O'Neill walk-off homer against Akin in 10th sends Orioles to 5-3 loss (updated)

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

September 11, 2024, 9:32pm

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BOSTON - Dean Kremer appeared to be the victim tonight of bad luck, two-out execution and run support in a ballpark that’s treated him rudely. Someone needed to have his back, and Anthony Santander stepped up with a game-tying homer off Red Sox reliever Justin Slaten with two outs in the eighth inning.

Only Kremer could be saved. A game was lost in sudden and harsh fashion, another stumble by the Orioles that also cost them ground in the division race.

Emmanuel Rivera did his part earlier with a solo homer in the third inning and he came up big again much later, but Tyler O'Neill hit a three-run homer off Keegan Akin in the 10th to give the Red Sox a 5-3 walk-off win over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 32,448 at Fenway Park.

The Orioles have lost four of their last five games and five of seven while falling to 83-64, including 25-26 since the break. The Yankees beat the Royals 4-3 in 11 innings to open a 1 1/2 game lead.

An off-day Thursday is followed by a three-game series in Detroit to finish the penultimate road trip of the season.

Rivera, selected off waivers from the Marlins last month, bounced a single into center field off Greg Weissert in the 10th to score automatic runner Austin Slater, but Jackson Holliday's fielding error with one out was followed by O'Neill's dramatic shot over the Green Monster.

Holliday bobbled Romy Gonzalez's ground ball to put runners on the corners, and O'Neill hit his 30th homer on a down-and-in slider.

"I was just trying to get the groundball double play," Akin said. "Just get an out, really. Like an infield popup, get a ground ball. Obviously, a punchout would have been great. But yeah, obviously not that result."

Akin was scored upon in only one of his last nine appearances before tonight, and he began the 10th by striking out Rafael Devers.

"Just made a bad pitch," Akin said. "Paid the price for it. Had to be at a crucial point in the game, obviously. But it’s baseball, it’s going to happen."

Manager Brandon Hyde said he didn't consider walking O'Neill after the error.

“You’ve still got (Rob) Refsnyder over there, too," he said. "I could bring (Matt) Bowman in there with the bases loaded. Hoping we wouldn’t give O’Neill something good to hit.

“It (error) changed some things a little bit with O’Neill there, just because you don’t want to walk him and load the bases for somebody and put the winning run at second base. Errors happen and just need to rebound from it.”

Jarren Duran flied out against Seranthony Domínguez in the ninth to strand pinch-runner Nick Sogard at second base and push the game past regulation.

Santander joined the 40-home run club on Monday and clubbed his 41^st tonight on a first-pitch cutter that traveled 408 feet to right field. Cionel Pérez was warming and whiffed in his attempt to make another catch with his cap.

Pérez entered in the bottom of the eighth, allowed a single to Gonzalez and walked O’Neill with one out. Yennier Cano replaced him after Masataka Yoshida flied out, and pinch-hitter Enmanuel Valdez popped up.

Cano threw only two pitches but didn't return for the ninth. Domínguez handled it, which didn't make him available for the 10th.

Kremer retired the last 10 batters faced and tied his season high with seven innings. He allowed one earned run and two total, with two walks and six strikeouts, and he stayed around for 103 pitches.

The right-hander has registered five quality starts in his last six outings, and it couldn’t be anticipated tonight based on venue. He made eight career starts against the Red Sox before tonight and posted a 6.45 ERA and 1.540 WHIP, and he was 0-3 with a 10.47 ERA and 2.082 WHIP in four starts at Fenway Park.

"Dean gave us a great chance to win that game," Hyde said.

Rivera led off the third inning with a fly ball to left field that landed in the second row of seats above the Green Monster for a 1-0 lead. Nick Pivetta’s sweeper traveled only 353 feet, with a 38 degree launch angle that got the job done. A home run in only six ballparks, according to Statcast.

Rivera has a double, triple and two home runs in 14 games with the Orioles. He started at third base after Coby Mayo took ground balls during an early afternoon workout.

"It means a lot, since I’m here to do my job and help the team win," Rivera said through interpreter Brandon Quinones.

The Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the third with an unearned run after Kremer retired the first two batters. Duran singled, Devers walked and Rivera charged Wilyer Abreu’s ground ball and bounced a throw past Ryan O’Hearn. Abreu was given a hit and Rivera’s error allowed the runners to advance.

Kremer kept battling, but he fell behind 2-1 in the fourth.

Yoshida doubled off the left field wall to start the inning. Kremer retired the next two batters, but another walk, this one to Trevor Story, set up Ceddanne Rafaela for the go-ahead single.

Rafaela reached for a curveball and slapped it into left field at only 79.3 mph. Kremer lowered his head for an instant in frustration.

“Walks in general frustrate me," he said. "Whether two outs, no outs, one out, it’s just a free pass. So, yeah, if I limit those, then I'm doing all right."

The side was retired in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Only one ball left the infield. He could walk off the mound with head held high.

"I gave the team a chance to win," he said. "It's my job. I feel like I accomplished it tonight.”

Colton Cowser was awarded a triple with one out in the second inning on a popup near the left field line that bounced off Story’s glove, reminiscent of the other Sox team that couldn’t make similar plays at Camden Yards. Slater and Holliday struck out. Adley Rutschman singled with one out in the fourth and was stranded.

Gunnar Henderson singled into right field with two outs in the fifth, Abreu tried to nab him at first base after a wide turn, and Henderson hustled into second while Casas collided with umpire Roberto Ortiz. Henderson took third on a wild pitch, but Cedric Mullins chased a high fastball and struck out.

Pivetta allowed one run and four hits with nine strikeouts in six innings. He was removed after 94 pitches.

Slater singled off reliever Chris Martin with one out in the seventh, but the Orioles couldn’t push across the tying run. Slater grounded into a double play in the ninth after Cowser’s one-out single off Kenley Jansen.

“I thought we were really unlucky offensively the last third of the game," Hyde said. "I thought we hit a lot of balls hard. Credit to them, they made some nice plays defensively, too. But they just got the big hit tonight.”

A lead in the 10th vanished and so did any semblance of momentum from last night's win.

"Definitely frustrating, you know?" Akin said. "We’re at kind of a crucial point right now. Haven’t really been playing our best ball, but I think it’s coming, I do. You’re starting to see a little bit of it. Just got to kind of put it all together at one time, and I think we’ll go from there."

“We have to keep going out there with the same mentality, stay strong and not trying to change too much," Rivera said. "We have to go out there and be strong and get the job done.”

“Losing sucks, no matter the circumstance," Kremer said, "but yeah, definitely dropping a series like this definitely hurts. But looking forward to the next one and trying to pick up momentum and finish the season strong.”

What can be done to get the Orioles in sync on the mound, at the plate and in the field?

“I wish that was my job to tell you, but that's not my job," Kremer said. "My job is to go out there and pitch. That's a question for the higher-ups, the guys who make the decisions of who plays, who doesn't play and all that stuff. So I wish I could tell you but I got no answer for that.”