Heston Kjerstad hit a two-out grand slam in the fifth inning to propel the Baltimore Orioles into the lead in a 6-5 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
Anthony Santander also homered and provided an RBI double, and Orioles starter Cade Povich secured his first big-league victory. Baltimore boosted its winning streak to four games.
With 60 home runs in June, it’s the most in club history in a month for the Orioles.
Corey Seager, Derek Hill, Nathan Lowe and Adolis Garcia homered for the Rangers, who dropped their sixth straight game and suffered their 11th loss in 15 games.
Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel walked Leody Taveras to begin the ninth and then Taveras stole second. The game ended with two Rangers on base as Kimbrel recorded his 19th save.
Rangers starter Michael Lorenzen (4-4) took the loss, lasting five innings and charged with five runs on four hits and four walks with three strikeouts.
With the Orioles trailing 2-1, Kjerstad hammered Lorenzen’s 1-1 cutter over the fence in center field for the 25-year-old designated hitter’s second homer of the season — both coming this week upon his latest call-up from Triple-A Norfolk.
Povich (1-1), a 24-year-old left-hander who made his debut in the majors earlier this month, allowed two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and no walks in five innings.
Seager opened the scoring by hitting his 15th home run of the season in the first inning.
Santander’s 22nd blast evened the scoring in the second.
Hill homered in the fifth to put the Rangers back ahead, marking his first home run since 2022.
Lowe’s sixth-inning, two-run shot off Bryan Baker was his fourth long ball of the season. That closed the gap to 5-4.
Santander’s ground-rule double in the seventh gave the Orioles some cushion, though they left the bases loaded in the frame. Then Garcia’s 16th homer made it a one-run game again in the eighth.
–Field Level Media