Orioles show signs of life in 5-3 win over Red Sox

BOSTON — If the Orioles’ 12-3 loss to the Red Sox on Monday night was rock bottom, their performance Tuesday was a desperately needed first step in their climb back to the surface.

Cedric Mullins put together his first multi-home run game since 2021 and Albert Suárez set a new career high with eight strikeouts to lead Baltimore (83-63) to a 5-3 win in Boston that snapped their three-game losing streak. Every member of the Orioles’ starting lineup recorded at least one hit including Adley Rutschman, whose two-run single in the seventh inning provided key insurance runs and, for a night, offered hope that their struggles with runners in scoring position might finally come to an end.

Mullins, hitting in the No. 2 spot of the lineup for the second straight day, took Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford deep in each of his first two at-bats. His first homer was a high fly ball that barely drifted past the short right-field wall of Fenway Park; the 334-foot solo shot was the shortest home run of his career. He got all of his next one, however, launching a two-run blast 407 feet to right-center field in the top of the third.

The Orioles’ center fielder entered the contest hitting .286 with an .860 OPS over his past 75 games. Coming off an injury-plagued 2023 campaign, Mullins has shaken off a slow start to come within striking distance of a 20-homer, 30-stolen base season. His two long balls Tuesday pushed his season total to 17 and he swiped his 27th bag in the ninth. Sixteen games remain on their regular-season schedule.

Baltimore struggled at first to tack on any insurance runs, stranding five base runners over the first six innings. Yet Suárez made sure they wouldn’t need any, twirling six innings of one-run baseball for one of his most impressive starts of the year. The 34-year-old threw 101 pitches, a season high, with 21 of them inducing swings and misses — the most by an Orioles starter since Kyle Gibson got 22 whiffs on July 9, 2023.

That translated to eight strikeouts, the most of his three-year career that began in 2016 and included a six-year hiatus while he pitched overseas. Suárez has posted a 3.39 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 29 games (21 starts) as a surprise linchpin of the Orioles’ pitching staff. After an uncharacteristic six-run outing in his last start Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox, Suárez returned to form to stifle Boston’s offense that stuffed the box score just one night prior.

He walked off the mound with a 3-1 lead and Rutschman, who had two hits Monday to end a 6-for-44 skid, added some extra cushion for the Orioles’ bullpen in the seventh. After forcing Crawford out of the game, the Orioles put two runners on with singles by Gunnar Henderson and Ryan O’Hearn. Hitting with two outs, Rutschman worked a full count before poking a change-up on the outer half of the strike zone the other way for a single through the left side.

Those two runs proved to be the difference in the game as Boston fought back against the Orioles’ bullpen. Cionel Pérez pitched a clean seventh but left a runner on base for Yennier Cano, who gave up an RBI double to designated hitter Masataka Yoshida before balking home a run to snap a streak of six consecutive scoreless appearances for the right-hander. Seranthony Domínguez prevented any further damage by posting a scoreless ninth to improve to a perfect 9 for 9 in save chances since being acquired by the Orioles at the trade deadline.

With the New York Yankees losing 5-0 to the Kansas City Royals, the Orioles moved back to within a half-game of the American League East lead. They also kept their three-game advantage over Kansas City for the top wild-card spot intact. Baltimore will look to win the series Wednesday when Dean Kremer faces Nick Pivetta in the final matchup between the two division rivals this season.

Around the horn

— Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg said in the clubhouse Tuesday he feels like he’s “turned a little bit of a corner” in his recovery from a broken right hand. His grip strength has improved and he tested it out on the field before the game fielding ground balls and throwing them across the diamond. He’s hoping to swing a bat for the first time “soon.”

— Outfielder Heston Kjerstad (concussion) reported to Double-A Bowie on Tuesday as part of his ongoing rehabilitation assignment and went 1 for 3 with a double. He started in left field and played seven innings before being substituted out in the bottom of the eighth. The game was Kjerstad’s third rehab appearance after he went 2 for 5 with a walk for High-A Aberdeen.

— Hyde said in his pregame news conference that infielder Ramón Urías, placed on the 10-day injured list with an ankle sprain, is “progressing ahead of schedule” and “getting close” to a potential return for the Orioles. Urías will be first eligible to be reinstated from the IL on Wednesday, but Hyde hasn’t put a specific timetable on when he’ll be ready to play.