Orioles run winning streak to nine games and reach .500 (updated)

CHICAGO – The Orioles left Baltimore and didn’t come back down to earth.

Ivy climbs the walls here. Hot teams occasionally wilt. The Orioles lived it in the past. But they’re a stubborn bunch.

Ramón Urías hit a go-ahead, two-run homer tonight in the top of the fourth inning, Jorge Mateo also put a ball into the left field seats, Jordan Lyles recovered from another slow start, and the Orioles increased their winning streak to nine games and reached .500 with a 4-2 victory over the Cubs before an announced crowd of 31,079 at Wrigley Field.

The Orioles haven’t won nine in a row since stringing together 13 in September 1999. They haven’t posted as many victories as defeats since April 10, 2021.

They haven’t been .500 this late in a season since Sept. 9, 2017, when they were 71-71 during a six-game losing streak. They dropped nine of 10 to fall out of playoff contention.

This year’s team is trying to vault into it. Clearing the stacks of criticism about their methods for doing it.

"We've been playing really good baseball," said manager Brandon Hyde. "It's great to hear the excitement in our clubhouse right now."

"We're just enjoying this ride that we're on, this momentum that we have," Lyles said. "Not only is it fun to win multiple games in a row, but it's just as exciting to see these guys realize how good they can be, what direction this organization's headed in. I think that in itself is as beneficial for these guys to get this experience. Every time the first pitch is thrown, we have a better than decent chance to win a game."

Being .500 "means a lot," Urías said.

"I've been here, this is my third season, and the last couple seasons didn't go well. A lot of losses, and of course we're enjoying this time."

Ian Happ hit a solo home run with two outs in the first inning - Lyles said he couldn't have placed the pitch any better - and the Cubs led 2-0 in the second after Nico Hoerner doubled with one out, stole third base uncontested and scored on Alfonso Rivas’ single.

The Orioles got a run back in the third when Cedric Mullins singled off Adrian Sampson, advanced on a balk and scored on Anthony Santander’s two-out, two-strike single into right field. And they moved ahead in the fourth when Adley Rutschman drew his 17^th walk in 42 games and Urías jumped on the next pitch.

Mateo saw one pitch from reliever Brandon Hughes leading off the seventh inning, a fastball that he squared up for his seventh home run. Mateo, who singled in the fourth and stole his 22^nd base, raised his right arm as he rounded first.  

"It's great to see," Hyde said. "Jorgie puts so much time in the cage, works so hard. Nice day a couple days ago, and huge homer there to give us more than a one-run lead. Great to see. Any offensive production we get from him is gravy."

Tonight marked a rare occasion – the Orioles playing the Cubs in Chicago. They hadn’t been to Wrigley Field since 2014, when they were swept in three games, and hadn’t won on the North Side since June 26, 2008.

The teams have met only seven times in Chicago, with the Orioles going 3-4.

The 2014 Orioles were 73-52 and coming off a three-games sweep of the White Sox when they ran into the Cubs, who cooled them off. But just briefly. The Orioles won nine of their next 11.

Lyles kept the Orioles moving in the right direction tonight. He worked at least six innings for the fifth consecutive start, completing the seventh at 101 pitches and holding the Cubs to two runs. Lyles scattered seven hits, walked one batter and struck out five.

"That was a weird one for me," he said. "There was a lot of action every inning except the seventh. A lot of hits early."

A one-out single in the third didn’t leave a mark. Leadoff singles in the fourth and fifth didn’t matter.

David Bote was erased in the fifth on a 4-6-3 double play. Urías dived to his left to field Willson Contreras’ ground ball and threw him out, getting Lyles back to the dugout at 65 pitches.

Seiya Suzuki reached on an infield hit with one out in the sixth and took second base when Urías barehanded the ball and threw it past first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. Suzuki stole third base, the Cubs again getting a big jump, and Patrick Wisdom walked with the count full, but Hoerner lined to Urías, who caught the ball before it touched the dirt and stepped on the bag for the double play.

"Huge play there," Hyde said. "First and third, they're running on contact there, understandable. We just caught a break a little bit on that ball. But Jordan, once again he gives up a run or two early, but then he just settles in. And he's so competitive, and to be able to get through seven. He probably could have gone a little bit further. He was really good."

Urías reached on an infield single in the sixth inning for his third hit of the night. He has 10 this month in 24 at-bats since coming off the injured list.

Lyles threw 24 pitches in the sixth to leave him at 89, but bringing him back out for the seventh was an easy call. He responded, of course, by retiring the side in order for the first time.

"His pitch count was way down, too," Hyde said. "I thought it was a pretty good pitch to Happ. Happ just got on top of one that was a fastball up in the strike zone. The second run was a little bit unlucky on Jordan's part, but he pitched so well and gave up those two and kind of cruised after that."

Cionel Pérez retired the side in order in the eighth inning for his 12^th hold of the season. All-Star closer Jorge López did the same in the ninth and recorded his 17^th save, converting his fourth opportunity in a row, after the Orioles left the bases loaded in the top half.

He’s back to his old form. The Orioles have a new look.

"Really proud," Hyde said. "They're playing for each other so well, and our dugout is so loud. They're just behind each other so much and you can hear it in the clubhouse, our dugout is unbelievable. It's fun right now, a lot of fun."

"It's just fun to watch all these guys come to the field every day and just know that they're good enough," Lyles said. "We're all major league players here. Obviously, there wasn't a lot of hoopla around our team coming into the season, but this streak in particular is just fun to watch."

"We're playing baseball all the way around. Some games we're throwing it lights out, some days we're mashing, we're getting extra-base hits one after another. That's the sign of a good team, when you can win baseball games in different ways and fashion.

"Success brings confidence, and this is giving these guys a lot of confidence going forward to finish up the first half, go into the second half, and then into 2023."

Orioles fans boarded a flight this morning to Chicago and filled seats behind the visiting dugout and in sections above it, chanting "Let's Go O's" with two outs in the ninth.

"We had a ton of fans here," Hyde said. "You saw them in BP, the amount of Orioles and the orange. And they were loud. It was a great atmosphere. I'm appreciative for all the Orioles fans who came out here and supported us, because they were really loud tonight."

"It was unbelievable," Urías said. "I think it was the first day that we were on the road and had that many fans. It felt awesome."

Down on the farm, outfielder Heston Kjerstad’s debut with High-A Aberdeen is on hold. The IronBirds’ game against Jersey Shore was postponed.

Triple-A Norfolk’s DL Hall allowed an unearned run and two hits in 5 2/3 innings, with four walks and eight strikeouts. He threw 98 pitches, 59 for strikes.

The run scored in the third inning on a wild pitch after Yolmer Sánchez reached on Gunnar Henderson’s fielding error. Henderson tripled in the fourth.

Rylan Bannon hit his 11^th home run, a solo shot with two outs in the ninth in a 2-1 loss to Worcester.