Orioles explode for five runs in 10th to beat Athletics, 7-2, in Cole Irvin’s return to Oakland – The Denver Post

Cole Irvin’s return to Oakland went well for the left-hander, but it took an extra inning for it to be good for his team.

While the former Athletics starter pitched five solid innings, his offense needed a 10th frame to decide Saturday night’s contest. After failing to score for the previous six innings, Baltimore’s bats broke the game open in the final one, plating five runs en route to a 7-2 victory.

Six Orioles batters either reached base or drove in a run in the 10th. Adley Rutschman led off with a walk, and Ryan Mountcastle followed with a go-ahead RBI single to score automatic runner Adam Frazier. After Gunnar Henderson was hit by a pitch, Jordan Westburg drove in Rutschman with a sacrifice fly and Austin Hays brought home Mountcastle with a fielder’s choice ground ball. James McCann then provided two pivotal insurance runs with a two-run single to give the Orioles’ bullpen a large cushion.

Reliever Jacob Webb hit and walked the first two batters of the 10th, but the club’s newest bullpen addition struck out the next three batters for a scoreless inning. Aside from Shintaro Fujinami, another former Athletics pitcher whom the Orioles traded for, the Orioles’ bullpen was excellent for the second straight night.

The relief corps pitched four shutout frames in Friday night’s 9-4 win and allowed just one run in six innings Saturday. Fujinami allowed a solo homer in the sixth that tied the game, but Yennier Cano, Cionel Pérez, Félix Bautista (8-2) and Webb followed with scoreless outings.

Hays homered in the fourth to tie the game at one, and McCann remained hot with a solo homer two batters later that gave the Orioles a brief 2-1 lead.

Baltimore is 76-47 and 2 1/2 games up on the Tampa Bay Rays atop the American League standings.

Around the horn

• Before Saturday’s game, the Orioles placed outfielder Aaron Hicks on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain. Hicks returned from the IL on Monday after nursing a left hamstring strain, went 2-for-3 against the San Diego Padres and was removed with the back injury. Manager Brandon Hyde said Hicks’ recovery wasn’t coming along as quickly as the club hoped. His IL stint is retroactive to Wednesday. The veteran has been shut down from doing baseball activity, and Hyde expects him to be out for a “couple weeks.”
• Right-hander Mychal Givens, who Baltimore designated for assignment last weekend, was placed on unconditional release waivers Saturday. The Orioles signed Givens for $5 million in the offseason. He pitched just four ineffective innings for them, spending most of his season on the injured list.
• Outfielder Anthony Santander didn’t play Saturday after being removed from Friday’s game. Hyde said the switch-hitter has a sore back and will “hopefully” be back in the lineup soon. “We’ve got a lot of bad backs,” Hyde said. “Heat pads are on the backs right now. It’s the middle of August, and these guys have played a lot of baseball. We’ve got bumps and bruises everywhere.”
• Starting pitcher Tyler Wells threw 27 pitches in two innings Saturday for Double-A Bowie, allowing one run on a solo homer. The shorter outing was planned as the Orioles continue to manage the right-hander’s workload during what Hyde called a “reset” in the minors. Wells, the Orioles’ best starter in the first half of the season, has pitched three times for the Baysox since he was optioned in late July.

This story will be updated.

Orioles at Athletics

Sunday, 4:07 p.m.

TV: MASN

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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