Pinch hitter Ryan Mountcastle went 2-for-2 with a two-run homer and Dean Kremer pitched 5 2/3 strong innings to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-3 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday.
Mountcastle, who also doubled, replaced designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn after he hit a solo homer in his only at-bat of the game in the second inning. Jorge Mateo went 1-for-3 with two RBIs for the Orioles.
Kremer (5-1) allowed three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks before turning it over to the bullpen, which allowed just two hits over the final 3 1/3 innings.
Matt Thaiss and Gio Urshela each had two hits and Mickey Moniak hit a solo home run for the Angels, who lost for the fifth time in their past seven games.
After Moniak delivered Kremer’s fifth pitch of the game over the right-center-field fence to give the Angels a 1-0 lead, O’Hearn tied things up with his first homer of the season.
The Orioles, who snapped a two-game losing streak, took the lead for good with a three-run fourth inning.
Terrin Vavra’s single to right scored Gunnar Henderson, who had doubled, for a 2-1 advantage. After Vavra took second on Chase Silseth’s wild pitch, he crossed the plate on Mateo’s single to right, causing Silseth to be relieved by Tucker Davidson.
Mountcastle — pinch-hitting for O’Hearn — moved Mateo to third with a double to left before Mateo crossed the plate on Cedric Mullins’ groundout.
Silseth (0-1) — a reliever making his first start of the season — allowed four runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk in 3 1/3 innings.
The Angels pulled to within 4-2 in the fifth when Zach Neto’s single to center scored Urshela.
After Los Angeles trimmed the Orioles’ advantage to 4-3 in the top of the sixth on Urshela’s RBI single, the Orioles extended the lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the inning.
Mateo’s sacrifice fly scored Adam Frazier, who was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on pinch hitter Ryan McKenna’s double that deflected off Davidson and into left field.
Andrew Wantz relieved Davidson and gave up Mountcastle’s two-run homer to make it 7-3.
Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4 with a strikeout for Los Angeles a night after going 4-for-5 with a three-run homer, a triple, three runs and a walk in the Angels’ 9-5 win on Monday.
–Field Level Media
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