Orioles rely on six-run third and some defensive gems to defeat Padres 8-6 (updated)

The crowd erupted today in the top of the first inning when Padres leadoff hitter Luis Arraez lifted a popup that Gunnar Henderson ran down in foul territory. No collision or dropped ball. Fans hadn’t forgotten yesterday’s blunder.

Henderson ranged past second base in the second inning and made a sprawling stop and throw to retire David Peralta. The ovation this time was louder. Henderson and Jordan Westburg caught line drives, the former from Kyle Higashioka at 107.1 mph, and James McCann threw out Ha-Seong Kim trying to steal third base in the third.

The best was saved for last, with Cedric Mullins sprinting to the center field track and making a leaping grab of Manny Machado’s fly ball at full speed before crashing into the fence at the 410 foot sign. The palm of his glove faced upward, much like the mood of a team that has been battling frustration as well as opponents.

The Orioles didn’t completely fix their defense. Henderson sailed and bounced throws past Ryan Mountcastle, giving the shortstop five errors in four games. They didn’t completely solve their offensive issues, doing all of their scoring in two innings. And the pitching turned a comfortable lead into the slimmest of margins.

There’s more work to be done, but they accepted the result with smiles, formed the congratulatory handshake line and chose which music to blast.  

A six-run third, with 11 batters sent to the plate, and some clutch plays late enabled the Orioles to avoid the sweep with an 8-6 victory over the Padres before an announced crowd of 38,411 at Camden Yards.

The bats sprung to life long enough to force the Padres into throwing 50 pitches in the third. McCann drew two of the four walks, a club record for a No. 9 hitter in the same inning. The Orioles had changed their vibe and held on to improve to 62-43 with only their fifth win in 15 games and seventh in 19.

"We put together our best offensive inning we’ve done in weeks," said manager Brandon Hyde. "That was good to see and unfortunately we didn’t score again there until later in the game. Nice to see our guys have a pass-the-baton approach that inning, some base hits the other way, and it was nice to have a big inning early."

Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run homer off Jacob Webb in the sixth to narrow the lead to 6-5. Seranthony Domínguez retired the side in order in the eighth with a major assist from Mullins, and Yennier Cano handled the closing duties instead of Craig Kimbrel, who was given "a weekend breather," according to Hyde.

Cano registered his fourth save in only his third appearance since July 14, but the bases were loaded with one out on a pair of infield hits and a bloop single. Henderson fielded Jurickson Profar's chopper, stepped on the bag and went down when pinch-runner Tyler Wade slid into his ankle. The interference call was overturned, Hyde was ejected and Jake Cronenworth grounded out.

"They can’t give me (an explanation) out there, so I’ll get one tomorrow," Hyde said. "The initial slide wasn’t, I thought it was a clean slide. He just went over the base, and that’s what they called right away because he went over the base. I just wanted to know why they overturned that."

Hyde came out of the dugout earlier in the inning to discuss why Peralta was awarded second base on his infield hit and Henderson's throw that skipped past Mountcastle and went to the dugout screen. Henderson had his second career multi-error game.

“A couple young mistakes," Hyde said. "That play in the ninth, that’s a do-or-die play and there’s really nothing you can do about it. The other throw was just trying to make a play. I know he’s a little frustrated with it, but it’s not from sitting back on the ball and being careless. That play in the ninth, he’s just trying to make a play on a really, really tough back and to your right, in-between hops spot. He had one choice and that was to kind of come through it, and he didn’t get there.”

Mountcastle had a pair of two-run singles, the last with two outs in the eighth to give Cano some cushion. He's the fifth Oriole to reach the 50-RBI mark.

The trade speculation that swirls over him goes ignored.

"I haven’t really heard anything," he said. "Just going out there and playing my game. That’s all I can do."

Hyde shook up the offense by batting Colton Cowser leadoff and lowering Henderson to third for the only time this season. Cowser began the game slashing .294/.379/.451 this month and he singled in the third inning after McCann’s leadoff walk. Randy Vásquez walked Anthony Santander to load the bases and Henderson with the count full to force in a run.

Ryan O’Hearn swung at the next pitch and dumped an RBI single down the left field line, Mountcastle lined a two-strike curveball into right field for a 4-0 lead and Vásquez was removed from the game.

"I just felt like we needed to mix some things up a little bit and just give guys some different looks," Hyde said. "Sometimes you’ve got to, when you’re stale, a little bit of a funk offensively, mix some guys around a hair."

Mullins, also the subject of trade rumors, stayed hot with a two-run double off Enyel De Los Santos. Mullins had six RBIs in his last four at-bats, including his double and homer yesterday.

Henderson, unveiling his clean-shaven look, singled with two outs in the first inning and O’Hearn walked, but Mountcastle popped up. The Orioles were 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position after the third.

Albert Suárez is clinging to his rotation spot and he lasted only 4 2/3 innings today, charged with three runs and five hits with three walks. He threw 27 pitches in the first inning, the last 11 to strike out Machado, and finished at 83. His ERA increased to 3.62.

"Way more aggressive, and I think my pitches were working good," he said, in comparison to the start in Miami when he allowed six runs in two-plus innings. "I feel like I’m making a good adjustment.”

Severna Park’s Jackson Merrill led off the fifth with a double, David Peralta reached on an infield hit and Merrill advanced to third on Henderson’s wild throw. Ha-Seong Kim had an RBI double, followed by Higashioka’s run-scoring single. Kim scored on a double play.

Peralta lost O’Hearn’s two-out fly ball in the sun in the fourth and it fell for a triple. Three innings later, Henderson ran down Cronenworth’s pop up in shallow center with a runner on base and Mullins sliding past him to avoid the collision. And Mullins made a spectacular catch that led to a standing ovation his entire jog back to the dugout, which he acknowledged with a tip of his cap.

"That was an incredibly hard play in a huge, huge spot for us," Hyde said.

"It just felt like it brought the crowd really into it, too," Mountcastle said. "It was super exciting for him and me just watching it. It’s unbelievable the things he does out there."

The Orioles were able to enjoy life on the other side, where they used to camp out. They needed a change of scenery.

"That was a big win for us," Mountcastle said. "Hopefully we keep it rolling into the next series and stay positive and just keep grinding it out.

"Sometimes, a little adversity is good for a team. Hopefully this win today can catapult us into the rest of the year."

“These guys are our teammates and there’s not one of us in this clubhouse who hasn’t struggled at some point this year,” pitching coach Drew French said earlier today. “We respect the hell out of each other and we have each other’s backs, regardless of which side of the ball we’re on.”

* The Blue Jays are starting Yariel Rodríguez in Game 1 Monday and Bowden Francis in Game 2.

Zach Eflin starts Game 1 for the Orioles, and Cade Povich will start Game 2 as the 27th man.