Nick Kurtz delivered a tiebreaking two-run triple in the fifth inning, and the Athletics held on for a 4-3 victory over the host Baltimore Orioles on Friday night in the series opener.
Six Athletics pitchers combined to allow just four hits, while Jacob Wilson also recorded two hits alongside Kurtz. The win marked Oakland’s second straight.
Starter Jacob Lopez pitched 5 1/3 innings, surrendering three hits — two of which were home runs — while walking two and striking out five. He reached the five-inning mark for his fifth consecutive start.
Justin Sterner, Scott Barlow, Joel Kuhnel, Jack Perkins, and Hogan Harris provided relief. Perkins entered in the ninth and issued a leadoff walk to Adley Rutschman before allowing a run on Samuel Basallo’s two-out single. Harris then walked the potential tying run but secured the final out for his second save.
Pete Alonso and Rutschman homered for Baltimore, which lost for the seventh time in nine games. The Orioles struggled to mount threats, leaving five runners on base.
Orioles starter Kyle Bradish (1-5) struck out 10 over seven innings but took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits with one walk.
Alonso opened the scoring with a one-out solo homer in the fourth, his eighth of the season and fifth in 11 games.
Zack Gelof tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth, and Kurtz followed with a two-run triple to cap a three-run inning.
Rutschman’s solo homer in the sixth ended Lopez’s outing. The only other Baltimore hit through five innings was Rutschman’s first-inning single.
Wilson extended Oakland’s lead to 4-2 in the eighth with a two-out RBI single off reliever Trey Gibson, who was making just his second big-league appearance. The run came from three consecutive singles.
–Field Level Media
