BALTIMORE _ Despite three straight walks from closer Cole Sulser leading to a run in the top half of the inning, the Orioles kept the deficit at one and rallied for a 5-4 victory in the bottom of the 10th to beat the Boston Red Sox on Saturday at Camden Yards, snapping the home team's six-game losing streak.
Facing a five-man infield with the bases loaded, Pedro Severino singled into an empty center field, scoring Cedric Mullins to end the game and give the Orioles (13-14) their first win of the four-game series.
With two outs in the eighth, Anthony Santander extended his hitting streak to 17 games when he rifled a two-run home run down the left-field line to tie the game. With an exit velocity of 109.5 mph and a projected distance of 426 feet, it was the Orioles' hardest and farthest home run of 2020, per Statcast. It was also Santander's 10th of the season, a total matched by only San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr., Los Angeles' Mike Trout and the New York Yankees' Luke Voit.
The shot and the accompanying bat toss energized what had been another quiet night for the Orioles lineup. Pat Valaika's second-inning home run, his third in as many games, put them on the board against Boston's Martin Perez. In Valaika's second chance against him with two outs and a runner on second in the fourth, he smacked a single into left, but Renato Nunez was easily thrown out at home when third-base coach Jose Flores waved him home despite the ball being in left fielder Alex Verdugo's glove before Nunez reached third.
The Orioles wasted a threat in the seventh, and it seemed as if they would go quietly in the eighth before Hanser Alberto, with four hits in his previous 27 at-bats, drew a rare walk with two outs, bringing up Santander.
In the second game of each of their major league careers, Ryan Mountcastle and Ramon Urias both collected their first major-league hits.
Urias, who debuted as a pinch-hitter Thursday, sent the first pitch he saw from Perez into left field for a single.
Mountcastle, who became the second Oriole to walk twice in his debut despite going hitless Friday, had to wait a little longer. After he struck out in the second, it seemed his first hit would go to extra bases when he drove a ball to right to open the fifth, but Kevin Pillar jumped and slammed into the wall to deny Mountcastle and continue his excellent defense in the series.
Representing the go-ahead run in the seventh, Mountcastle hit a soft comebacker to Perez, who finished the frame to become the second Boston starter to work seven innings in three games against the Orioles.
With two outs in the ninth, Mountcastle hit a grounder to third and sprinted out of the box, his helmet falling off as he reached the first-base bag with an infield single for his first major league hit. Alberto faked throwing the ball into the empty stands.
With none following Severino's walk-off, the Orioles' final at-bat with a lead was Valaika's fourth-inning single.
Right-hander Alex Cobb, a potential trade candidate ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline, had pitched four scoreless innings despite allowing plenty of hard contact, but Boston unleashed a barrage in the fifth. With one out, Jackie Bradley Jr. homered to left-center field to tie the game, and Jose Peraza and Verdugo followed with consecutive doubles. Cobb retired the final two batters he faced to end his outing, but the final five balls the Red Sox put in play against him left their bats at 100 mph or more, per Statcast.
In the sixth, Tanner Scott relieved Shawn Armstrong with two on and a run in, but he stranded both in scoring position, then got the first two outs of the seventh. Mychal Givens then worked his 10th straight scoreless outing, walking the first batter he faced before retiring the next four.
Sulser pitched a clean ninth but struggled with his command in the 10th, with three straight one-out walks allowing the runner that automatically began the inning on second to score. Miguel Castro replaced him and left the bases full, setting up Baltimore's rally in the bottom half.
