Orioles score eight late runs in win; Ynoa solid in relief; Mancini hits two homers - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff

Orioles score eight late runs in win; Ynoa solid in relief; Mancini hits two homers

BALTIMORE—The Orioles played small ball in the seventh inning, and bigger ball in the eighth. Eight late-inning runs sent them to a win and a series split with the Washington Nationals.

Trailing 2-1 in the seventh, Nationals manager Dave Martinez called on Wander Suero to relieve Erick Fedde, who allowed just Trey Mancini’s home run in the fourth.

Mancini led off the seventh with a walk, and Chance Sisco singled. With one out, Anthony Santander’s single scored Mancini to tie it, and Chris Davis’ bloop to center scored Sisco.

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Tony Sipp walked Stevie Wilkerson, and Rio Ruiz, in a rare at-bat against a left-hander, hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Santander.

Ruiz hit because Hanser Alberto was unavailable because his wife had a baby girl earlier in the day.

The Orioles scored five more runs in the eighth and had a deceptively easy 9-2 win over the Nationals on Wednesday night.

The Orioles and Nationals play home-and-home series this season, and will play two games in Washington on August 27-28.

Aaron Brooks, in his second start with the Orioles, worked 2 2/3 innings, just as he had in his first, but allowed a run on two hits with two walks. On Saturday, Brooks didn’t allow a hit.

Gabriel Ynoa relieved Brooks and worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing back-to-back doubles by Trea Turner and Adam Eaton in the fifth. The one run on two hits was good enough for him to break a seven-game losing streak and win for the first time since September 21, 2017.

“I know he’s had a couple of really nice games, but for me this was his best game from a stuff standpoint,” manager Brandon Hyde said.

“I really liked the fastball, changeup, slider. This is not an easy lineup to pitch to. It’s a playoff-caliber lineup and he kept them off balance. For me, one of the biggest at-bats of the game was when Aaron couldn’t get through the third and I brought Gabby in to face [Juan] Soto, which wasn’t the matchup I had in mind, but I just couldn’t let Aaron go any further. With the bases loaded and two outs and to get him out right there and keep it at 1-0, that was a huge, huge at-bat even though it was early in the game.”

“I was feeling aggressive,” Ynoa said through a translator. “I do believe it was the best outing so far this year.”

Ynoa had been starting, but lately has been used as a long reliever.

“I feel comfortable wherever they put me,” Ynoa said. “The most important thing is to do the job, whatever role they designate for you, whether it’s a starter or a reliever.”

Mancini’s home run was his first since June 23, and came a day after he broke an 0-for-24 slump. He added a two-run home run in the eighth. He has 19 homers this season, and it was his first multi-homer game of the season.

“I knew after the first at-bat I just could tell I felt a little more like myself,” Mancini said. “I hit it into the shift right at [second baseman Brian] Dozier there. Kind of let me take a deep breath and realize that my timing was kind of back and I was feeling good out there.”

His second home run was a high, long shot that barely cleared the left field wall.

“Off the bat I didn’t think it was going out and then it just kind of kept going up and then I thought I had a chance,” Mancini said. “I’m glad he [Soto] didn’t catch it. He was close. My heart kind of stopped whenever they reviewed it, too, but luckily it counted. But I think that was one of the higher ones I’ve hit.”

The Orioles are 29-66. Last year, their 29th win came in the 102nd game, putting them seven games ahead of that pace.

Slump breakers: Davis broke an 0-for-14 slump, and Richie Martin’s eighth inning single ended his 0-for-24 slide. Dwight Smith Jr. and his 0-for-30 skid were rested.

Roster move: The Orioles optioned right-hander Tayler Scott to Triple-A Norfolk after the game. Scott allowed five runs in two innings.

Rain delay: The start of the game was delayed by one hour, 32 minutes. Rain has delayed Orioles games by 11 hours, 9 minutes this season.

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