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.

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 29^th win came in the 102^nd 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.