Who says Camden Yards is no longer a homer-friendly ballpark?
Trey Mancini, Rougned Odor and Austin Hays hit long home runs and the Orioles evened their three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians with a 5-4 victory on Saturday at Camden Yards.
Mancini’s homer to left field traveled 438 feet, the longest by an Oriole this season, according to Statcast.
Odor’s homer landed on Eutaw Street, the first Orioles to accomplish that feat this season. Hays’ blast went 411 feet.
José Ramírez and Andrés Giménez hit home runs for Cleveland.
“I think when it warms up, the ball starts to jump,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “We kind of knew that was going to happen. There was a lack of home runs early, and the weather played a big part in that. And now the ball was carrying. Trey smoked that baseball and [Odor] and Hays … that was fun to watch.”
Reliever Félix Bautista (2-1) picked up the win and Jorge López got the last four outs for his seventh save.
Oriole starter Tyler Wells knew it was going to be a short outing in discussions with Hyde and pitching coach Chris Holt after he threw 88 pitches in six innings in Boston on Monday. Wells allowed two runs and two hits — the two homers — in four innings. He threw 62 pitches.
“I didn’t want to come out of the game,” Wells said. “That’s just the competitive side in me. I’m glad that Hyder was able to pull me aside and talk to me about it. That makes the decision easier, but at the same time, too, I still wanted to be out there.”
The Orioles continued to play strong defense.
This time, shortstop Jorge Mateo moved far to his right into the outfield grass to backhand a shot by Oscar Gonzalez in the seventh and made a two-hop throw to nail Gonzalez at first.
Ramirez gave the Guardians a 1-0 lead in the first with his 14th homer of the season and league-leading 53rd RBI
Mancini answered for the Orioles in the bottom half with a solo shot into the Guardians’ bullpen. Mancini has homered twice in his last four games and has hit safely in eight of his last nine, batting .412 (14-for-34) with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, and seven RBIs.
Gimenez gave the Guardians a 2-1 lead with a towering shot to right that traveled 418 feet and was the first to land on Eutaw Street this season. It was the 61st ball hit by an opponent to land on Eutaw Street.
Hays gave the Orioles a lead with a three-run shot in the third. Odor made it 5-2 lead with a home run an inning later. Odor has hit safely in 15 of his last 19 games dating back to May 16th, slashing .269/.310/.582 (18-for-67) with four doubles, one triple, and five home runs.
The Guardians scored twice in the fifth on pair of fielder’s choice plays to cut the lead to 5-4, and they loaded the bases in the eighth before Lopez retired Josh Naylor on a fly ball to end the threat.
Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie (3-5) allowed five runs and on just three hits — all home runs — with four strikeouts and three walks in seven innings.
“It was kind of a strange line,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “He threw three hits and they were all home runs. He’s been really good. Thinking these kids aren’t going to be perfect probably isn’t fair.”
Note: The Orioles released infielder Jahmai Jones. He was put on waivers after undergoing Tommy John surgery.