Rookie outfielder Dylan Beavers hit a game-winning single with no outs in the 10th inning as the Baltimore Orioles beat the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Wednesday night.
It marked the Orioles’ second extra-inning victory in as many nights and the team’s fourth walk-off triumph in its last five games.
Paul Skenes pitched five shutout innings and Pittsburgh’s only hit in the first seven innings came on Spencer Horwitz’s home run, but those were the highlights for the Pirates.
Albert Suarez (2-0) pitched the 10th for the victory despite a wild pitch allowing a runner to reach third base with one out. Kyle Nicolas (1-1) took the loss, issuing a walk and a bunt single before the tiebreaking hit.
Skenes struck out eight, allowing two hits without a walk. Pirates reliever Carmen Mlodzinski threw two shutout innings before Isaac Mattson entered for the bottom of the eighth.
Horwitz homered in the fourth inning and that lead held up until the eighth. The Orioles began the inning with singles from Colton Cowser and Dylan Carlson before two pop-outs. Jackson Holliday then hit an RBI single.
Baltimore (68-77) has won seven of its last eight games going into Thursday afternoon’s series finale. Pittsburgh (64-82) has lost five in a row.
Beavers had two hits as the game’s only player with more than one. The Pirates finished with two hits.
Baltimore starter Tyler Wells was stellar in his second big-league outing of the season. He worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing Horwitz’s homer and one walk while striking out six.
Orioles relievers Shawn Dubin, Kade Strowd and Rico Garcia joined Wells and Suarez on the combined two-hitter.
Skenes, who used 64 pitches, eclipsed the 200-strikeout mark for the season, raising his total to 203. Ryan Mountcastle and Beavers, who doubled, had the hits off Skenes.
The blast for Horwitz marked his eighth home run of the season and first since Aug. 25.
–Field Level Media
