Taylor Ward went 4-for-5 with three doubles and two RBIs as the visiting Baltimore Orioles defeated the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Wednesday to earn a three-game series sweep.
Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso also doubled for the Orioles, who had seven hits.
Ward delivered the last of the club’s six two-baggers in the ninth inning, driving in an insurance run against Chicago reliever Tyle Schweitzer in the left-hander’s major league debut.
Rico Garcia worked around a pair of walks in the bottom half to pick up his first career save.
Baltimore right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-2) earned his first victory of the season. Bradish spaced three runs, two earned, and six hits over five innings. He had three walks against seven strikeouts.
White Sox right fielder Dustin Harris, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday, helped Chicago score the first two runs of the game in the second inning.
Harris lined an RBI single to center after Andrew Benintendi tripled, then he stole second base and scored on a Luisangel Acuna base hit. Benintendi had the only extra-base hit among seven hits for Chicago.
Baltimore responded with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Ward hit a run-scoring double and advanced to third on a Sean Burke wild pitch. He scored on an Adley Rutschman groundout.
Chicago regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth, capitalizing on Bradish’s frustration stemming from sudden wildness. After not issuing a free pass through 4 1/3 innings, Bradish walked the bases loaded with two out. He dropped Rutschman’s return throw to the mound following the third walk, allowing an alert Chase Meidroth to score.
The Orioles again answered quickly, loading the bases against reliever Lucas Sims with one out in the top of the sixth. Bryan Hudson replaced Sims, but a passed ball by catcher Reese McGuire allowed the tying run to score. Ryan Mountcastle provided a 4-3 advantage with a run-scoring sacrifice fly.
Burke yielded two runs and two hits in five innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Sims (0-1) allowed two runs and two hits in 1/3 of an inning.
Ward has nine doubles in his past eight games, a franchise record.
–Field Level Media
