Austin Hays hit an inside-the-park homer to lead off the 10th inning, lifting the visiting Baltimore Orioles to a 10-9 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.
With Andrew Velazquez stationed on second base to begin the 10th, Hays’ liner off Deolis Guerra (1-2) was misplayed by diving center fielder Roman Quinn. The ball found its way to the wall, and Hays motored around the bases to give Baltimore a two-run lead despite only one batter coming to the plate.
The unconventional offense allowed Cole Sulser (1-1) to pick up his first career win despite allowing a tying two-run single to Didi Gregorius in the ninth inning. Paul Fry surrendered an RBI single to Jay Bruce in the bottom of the 10th before Travis Lakins induced Rhys Hoskins to ground out with runners on second and third to secure the first save of his career.
Renato Nunez collected three hits and two RBIs, and Pedro Severino had an infield single that plated two runs in the eighth inning for the Orioles, who recorded 16 hits en route to winning their third in a row.
Bryce Harper belted a two-run homer and Jean Segura and Bruce also went deep for the Phillies, who have lost three of their past four games.
Philadelphia’s beleaguered bullpen entered Tuesday’s contest with a bloated 9.87 ERA, and it absorbed another painful blow after Hector Neris failed to hold a 6-5 lead in the ninth inning.
Hanser Alberto’s double put runners in scoring position before Anthony Santander was walked to load the bases. Nunez singled to left field to forge a tie before third baseman Segura stumbled over the mound to allow Severino’s popup to fall and Alberto and Santander to score, giving Baltimore an 8-6 lead.
Philadelphia erased a 5-3 deficit after Hoskins singled to lead off the eighth inning and Harper deposited a 3-2 changeup from Miguel Castro over the wall in left field. The homer was Harper’s fourth of the season and second in as many days.
Castro appeared to settle down by striking out J.T. Realmuto and Gregorius, but Segura crushed an 0-1 offering over the wall in left field to give the Phillies a 6-5 lead.
Baltimore broke open a tie game in the seventh inning against Tommy Hunter, who pitched for the Orioles in 2011-15 and again in 2016. Alberto ripped an RBI double to plate Pat Valaika before coming home on Santander’s single to give Baltimore a 5-3 lead.
Andrew McCutchen’s two-run single opened the scoring in the third inning and Bruce led off the fifth by depositing a first-pitch curveball off Alex Cobb into the second deck in right-center field. The homer was Bruce’s third of the season and second in four games.
Baltimore found its offense in the sixth, with Nunez ripping an RBI single to left field for the first run before coming around to score on Ruiz’s double. Ruiz later scored on Smith’s RBI single to forge a tie at 3.
–Field Level Media
