. The main thing was how well our bullpen guys threw."