Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson drove in three runs apiece as the Baltimore Orioles broke out of their offensive funk in an 8-5 victory over the visiting Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday.
Santander went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a three-run triple and two runs, while Henderson went 2-for-4, including a two-run double.
The offensive outburst was more than enough for Kyle Gibson (7-3), who allowed three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 5 2/3 innings.
Adam Frazier went 2-for-5 with two runs batting leadoff in place of Cedric Mullins, who was placed on the 10-day injured list after straining his right groin during Monday’s game.
The Orioles, who had failed to score more than three runs in any of their past five games, scored seven times in the first two innings against Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill (2-4).
After Frazier led off the first inning with a single to right and Adley Rutschman walked, Santander lined out to left before both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch. Austin Hays struck out, but Henderson lined a bases-clearing double over the head of right fielder Will Brennan.
The Orioles put the game away with a five-run second inning.
After Ramon Urias was hit by a pitch and Jorge Mateo and Frazier hit consecutive one-out singles, Quantrill walked Rutschman with the bases loaded to force in a run.
Santander cleared the bases with a triple to make it 6-0 before scoring on Hays’ sacrifice fly to right.
The Guardians cut it to 7-1 in the fourth on Josh Bell’s run-scoring single.
Henderson’s RBI single in the fifth brought home Santander to extend the lead to 8-1 and end Quantrill’s night.
Quantrill was relieved by Eli Morgan after allowing a career-high-tying eight runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks in 4 1/3 innings.
The Guardians made it 8-3 in the sixth on Bell’s sacrifice fly and Andres Gimenez’s RBI double. Josh Naylor’s two-run single pulled the Guardians to within 8-5 in the seventh.
Felix Bautista picked up his 14th save of the season for the Orioles with a perfect ninth.
Naylor had two hits and two RBIs, while Bell went 1-for-3 with two RBIs for the Guardians, who lost for the seventh time in their past 11 games.
Gimenez, Brennan and Myles Straw also had two hits apiece for Cleveland.
–Field Level Media
