Orioles extend winning streak to eight games, move within one of .500 (updated)

The Orioles aren’t going to run the table in 2022. They have 75 games left in the season. A streaking club inevitably hits a rough patch. But it’s going to take tremendous force to slow it down.

An early deficit is treated like a pesky fly. Just swat it away.

The first 10 batters fail to reach base today, and the Orioles respond by sending nine to the plate in the fourth inning, scoring four runs and luring the Angels into a pitching change. And the good times keep rolling at Camden Yards.

Austin Voth worked five effective innings, Ramón Urías drove in three runs, and the Orioles capitalized on sloppy play by the Angels to extend their winning streak to eight games with a 9-5 victory before an announced crowd of 19,521.

The Orioles are 43-44, one game below .500 for the first time since losing on opening day. They swept a homestand of seven games for the first time since 2004.

They hadn’t won eight in a row since 2005.

They’re giving fans more reasons to be fired up.

"We've won in a lot of different ways," said manager Brandon Hyde, "and more winning breeds more confidence."

A victory over the Cubs Tuesday night in Chicago would create the first nine-game streak since the Orioles strung together 13 in a row in September 1999 – an unexpected surge that didn’t save manager Ray Miller’s job.

Asked whether he's had a team that reminds him of this one, Hyde laughed and said, "Not since I've been here."

"This is a really fun team," he said. "Go into our clubhouse right now, which you will, there's a lot of energy. Guys really like each other, they're a very, very tight group, and it's fun right now."

The Orioles scored four runs in the fourth inning and four in the fifth. A door is cracked and they bust it off the hinges.

Angels starter José Suarez was cruising until he hit Trey Mancini with one out in the fourth. Ryan Mountcastle doubled off the out-of-town scoreboard in right to reduce the lead to 2-1.

Mancini has been hit nine times, tying his career high in 2019.

Anthony Santander and Adley Rutschman walked, Urías lined a two-run single into center field, and Rougned Odor singled with two outs to give the Orioles a 4-2 lead.

Mancini singled off Elvis Peguero in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to nine games, and give him a hit in 17 consecutive starts, and he scored after Mountcastle reached on an error and Santander doubled.

Mountcastle came home on a passed ball, Santander scored on a wild pitch, and the Orioles led 7-2.

"Got down a couple runs early, we haven't gotten a hit yet," Hyde said. "It's starts innocently with a Trey hit-by-pitch, and then Mounty with a big double after that."

Rutschman singled on a ball that deflected off first baseman David MacKinnon’s mitt, Peguero committed a balk, and Urías poked a single into right field.

"We're playing with a lot of energy right now," Hyde said. "It's easy to not come out with energy today after an emotional week and being down 2-0 early, but our guys stayed in it. There was a ton of encouragement, like always in the dugout, and I thought we played really good baseball."

Plenty of mistakes today by the Angels. Lots of support for Voth, who earned his first win with the Orioles.

Voth qualified by completing the fifth, the only damage a two-run homer by Monte Harrison in the third. He allowed four hits, walked none and struck out six for the first time since Sept. 22, 2020 with the Nationals.

"I really like his pitch mix," Hyde said. "He's got a really good curveball, he's got a cutter, he's throwing them 95 mph, threw a couple really good changeups today. I know he wants to start, he's really appreciating this opportunity, and he's going for it."

"I'm having a lot more fun, too," Voth said. "It's fun when you're executing your pitches well and things are going well and the team's winning. I'm settling well."

Voth made nine appearances for the Nationals, most in September, during their 2019 championship season. The Orioles claimed him on waivers in June.

"So far, what I've witnessed is good chemistry among everyone," he said. "In 2019, what we had was good chemistry and guys just coming together and being able to joke around and play well. And I'm starting to see that here.

"Right now, we're doing everything right. We're pitching well, we're hitting well, we're playing good defense, and we've got a good bullpen. We have a lot of good factors to contribute to winning and having success, and that's all you ask for.

"I only got to pitch here a short period of time, but just seeing the energy in the crowd and everything, and everyone come out ... This team, we're rolling right now, so it's really fun to watch."

Jorge Mateo doubled in the sixth and scored on Mancini’s opposite-field single for a 9-2 lead, after Dillon Tate retired the side in order in the top half of the inning. Mateo tripled in the eighth and was stranded.

"Good to see Mateo swing the bat the way he did," Hyde said. "He's been grinding big-time and rewarded with a couple big hits. That's huge."

Harrison singled off Bryan Baker with two outs in the seventh to score Luis Rengifo. Max Stassi hit a two-run homer off Rico Garcia in the eighth.

Didn't matter in the end. The Orioles finished on the right side again.

"It's crazy," said Ryan Mountcastle. "It seems like each and every day, we just go out there and we're going to win. I don't know. It's just this weird aura. I don't know what's going on, but it's awesome."

Note: The Orioles traded pitcher Cody Sedlock, their first-round pick in the 2016 draft out of the University of Illinois, to the Tigers for cash considerations.

Sedlock made his only major league appearance on May 29 in Boston and allowed five runs and six hits in three innings. He was designated for assignment, cleared waivers and outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk.