Cedric Mullins ripped a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of a wild ninth inning as the Baltimore Orioles pulled out a 6-5 victory against the visiting New York Yankees on Sunday, ending a five-game losing streak.
The Orioles, who lead the American League East at the All-Star break, were down to their final out just moments after their one-run lead vanished. But Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe’s fielding error helped prolong the game, and Mullins, who entered the game earlier as a pinch runner, took advantage.
Closer Clay Holmes (1-4), the Yankees’ fifth reliever, took the loss by giving up three unearned runs.
Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander homered for the Orioles, who dodged a season-worst six-game skid. They went 1-5 on the homestand.
Ben Rice drilled a three-run ninth-inning home run in the top of the ninth to give the Yankees a 5-3 lead, but the visitors were unable to complete the three-game series sweep. They were denied their first three-game winning streak since capturing four in a row from June 9-12.
Rice’s sixth homer of the season came off Craig Kimbrel, who walked the first two batters in the ninth and then was dinged for runs for the first time in his last eight appearances.
The Orioles didn’t exactly snap out of their offensive doldrums, but they scored more than two runs for the first time in six games. They had managed two runs in their previous two games combined after they were shutout victims in the two games before that.
The top six players in New York’s batting order went a combined 1-for-18 with three walks before Rice delivered.
Yankees starter Carlos Rodon went four innings, allowing two runs on four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. He threw 98 pitches, failing to reach the five-inning mark in consecutive starts for the first time this year.
Kimbrel (6-2), who walked Grisham and Oswaldo Cabrera before giving up the home run, got the win.
Orioles starter Dean Kremer lasted 4 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
The Yankees opened the scoring on Grisham’s two-out single in the second. That knocked in Volpe, who had doubled.
Henderson gave the Orioles their first lead since last Sunday — a span of five-plus games — by unloading for a two-run home run after James McCann led off the third with a walk.
Henderson’s 28th home run ended an eight-game homerless stretch. He’s third in the majors behind only Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Grisham, who went 3-for-3 and was the only Yankees hitter with multiple hits, belted his sixth long ball to tie the score in the fifth.
Santander’s 24th homer of the season came off Tommy Kahnle and snapped a tie with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.
Santander and Jorge Mateo both finished with two hits for the Orioles.
–Field Level Media