The Chicago Cubs beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-7 Wednesday to take the first two games of a three-game set, as a five-run seventh inning broke open a close game and handed Baltimore another disheartening defeat.
Pete Crow-Armstrong was the offensive catalyst for Chicago, going 2-for-4 with two home runs against Orioles starter Dean Kremer, who allowed four solo shots, including three in his final, fifth inning. Seiya Suzuki added a three-run homer against Baltimore reliever Grant Wolfram in the seventh. Michael Conforto and Carson Kelly also went deep for the Cubs.
For Baltimore, Tyler O'Neill delivered off the bench with two home runs and two RBI in two at-bats and Coby Mayo launched another solo homer off the bench and 420 feet into the upper deck in left field. Jackson Holliday went 4-for-4 with a double. Pete Alonso also homered, his 20th of the year, and drove in two. The game had nine homers - five by Chicago and four by Baltimore.
The O's led 3-1, before Kremer surrendered a trio of deep balls in the fifth. The Cubs carried a 4-3 lead into the seventh and blew the game open with five runs in that frame against the Baltimore bullpen, pushing their advantage to 9-5.
Baltimore rallied late -- scoring twice in the seventh and eighth -- but could not complete the comeback. Colin Rea earned the win with 5.1 innings of work, and Jacob Webb closed it out with a scoreless ninth for the save.
Wolfram absorbed the bulk of the seventh-inning damage in two-thirds of an inning. To start, he walked Crow-Armstrong after starting 0-2 against him, and later threw a wild pitch that brought in a run charged to Rico Garcia, and Wolfram walked another before giving up three earned runs on the Suzuki homer.
“Uncharacteristic of Wolfy," Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “He’s been throwing the ball well for us. Just one of those outings where the walks killed him.”
The O's fall to 42-51 with the loss, and are now five games back of the final wild card spot in the American League.
"Our guys did a good job of fighting back," Albernaz said, but their postseason hopes are drifting further and further away.
Rarefied air
Mayo's blast into the upper deck in left was just the eighth such homer to reach there since Camden Yards opened in 1992. The last to do drive one that high into left was Austin Hays four years ago, and Alonso did it before that, with the New York Mets in 2020.
Time change
Thursday's series finale with the Cubs, originally scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET, has been moved up to a 1:35 p.m. start due to forecasted inclement weather. Gates will open at 1 p.m. Fans holding tickets to Thursday’s game who are unable to attend at the new time can visit Orioles.com/Weather for options.