WASHINGTON—Craig Kimbrel failed to convert a ninth-inning save opportunity, and in the end, the Orioles scored two runs in the 12th inning for a wild 7-6 win over the Washington Nationals before 34,087 at Nationals Park on Wednesday night.
Jorge Mateo’s 12th-inning single against Jordan Weems (1-1) scored Jordan Westburg with the go-ahead run. Mateo advanced to third on two errors and scored on Weems’ wild pitch to give the Orioles (24-12) a 7-5 lead.
Trying to protect a 3-1 lead, Kimbrel retired the first two batters he faced in the ninth before allowing two runs. He has failed to convert on four of his last five save opportunities.
Jacob Webb, the seventh reliever used, pitched the 12th for his second save.
Webb allowed Luis Garcia’s double, which scored CJ Abrams, but retired the next three batters.
Anthony Santander’s sixth home run to left tied the score at 1 in the fourth while Gunnar Henderson’s 11th homer to right gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead.
The Orioles had a chance to score in the top of the second against Mitchell Parker, but Westburg was thrown out at the plate while trying to score on Colton Cowser’s double.
Oriole starter Kyle Bradish allowed his first two batters to reach. Jacob Young led off with a single and CJ Abrams was hit by a pitch, but he retired the next three hitters.
In the bottom of the second, Trey Lipscomb’s single scored Joey Meneses to give the Nationals (18-18) a 1-0 lead.
With Kiebert Ruiz on second and one out in the fourth, Santander made a beautiful running catch on Lipscomb’s fly ball, preventing a run from scoring.
Bradish allowed a run on four hits, walking two and striking out nine in five innings.
Westburg scored on Cowser’s sacrifice fly in the seventh for a 3-1 lead.
Danny Coulombe, Yennier Cano and Cionel Pérez combined to record nine outs. Kimbrel got the first two outs of the ninth but Eddie Rosario hit a home run.
Lipscomb walked. Pinch-runner Nasim Nuñez stole second. Young walked, and manager Brandon Hyde called on Keegan Akin, who threw a wild pitch that allowed Nuñez to get to third. He scored on CJ Abrams’ single for a 3-3 tie.
Henderson was the automatic runner to start the 11th, and after Adley Rutschman’s grounder to first, Ryan Mountcastle powered his sixth home run against former Oriole Hunter Harvey to give the Orioles a 5-3 lead.
Albert Suárez (2-0) retired Ruiz on a grounder to first, enabling Meneses, the automatic runner ,to advance to third. Rosario walked, and Ildemaro Vargas’ ground-rule double scored Meneses. Young hit a short fly to right, and Ryan McKenna’s throw was not in time. Rosario scored, and it was tied, 5-5.
With the win, the Orioles extended to 103, the number of regular-season series without a sweep, fourth longest in baseball history. They’re two short of 1903-05 New York Giants (105) for third place.