Three homers off Ohtani, eighth-inning rally end losing streak

The Orioles may have pulled this game out tonight with an eighth-inning rally, but some things that happened before that were also vital as the club snapped a 19-game losing streak, the second-longest in team history.

The Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-6 to win for the first time since they beat the New York Yankees 7-1 on Aug. 2. The losing streak ends two short of the club record.

It started with the power surge off Los Angeles Angels right-hander Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani began the night with an 8-1 record and ERA of 2.79 in 18 starts this year. He had allowed just eight homers in 100 innings and had not given up more than one homer in any start this year.

Then the Orioles got two homers off him tonight among the first four batters. And they hit three off him - or triple what he gave up in any start in 2021.

Cedric Mullins led off the last of the first and drilled a first-pitch fastball for his 22nd homer and a 1-0 lead. He hit a 93 mph Ohtani four-seamer with a 103 mph exit velocity over the right-center wall. Mullins' seventh leadoff homer of the year traveled 415 feet. Two batters later, Anthony Santander hit No. 14 for a 2-0 lead. Santander connected on a 1-0 fastball and produced 109 mph exit velocity on his homer.

Santander has now hit four homers his last four games and eight over his past 15 games.

The Orioles 2-0 lead would not even last a half-inning. The Angels tied it 2-2 in the second and moved ahead 6-2 by scoring four runs in the top of the fourth.

But on their third longball off Ohtani in four innings, the Orioles began to get back in the game. In the home fourth, Santander led off with a single and scored on DJ Stewart's two-run homer to left-center to bring Baltimore within 6-4. It was No. 11 for Stewart on a first-pitch fastball. Ohtani gave up three homers, all on fastballs.

Ohtani allowed four runs and five hits over five innings, on 84 pitches, 56 for strikes. He walked none and fanned seven. His ERA increased to 3.00.

Coming into this outing, he had allowed just five runs in 33 innings over his past five starts with an ERA of 1.36. He had allowed four runs or more just twice in 18 games. He had allowed just two homers over his past seven starts, covering 40 2/3 innings.

So by just about any standard, the Orioles handled him quite well at the plate tonight. At bat, Ohtani was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and was replaced on the mound and in the lineup in the last of the sixth.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore bullpen locked it down after starter Chris Ellis and reliever Marcos Diplán allowed the first six runs.

Connor Greene got six outs on 19 pitches over the fourth and fifth. Cole Sulser pitched a scoreless sixth, which reduced his ERA to 2.87. Dillon Tate got the next four outs on 19 pitches and Tanner Scott got the last two batters out in the top of the eighth. Tyler Wells pitched the ninth to wrap up the long-awaited win.

It was a good night in Birdland.

The Orioles snapped a 19-game losing streak on a night they used a bullpen game against Ohtani, the major league homer lead and the pitcher that started and won the All-Star Game for the American League.