Orioles open series against Athletics with weird win in 10 innings

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When baseball is played here, at this homely minor league ballpark reconfigured to host a major league team, weird becomes normal and normal becomes rare.

The second inning was full of it. The eighth inning continued it. The 10th inning concluded it with an unusual pinch-running decision that worked out in the end.

The Orioles won the series opener against the Athletics, 4-3, because they scored early and late. There was no better hitter to have at the plate with a runner in scoring position and left-hander Brady Basso on the mound in the 10th inning than Coby Mayo.

This lefty crusher lined a single to right field. And, although there would’ve been a play at the plate against catcher Carlos Narváez, a slow runner who nonetheless stayed in as the ghost runner at second to begin extra innings, Lawrence Butler bobbled the ball in right field.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand added another run with his RBI single, and that two-run lead allowed right-hander Alex Hoppe to earn his first major league save.

As soon as Mayo caught the final out at first base, Hoppe asked for the ball. It is being officially authenticated, and then he can keep the ball from his first save.

And, once he reached the clubhouse, there was a celebration awaiting him. His teammates doused him with beer in the showers.

“Cold,” Hoppe said. “I showered real quick. I think I had to use body wash three or four times, and three or four times of shampoo, just to get the smell out and such. But all worth it in the end.”

Manager Craig Albernaz opted against pinch running for Narváez with Gunnar Henderson. Instead, he used Henderson to pinch run for Pete Alonso, the trail runner who was intentionally walked. It worked out in the end because of Butler’s bobble, but it was curious.

Albernaz said the Orioles, as the road team, opted to play for a big inning. Had Blaze Alexander been bunting to lead off the 10th, the Orioles likely would have used Henderson for Narváez at second. Instead, the second run was as important as the first, and Albernaz chose to use Henderson’s speed there.

Hoppe, one of the relievers the Orioles received from the Seattle Mariners this month as part of the Taylor Ward trade, has elite stuff. He doesn’t always control it. But, in the bottom of the 10th, he kept his high-velocity fastball and cutting slider combination near the strike zone, and that allowed him to close out a series-opening win despite the automatic runner on second scoring on a two-out single.

Hoppe said he learned a mental cue from his pitching coach in Tacoma, the Triple-A Mariners affiliate, to “beat the box.” He repeated it Friday, emphasizing the need to pound the zone.

“It’s me vs. the imaginary strike zone, that little box, and it’s how many times can I put that little round object in that imaginary box?” Hoppe said. “And, the more times I do it, the more successful I usually am.”

Still, the Orioles could’ve put this one to bed earlier.

After they scored twice in the second inning, they mounted little offensive threat. That left a door open for the Athletics, even with as well as right-hander Brandon Young pitched.

In the seventh, Jonah Heim pulled a solo home run to cut the deficit in half. In the eighth, pressure found right-hander Rico Garcia immediately. Garcia hit Henry Bolte on the brim of his helmet. He allowed a single to the next hitter, and a bunt moved the pair into scoring position.

Butler then poked a single into left field, which brought home the tying run. Left fielder Dylan Beavers, however, threw a dart to home plate in time to catch the trail runner, thus preserving a tie game.

“That was a huge throw, obviously,” Albernaz said. “It could be a one-run game, they’re up one. To keep it tied was big. Really happy for Beavs with that throw.”

The Orioles had only two runs on the board because of second-inning chaos.

The soft dribbler off Narváez’s bat with two outs in the inning appeared to be a routine play for left-hander Jacob Lopez. The Athletics starter ran toward the first-base line, reached down to scoop the ball and prepared to tag Narváez out.

Instead, the ball slipped out of his glove. He braced himself for impact. But this freight train just kept chugging, and there was no stopping the collision between Narváez, a big catcher, and Lopez.

Lopez wound up on his rear end.

“That was a crazy play,” Albernaz said, who thought Lopez would flip the ball to first base instead. “Luckily, Lopez and Narváez were all right.”

Narváez inadvertently trucked him. He hardly seemed to feel the impact. He kept on running to first base, and Leody Taveras, who was on second to begin the play, scampered home for the second run in the inning.

That only led to more madness. Alexander, playing his first game since returning Friday from the injured list, hit a ground ball down the first-base line. It collided with the bag and sailed into the air. Alexander dove safely into first (rather unnecessarily, because no one was covering the bag), and Lopez scrambled to collect the loose ball.

Beavers, whose RBI single earlier in the frame put the Orioles on the board, ran through third-base coach Buck Britton’s stop sign. Lopez turned and fired home, and Beavers was out by a mile.

“Beavs thinking he was invisible,” Albernaz quipped. “They saw him.”

After they scored 26 runs across three games in St. Louis, the Orioles downshifted in Sacramento. Part of that was the otherworldly Alonso returned to Earth with consecutive no-hit games that included five strikeouts between them. In a large sense, Alonso carried the Orioles for the first two games against the Cardinals.

There were still opportunities to add on, however. With two outs in the sixth inning, Colton Cowser entered as a pinch hitter and doubled off right-hander Scott Blewett. The Athletics intentionally walked Beavers to bring Narváez to the plate.

Since arriving ahead of the trade deadline, Narváez has recorded four hits. The Orioles are carrying three catchers. Given that bench flexibility, it seemed to be a prudent time to pinch hit again — with, say, Samuel Basallo, Yohel Pozo or Henderson. Instead, Albernaz stuck with Narváez, who grounded out to end the inning.

Missing out on adding runs there proved costly later. But Albernaz said he didn’t want to interrupt the rhythm between Narváez and Young. The battery was cruising.

“With Young still on the mound, my personal take is to still have the starting catcher in the game. They have a flow going,” Albernaz said.

Young completed seven innings, with the lone run against him from Heim’s solo home run in the seventh. Young didn’t mind that pitch to Heim. It was the first non-fastball he threw the Athletics batter, who “put a good swing on it. Credit to him,” Young said.

But, with little run production from the Orioles, the Athletics weren’t out of it. They tied it against Garcia and forced the game to extra innings.

Once there, however, the Orioles leaned on the combination of Mayo and Encarnacion-Strand. They got the job done.

“Big win,” Young said. “Glad we got that one.”

This article has been updated.