Orioles fight back after blowing 7-run lead to beat Royals, 13-10, win 7th straight series

What appeared to be a blowout win in the making Thursday started to turn into a potentially devastating loss for the Orioles. That is, until Ramón Urías bailed out Baltimore’s pitching staff in the eighth inning.

The Orioles led 8-1 in the third as the offense jumped on Kansas City right-hander Jordan Lyles, but Baltimore starter Grayson Rodriguez and the bullpen combined to surrender that lead by the seventh to give the Royals a one-run advantage.

Pinch-hitting against seven-time All-Star reliever Aroldis Chapman, Urías absolved Rodriguez and the bullpen of their misdeeds, lining a two-run single to put the Orioles up one, an advantage the bullpen wouldn’t relinquish again as Baltimore defeated Kansas City, 13-10.

“We fight every game,” Urías said.

Urías’ single scored Adam Frazier and Jorge Mateo, both of whom walked to open the eighth and stole a base to get into scoring position. The third baseman then tacked on insurance in the ninth with a two-run double to right-center field.

Manager Brandon Hyde called the victory a “character win.”

“That was a grind,” Hyde told reporters after the game. “It’s like going to the dentist a little bit. We’ve got an 8-1 lead and swinging the bat extremely well, and unfortunately we let them back into the game. But give our guys a ton of credit for not getting down, staying with it and really grinding those last two innings to put some runs up on the board.”

The series win is the Orioles’ seventh straight, dating to the four-game set versus the Oakland Athletics from April 10 to 13. Since, Baltimore has won series against the Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers (twice) and Boston Red Sox.

At 21-10, the Orioles have the second-best record in the American League, behind only division rival Tampa Bay. Eleven of their wins have been in come-from-behind fashion.

“It was a strange three games, honestly,” Hyde said. “You’re not gonna win pretty every single night. This definitely was not one of those games, but fortunately we got the win.”

The Orioles were in the position to require Urías’ late-game heroics after Rodriguez and three relievers allowed the Royals (8-24) to come back from down seven runs.

The rookie right-hander posted the worst start of his young career, allowing eight hits and six runs in 3 2/3 innings. Out of the bullpen, Cionel Pérez struggled again, Danny Coulombe stumbled an inning after escaping a bases-loaded jam and Yennier Cano allowed the RBI single that gave the Royals a lead in the seventh, a run that was credited to Coulombe. In total, Orioles pitchers allowed 16 hits one night after surrendering 13.

“I was just glad the offense had my back,” Rodriguez said.

“This team’s got a lot of fight in it. Obviously, the bats were hot. There’s a lot of juice in the offense. Being a pitcher, that’s a great thing to have in your pocket.”

Cano (1-0) fired a scoreless eighth and Félix Bautista was shaky in the ninth, allowing one run in a nonsave situation to close out the game.

Orioles bats bounce back against old friend

After the Orioles were shut out Wednesday, Mullins wasn’t panicked about whether the poor offensive performance was indicative of anything more than just one bad night.

Mullins and the rest of the lineup proved it Thursday, tagging Lyles, who spent last season with the Orioles, for eight runs (six earned) to build an early lead.

Mullins hit a bases-clearing double in the second and Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson both jacked two-run homers to right field off Lyles, who won 12 games and pitched 179 innings for Baltimore in 2022 as the leader of their rotation.

Santander began the game’s scoring with a two-run home run to right field — only his third of the season after leading the club with 33 last year. Santander stumbled for much of April, but he recorded two hits in all three games against Kansas City. His home run came after a two-out error by Royals right fielder MJ Melendez.

Mullins then continued his success with runners in scoring position with a three-run double in the second inning, smashing a center-cut curveball off the right-center field wall. The center fielder entered the game 12-for-26 with five extra-base hits with runners in scoring position and is now 3-for-3 with 11 RBIs and two walks with the bases loaded. His 26 RBIs are tied with Ryan Mountcastle for most on the team.

In the third, Adam Frazier walked with two outs, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a bloop single from Jorge Mateo. Henderson then clobbered his third home run of the season — a 425-foot shot to right field off Lyles — to put the Orioles up 8-1. Henderson leads the AL in walk rate this season, but he’s struggled to make consistent contact on his swings as he entered the game hitting just .182.

Frazier scored the final run of the game on a wild pitch after Urías’ double, the Orioles’ seventh hit with runners in scoring position in 14 tries Thursday.

Royals homer three times off Rodriguez

Rodriguez entered Thursday on a 14-inning scoreless streak that he extended to 15 after the first. He ended the day allowing runs in three straight frames.

The 23-year-old hadn’t allowed a run since the first inning of his start versus the White Sox on April 16. He then went five scoreless against the Tigers in back-to-back starts.

But he struggled to get whiffs against the free-swinging Royals, making batters miss on just 17% of their swings — a stark decline from his rate of 28.1% entering Thursday. Rodriguez struck out three and walked one.

“We knew they were gonna be aggressive,” he said. “Obviously, they hit a lot of balls and they were aggressive. We knew that coming in, just have to do a better job executing pitches.”

He allowed three home runs in the no-decision, one more than he surrendered in his first 24 1/3 innings of the year. All three long balls were no-doubters, and seven of the Royals’ eight hits off Rodriguez had exit velocities of 95 mph or faster.

“Really it doesn’t matter who you face, what their record is,” Rodrigues said when asked what he can learn from the start. “They’re all big league hitters. That’s what I’m taking away from it.”

Around the horn

• Outfielder Austin Hays (bruised finger) didn’t play for the second consecutive game as he continues to recover from getting hit on the hand by a pitch last week. Hyde said before the game he would be available to come off the bench if needed Thursday.
• Hyde said he isn’t sure when catcher Luis Torrens, whom the Orioles acquired in a trade Wednesday, would report to the team, adding that it would “probably” be this weekend while the team is in Atlanta.
• Utilityman Terrin Vavra, now with Triple-A Norfolk, played catcher for the first time in his professional career earlier this week for the Tides as he continues to work on his positional versatility. Hyde said Vavra, who has spent four innings behind the plate, is learning the position in case of an “emergency” down the line, adding that his willingness to learn the position shows Vavra is a “total team guy.”

Orioles at Braves

Friday, 7:20 p.m.

TV: MASN

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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