Orioles avoid sweep by beating Rangers, 3-2, behind Kyle Bradish’s strong start and Austin Hays’ two RBIs

The Orioles’ second-year right-hander continued his dominance against teams from the Lone Star State in Sunday’ s 3-2 victory against the Texas Rangers as Baltimore avoided being on the wrong side of a sweep for the first time this season. The result pushed the Orioles back ahead of Texas for the majors’ second-best record, trailing only the Tampa Bay Rays.

They say not to mess with Texas. But teams from the state should learn not to mess with Kyle Bradish.

The Orioles’ second-year right-hander continued his dominance against teams from the Lone Star State in Sunday’s 3-2 victory against the Texas Rangers as Baltimore avoided being on the wrong side of a sweep for the first time this season.

Bradish pitched into the seventh inning, allowing one run to baseball’s best offense, but Corey Seager’s double off Yennier Cano tied the game in the eighth before Austin Hays’ third hit in front of an announced afternoon crowd of 25,124 drove in the game-winning run in the frame’s bottom half. The result pushed the Orioles (34-19) back ahead of Texas (33-19) for the majors’ second-best record, trailing only the Tampa Bay Rays. It also assured Baltimore a winning record in a May slate that featured 22 straight games against teams above .500.

In five career starts against the Rangers and the Houston Astros, Bradish has an 0.60 ERA, limiting them to two earned runs in 30 innings. When not facing American League East opponents, Bradish is 6-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 16 starts.

He lasted only 1 2/3 innings against the Rangers in the season debut, a line drive to his right foot sending him to the injured list. He went five frames beyond that Sunday, tying his season high of 6 2/3 innings.

Bradish struck out the side in the top of the first before the Orioles supplied him all the offense they would muster with him in the game. Seager, the Rangers’ shortstop, lost a pop-up from Cedric Mullins in the sun, and Adley Rutschman and Hays followed with singles, the latter scoring Mullins. After Anthony Santander — who did not appear in Saturday’s game as he nursed what manager Brandon Hyde said was left elbow soreness — walked to load the bases, Ryan Mountcastle hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right.

Beginning with Ramón Urías subsequently grounding into a double play, Baltimore’s bats went quiet, going 2-for-21 through the seventh inning. Bradish made his best effort to make the lack of offense irrelevant. A single and walk opened the second, but a ground ball to Mountcastle at first became two outs when he threw to shortstop Jorge Mateo at second before Mateo fired back to Bradish at first base for a double play. The pair of outs began a run of 11 straight Rangers retired for Bradish.

Robbie Grossman opened Bradish’s sixth inning with a single, and a batter later, Marcus Semien sent a hanging slider to left-center, but rather than a game-tying homer, Camden Yards’ deep left field wall kept the ball in play for an RBI double; Hays also lost a home run to the dimensions in the third, tripling off the wall but getting stranded at third base.

With the tying run at second for Texas, Seager lined out to Mateo, who doubled off Semien to end the sixth. Bradish got the first two outs of the sixth before a single, his fourth hit allowed, ended his afternoon after 85 pitches. Hyde turned to Cano, who allowed a double to put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position before a strikeout sent the game to the stretch.

Back out for the eighth, Cano surrendered a single to Grossman before a pair of groundouts advanced him to third. With the left-handed hitting Seager coming up and left-hander Danny Coulombe warming, Hyde stuck with Cano, with Seager’s double plating a run against the right-hander for the third time in five outings after his first 17 appearances were scoreless.

Coulombe recorded the inning’s final out before the Orioles quickly retook the lead. With Mullins and Rutschman again on base for Hays after a walk and a single respectively, Hays grounded a single up the middle to give Baltimore a 3-2 lead, though it was unable to add on beyond that despite three chances to do so.

Closer Félix Bautista made that one-run lead hold up, striking out the side in the ninth for his 13th save.

This story will be updated.

Guardians at Orioles

Monday, 1:05 p.m.

TV: MASN, MLB Network (out of market only)

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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