BALTIMORE – Completely unexpected and for the first time in years, the Baltimore Orioles enjoyed a week of victories, cheering fans, hugs and high fives.
The Orioles rolled to their eighth straight win on Sunday, using a straight four innings and three RBI from Ramón Urías to beat the road-weary Los Angeles Angels 9-5.
Baltimore fell 2-0 before rushing back to complete a 7-0 home record and their first four-game win over the Angels since 2003. However, the Orioles had not won eight straight games in a season from April 22 to May 1, 2005. They have won 12 straight games in two seasons in late 2015 and early 2016.
It’s been a pretty exciting stretch for a recovery team that has lost more than 100 games in three of the past four years, excluding the 2020 season curtailed by the pandemic.
“I’ve waited a long time for a week like this, most of my career,” said designated hitter Trey Mancini, who broke into the majors with Baltimore in 2016. “It’s something I certainly don’t take for granted. We’re just having a really good time in here and playing so well as a team.”
Urías hit in two runs during a four-run fourth, adding an RBI single in the fifth to make it 8-2. That put the Orioles (43-44) on track to move within a game of .500 for the first time since starting 0-1.
“You know, I had higher hopes for us as a team this year, but I don’t think I envisioned the camaraderie as it is,” Mancini said. “It just all suits us very well.”
Monte Harrison and Max Stassi scored for the Sinking Angels, who are now 38-49 in their worst 11 games of the season under .500 after an 8-1 swing that started in Houston and Miami.
This was a particularly sloppy performance by Los Angeles. During Baltimore’s fifth run of four runs, not only did one field error and one block occur, but one run scored on a pass ball and another on a wild field.
“It’s just frustrating. We didn’t play a solid defensive game in some places,” said interim manager Phil Nevin. “We have to keep grinding. I know how things are right now and I know where we are. We have a lot of good players. We’re a team that needs to play crisp, clean baseball and we didn’t do that today.”
Austin Voth (1-1) pitched five innings to earn his first win with the Orioles since he was called for waivers by Washington on June 7th. Voth, who fielded for the World Series Champion’s 2019 Nationals, noted some similarities between that team and this one.
“In 2019 we had good chemistry and guys coming together, joking around and playing well,” he said. “I’m starting to see this.”
Harrison gave the Angels a 2-0 lead in the third with his second career homer, a two-run drive to the right. After celebrating his first long ball with the Marlins since August 2020, he had to wait out a video replay because the Orioles questioned whether he actually touched first base.
LA starter José Suarez (1-3) pulled back his first 10 batters before walking two and hitting another in the fourth. The left gave an RBI double to Ryan Mountcastle, a two-run single to Urías and was canceled after Rougned made Odor single in a run.
TRAINING ROOM
Orioles: OF Austin Hays was given the day off to rest his sore right wrist, which hasn’t been at 100 percent since he was hit by a pitch against Texas on Monday. … RHP Travis Lakins (right elbow inflammation) was transferred to 60-day IL.
NEXT
Angels: After a day off, Los Angeles and RHP Noah Syndergaard (5-7, 3.84 ERA) face the visiting Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
Orioles: After taking Monday off, Baltimore sends RHP Jordan Lyles (5-7, 4.50) on the mound Tuesday night to kick off a two-game series at Wrigley Field against the Cubs.