Kyle Bradish gave the Baltimore Orioles a strong outing on the mound, but the Cincinnati Reds just edged the O’s 3-2 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep, as Spencer Steer's two-run home run proved to be the decisive blow.
Steer finished 1-for-3 with the homer and a run scored to pace Cincinnati's offense. Blaze Alexander went 3-for-4 to lead Baltimore's attack, while Taylor Ward added a 2-for-4 day with a double and a run scored.
Bradish was sharp – he didn’t allow a hit through the first four innings – but not sharp enough, allowing three earned runs on five hits over 7.2 innings with five strikeouts.
The Reds broke through in the fifth inning with Steer’s long ball, then added an insurance run in the eighth that proved critical when Baltimore scored in the ninth to make it a one-run game. Orioles manager Craig Albernaz visited Bradish on the mound with two outs in the ninth, but left him in the game. The Reds' Sal Stewart hit an RBI double to make it 3-1 after the discussion on the mound.
Nick Lodolo earned the win with six innings of one-run ball, and Emilio Pagán worked around a run in the ninth to record the save.
In the top of the ninth, Pagan walked Dylan Beavers and Jackson Holliday consecutively with one out, and Alexander singled to load the bases. Gunnar Henderson came to the plate and managed a sac fly to score Beavers to make it a one-run game. Adley Rutschman then lined out to center to end the game.
Bradish (5-9) took the loss, but this was in some ways a win for the O’s staff. The upshot of Bradish going deep without a win is that he threw 106 pitches to give the O’s bullpen a break at the end of the three-game series.
Rico Garcia was the only reliever Baltimore (42-49) used, coming on for one out in the eighth as the Reds didn’t need to bat in the bottom of the ninth, already up by one.
The O’s took two out of three in Cincinnati and were on a three-game win streak. Despite a competitive game and a near sweep of the Reds, Baltimore remains in search of its first four-game win streak of the season.