BALTIMORE – The Baltimore Orioles lost their 19-game losing streak Wednesday night and rallied to beat Los Angeles 10-6 after a shaky start from Shohei Ohtani left the Los Angeles Bulls track with too many things to do.
The Angels won 6-2 in the fourth inning and 6-4 when Ohtani left the game after the top of the sixth. But Baltimore scored a run in the seventh and five in the eighth. Ramon Urias and Kelvin Gutiérrez drew bases-laden walks to place the Orioles 7-6, and Austin Hays, the pinch hitter, added a two-run double.
The Orioles were two timid defeats in the U.S. league record for the longest slide, set in 1988 when they started 0-21.
“There was tension in our excavation, there was pressure. Everyone was on the top step,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “Our guys just wanted this one. We’re sick of hearing it, tired of watching it on TV. Everyone’s sick of it.”
Ohtani allowed three homers on the mound and threw three hits to the plate, but the Orioles still looked headed for their twentieth straight loss after Brandon Marsh got his first homer run, a three-run shot in the fourth that made the 6-2.
It was 6-5 when Jake Petricka (0-1) allowed a single, a double and an intentional walk to start the final round. He then walked Urias, his last hitter, on four pitches to tie the game.
James Hoyt came in and destroyed Jahmai Jones, but then passed to Gutierrez with a full count. Then Hays doubled to the left with the bases loaded and Cedric Mullins added a sacrifice fly.
When Tyler Wells withdrew the final hitter from the game on a right wing, he hugged receiver Pedro Severino and the Orioles casually celebrated him on the field. Fans, many of whom probably came to see Ohtani, roared with his approval.
Mullins and Anthony Santander hit the solo homers in the first, and DJ Stewart shot Ohtani with a two-run shot in the fourth, as the Orioles finally had a chance to celebrate something at their club.
“It’s electric there,” Mullins said of the home locker room.
Jared Walsh also scored a win for the Angels.
Tanner Scott (5-4) won in relief for the Orioles.
Ohtani allowed four runs and five hits in five innings. Chris Ellis, who began his first professional career, produced three runs and five hits in three more innings after the Orioles withdrew him from the Tampa Bay resignations on Friday.
“Play again [Thursday]”Angels manager Joe Maddon said of Ohtani.” And I saw no need to push him at this time of year in the circumstances. “
Mullins’ match came in the first pitch of the game from Ohtani, but after Santander’s solo shot gave Baltimore a 2-0 lead, the Angels tied it almost immediately in a two-run single from Marsh in the second.
Walsh hit a solo homer for Los Angeles in the fourth, and Marsh added his three-run shot later in the inning.
Mullins took home a run in the seventh with a ground start.
On Thursday, when the Orioles look for two straight wins, Keegan Akin (0-8) will be on the mound. Akin allowed four runs in three innings against Los Angeles on July 2nd. Jaime Barria (2-2) will counter the Angels.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.