The Baltimore Orioles beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7 Wednesday as Christian Encarnacion-Strand's four-hit performance and Leody Taveras's three-run homer provided just enough cushion to survive a massive Cardinals rally.
Encarnacion-Strand went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI to pace the Baltimore offense. Taveras added a 1-for-5 line that belied its impact, driving in three runs with his home run, while Pete Alonso also went deep for two RBI.
Baltimore broke out for five runs in the first inning and added two more in the second to take a 7-1 lead, but St. Louis wiped nearly all of it away with a six-run fifth that pulled the Cardinals to within one. Starter Kyle Bradish allowed all seven earned runs on nine hits across 4.1 innings before the Baltimore bullpen — Grant Wolfram, Alex Hoppe, Josh Walker, Rico Garcia, and Andrew Kittredge — combined to hold the Cardinals scoreless the rest of the way. Kittredge earned the save, and Wolfram picked up the win.
Riley O'Brien took the loss for St. Louis after allowing a run in the ninth that proved to be the final margin. Baltimore used six pitchers in all to secure the victory.