Jul 28, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) throws to first base during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: James A. Pittman-USA TODAY Sports Cedric Mullins capped a six-run third inning with a two-run double and Ryan Mountcastle drove in four runs as the host Baltimore Orioles avoided a three-game sweep by defeating the San Diego Padres 8-6 on Sunday afternoon.
A six-run lead nearly vanished on Baltimore for the second time in four days, as the host Miami Marlins erased a 6-0 deficit in an eventual 7-6 Orioles victory in 10 innings on Thursday. However, Baltimore relievers Cionel Perez (2-0), Seranthony Dominguez and Yennier Cano (fourth save) made it through the final three innings with only one run allowed on Sunday. Dominguez was in his second outing since he was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies.
The result marked the end of San Diego’s season-high seven-game winning streak. The Padres finished a nine-game road trip with a 7-2 record.
San Diego’s Xander Bogaerts continued his hot July with a two-run homer in the sixth to cut the gap to 6-5.
Orioles starter Albert Suarez was unable to make it through the fifth inning, when the Padres struck for three runs. Suarez ended up going 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts. Jacob Webb gave up two runs in relief.
Padres starter Randy Vasquez (3-6) was charged with all six runs in the third inning, though he never recorded an out in that frame. He was credited with two innings worked, giving up four hits and four walks.
Mountcastle had a two-run single in the big third inning, while Gunnar Henderson’s bases-loaded walk provided the first run and Ryan O’Hearn’s single drove in the next run.
Baltimore’s James McCann walked twice in the third, scoring the first time after the free pass. O’Hearn was 2-for-3 with a walk and the game’s only player with more than one hit until Mountcastle’s second two-run single in the eighth.
The Padres countered with three runs in the fifth, with Ha-Seong Kim’s double and Kyle Higashioka’s single driving in the first two runs before Luis Arraez’s double-play grounder plated the third run.
Bogaerts, who hit his fifth home run this season, racked up four extra-base hits across the last two games of the series and has an eight-game hitting streak.
Padres third baseman Manny Machado, a former Oriole who notched his 1,000th career RBI on Saturday, was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. The 32-year-old third baseman, who’s in his 13th big-league season, played the first seven years with the Orioles.
–Field Level Media
