The timing doesn’t really matter to Orioles manager Craig Albernaz. The days leading up to the All-Star break or the days that follow. He can recite the record and where his team sits in the standings.
“We’ve got to win as many games as possible,” he said earlier today.
“Our guys know that.”
Two consecutive games might not constitute a streak, but the Orioles won again tonight, 5-3, over the Royals before an announced crowd of 26,993 at Camden Yards. They have a chance to creep within five of .500 by Sunday.
Samuel Basallo broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning with a left-on-left, two-run homer off Matt Strahm. He stood at the plate and made certain that the ball stayed fair, chucked his bat with both hands over his head, and began his trip around the bases.
“I was hoping it was staying fair,” Albernaz said. “I think if everyone could jump on the field and see if it was gonna stay fair, yeah. That’s why it was impressive. Those balls usually have a little hook to them, and just not too sure, but how hard he hit it, and also it had a true ball flight, which is really impressive. It just shows how efficient and clean his swing is.”
Basallo’s 15th homer, clocked at 105.9 mph, followed Pete Alonso’s leadoff single.
“I keep on saying with Sammy, the sky’s the limit for him, and these at-bats he’s having, especially hitting behind Pete all year, it’s been really impressive,” Albernaz said. “Strahm, he has a pretty good track record and it’s a tough at bat for a lefty and Sammy did a great job of getting a good pitch to hit but also being able to keep that ball fair is really impressive. His at bats, I know he didn’t get the results he wanted, but great plate discipline tonight. He’s always shown, and stepping up big in that moment.”
“Just trying to see the ball and hit the ball there,” Basallo said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “I know I haven’t been going too well against lefties lately, but just trying to put the bat on the ball there, and thankfully, that one went out.”
The bat almost traveled as far.
“I enjoy every home run that I hit to the maximum,” he said, smiling. “I don’t do those reactions to inconvenience anyone or anything like that. I’m just really enjoying the game. I enjoy every homer that I hit. I’ve always been that way since I was a kid. I’m really just out there enjoying the moment with these guys, enjoying that we can go out there and have fun and get the win.
“It’s important to remember that it’s a kids’ game. It’s important to go out there and have fun. It’s a game of failure, it’s a difficult game. But it is important to remember that you can go out there and you can have fun and enjoy yourself. I think it’s important to try and do.”
Albernaz said he didn’t see the bat toss. Blaze Alexander was amused by it.
“I had a weird view of it,” he said. “I was still down in the tunnel, so I saw the ball come off the bat, and, obviously, the crowd erupted, and I see him with his hands right here (over head), and he just threw the bat. I was like, ‘All right, something sick happened.’
“That was awesome, man. That’s just the kind of player Sammy is. Lefty on left, doesn’t matter. Two-run homer, game.”
Albernaz has pinch-hit for Basallo in the past with a lefty on the mound, but he refrained tonight.
“I think we did the one time in Miami because Adley (Rutschman) was on the bench,” Albernaz said. “The other time in Toronto, that was it. It’s one of those things where we trust him in those at bats and that’s the one where we want Sammy to be that guy and be close to matchup-proof as we can get him. So there’s a lot of development there, and also he has shown he can manage a guy against a lefty and still do damage.”
Andrew Kittredge was handed the ninth inning again and notched his third save. Michael Massey’s one-out double created some tension.
Brandon Young carried a 3-2 lead into the eighth inning, but Isaac Collins hit a leadoff homer on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Young bent over as the ball cleared the center field fence, and Albernaz popped out of the dugout.
“Got a little excited just trying to rear back, missed location a few times and made me pay for it,” Young said. “Just sucks I wasn’t able to finish on a good note. The team, they picked me up right there. But thankfully, Sammy came through with the big hit.”
Young began the seventh at 72 pitches and needed only five to retire the side in order, making it easy for Albernaz to stick with him. He allowed three runs and eight hits, and his ERA went from 3.38 to 3.42.
“I’ve caught B.Y. since we were in the minors together, and what he’s doing right now is absolutely special,” Basallo said. “He’s been through a lot, a lot of injuries and things like that. To see what he’s doing right now, I think that’s what all of us saw as he was coming up through the minors. This is what he’s capable of, and he’s a special pitcher.”
The Orioles parlayed four singles into a couple of runs in the second inning and lost the lead before Alexander got it back in the fourth with a tie-breaking solo home run.
Alexander has registered a career-high 29 RBIs and is batting .306 with a .791 OPS. His 436-foot shot to left field off Luinder Avila was the longest of the 14 that he’s hit in the majors.
“I hit the ball hard,” Alexander said. “I know I don’t have too many homers, but I hit the ball hard, I can press the ball, and just trying to put together good at-bats, man, find the barrel, and usually good things happen.”
“Blaze has stepped up is an understatement,” Albernaz said. “But I think, one, his ability to play all over the field is a huge asset for us. And how he’s come along at the plate, making those adjustments, and now he’s a real threat up there, and a threat in the sense of grinding out at-bats and taking hits the other way, and being able to do damage, as well. And he’s really owned the player he is right now.”
A contribution also was made in the field. Jac Caglianone led off the sixth with a single and Lane Thomas grounded to Alexander at 105.3 mph. Alexander made the clean pickup and started the double play.
Jackson Holliday had an RBI single in the second that scored Dylan Beavers, and Alexander came home on Gunnar Henderson’s single into center field at 105.9 mph.
Henderson was 0-for-11 before another hard-hit ball finally did more than frustrate him. He flied to the right field fence in the fourth, a 48-degree launch angle delaying the outcome and seeming almost cruel.
Holliday reached base for the seventh time in a row. He went 4-for-4 Wednesday and walked twice coming off the bench Thursday. His ground ball into right field was only 74.6 mph, but it did the job.
Young struck out two batters in the first inning on a 94.9 mph four-seam fastball and 95.3 mph sinker. Bobby Witt Jr. doubled with one out.
The Orioles turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the second inning after Salvador Perez singled and Josh Rojas reached on an infield hit. Caglianone led off the fourth with his 15th home run, and Rojas had an RBI double with two outs.
The Royals tried to rally again in the fifth on Collins’ leadoff single, but Beavers threw him out going for the double. Collins came off the bag and Henderson kept the glove on him.
Collins made sure that the Orioles didn’t keep their 3-2 lead.
Basallo made sure that they didn’t lose.
“I feel like we’ve been ready all year,” he said. “We’ve faced some adversity, for sure. I think there’s also been some bad luck involved. But I feel like we’ve been putting our best foot forward, we’ve been fighting, competing, sticking together. But we just trust that things are going to get better and start going our way here soon.”
Down on the farm
Single-A Delmarva center fielder Jaiden Lo Re was removed from Game 1 of a doubleheader after a collision on the bases while sliding into second base in the bottom of the third inning.
Lo Re was drafted last year in the fifth round out of Corona del Sol High School in Tempe. He’s batting .333 with a .917 OPS for the Shorebirds.
Stephen Still allowed two unearned runs and two hits in five innings.
High-A Frederick’s Twine Palmer allowed one run and three hits with eight strikeouts in six innings.
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