The Cleveland Guardians beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-5 Tuesday night at Camden Yards in the second game of an important three-game series as time is running out on the O's chances to reach the postseason.
Jo Adell's first-inning single off Brandon Young gave Cleveland a lead it never surrendered, and Cleveland built a 6-0 advantage through three innings, with Travis Bazzana's three-run homer in the second and Petey Halpin's RBI single in the third doing the most damage.
Young allowed six earned runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings before being chased. Baltimore clawed back in the fifth, getting within one on Pete Alonso's two-run home run — his 34th of the season — that trimmed the deficit to 6-5. But the Guardians answered in the seventh, when a throwing error by Alonso allowed Angel Martínez to reach and José Ramírez to score, and Brayan Rocchio followed with a two-run single to push the lead to 9-5 and end any remaining threat from Baltimore.
Alonso finished 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Jackson Holliday went 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI for the Orioles. Bazzana drove in three for Cleveland, while Rocchio added two RBI. Tim Herrin earned the win in relief, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings, and Craig Yoho, Cade Smith, and Hunter Gaddis each contributed a clean inning out of the Cleveland bullpen.
The loss drops Baltimore to 70-76, now four games back of Cleveland (74-72) for the final American League wild-card spot with the postseason window closing fast.
Henderson hurt - and a few others
Gunnar Henderson left the game in the eighth inning after he fouled a ball of the patella tendon in his left knee. He told reporters after the game he’s “day-to-day” and would see how the knee felt on Wednesday.
Samuel Basallo’s right shoulder appears to still be bothering him.
Blaze Alexander had a back spasm during the game and was replaced at third by Christian Encarnacion-Strand.
After Henderson was hurt, Holliday moved from second to short and catcher Carlos Narváez ended up playing second base for the first time as a pro in the ninth inning.
"Someone had to play second," Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. "I have a bias toward catchers that they could play anywhere. Narváez does have infield history when he was young. We needed someone to go out there and play and just catch the ball."