The last two times the Baltimore Orioles opened a home series with a victory, in June, they lost the next two games. They’ll try to reverse that trend when they have a rematch with the Kansas City Royals at 6 p.m. tonight.
Baltimore rode Samuel Basallo’s two-run homer in the eighth inning to Friday night’s 5-3 victory. His two-handed bat throw toward the Orioles’ dugout became part of the celebration.
“That’s me having fun right there,” Basallo said. “Obviously a big moment; we’re enjoying that right there.”
The Orioles need more outcomes like that.
“We’ve been fighting, competing, sticking together,” Basallo said. “But we just trust that things are going to get better and start going our way here soon.”
Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino was back with the team to begin the series after a stint on the injured list with a hand injury. He wasn’t used in Friday’s game.
“We obviously wouldn’t do it if I didn’t feel comfortable or they didn’t feel comfortable,” Pasquantino said of returning to the active roster following this week’s rehabilitation stint with Triple-A Omaha. “It’s one of those things where I think I can help this team win, and I’m going to do whatever I can to do my part.”
Pasquantino, a left-handed batter, was considered available for late-inning duty in the series opener. But manager Matt Quatraro chose to allow Salvador Perez, who was the first baseman, to bat with one out in the ninth representing the potential tying run against right-handed reliever Andrew Kittredge.
Perez fouled out to the catcher.
Still, Quatraro said Pasquantino can make an impact that’s needed for the Royals.
“He set his goal really early to get back before the All-Star break, and he had to do a lot of hard work to get here,” Quatraro said. “It’s nice to have him back. … He hasn’t been facing major league pitching every day, so we’ll see what the results are. We’ll see how his body reacts.”
Left-hander Noah Cameron (5-6, 4.77 ERA) will start for the Royals tonight.
After four consecutive rough outings, he’s coming off a solid effort and picked up the victory Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies, 15-1, after allowing one run on six hits across five innings. That marked only the third time in Cameron’s last 12 starts that the Royals won the game.
This will be Cameron’s first career matchup against the Orioles.
The Orioles will send right-hander Kyle Bradish (5-9, 3.75 ERA) to the mound. He’ll try to avoid becoming this year’s first 10-game loser in the majors, although he has the most wins among pitchers with nine losses.
Bradish had a peculiar outing at Kansas City on April 20, when he allowed 10 hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings but gave up only one run in a no- decision. That was his only career outing against the Royals. The Orioles won the game 7-5 in 12 innings.
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