Orioles Survive Cardinals Comeback, Win 8-7 on Encarnacion-Strand’s Ninth-Inning Double

The Baltimore Orioles watched a seven-run advantage disappear Wednesday night, but Christian Encarnacion-Strand made sure the collapse did not turn into a loss.

Encarnacion-Strand delivered a go-ahead RBI double in the top of the ninth inning, and Baltimore held on for an 8-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.

The Orioles built a 7-0 lead before St. Louis had recorded its sixth out. The Cardinals then stormed all the way back with six runs in the fifth inning to tie the game.

Baltimore recovered, getting 4 2/3 scoreless innings from its bullpen before Encarnacion-Strand provided the deciding hit.

Orioles Explode for Five Runs in First

Baltimore wasted little time attacking Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy.

After Jackson Holliday and Pete Alonso opened the game with outs, Gunnar Henderson singled to keep the inning alive. From there, Baltimore put together five consecutive batters reaching base.

Encarnacion-Strand drove Henderson home with an RBI single to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead.

Dylan Beavers followed with another RBI single, making it 2-0.

Leody Taveras then delivered the biggest blow of the inning, launching a three-run home run for his eighth homer of the season. Taveras’ blast quickly pushed Baltimore’s advantage to 5-0.

It looked like the Orioles were headed toward another rout after beating St. Louis 13-1 in the series opener Tuesday.

Alonso Makes It 7-0

Baltimore added two more runs in the second.

Carlos Narváez reached ahead of Alonso, who drove a pitch the opposite way for a two-run home run.

It was Alonso’s 32nd home run of the season and gave the Orioles a seemingly comfortable 7-0 advantage.

Alonso continues to provide the type of middle-of-the-order production Baltimore was looking for from him. The home run pushed him beyond 90 RBIs for the sixth time in his eight major league seasons.

McGreevy eventually settled down after the disastrous opening two innings. He completed five innings, allowing seven runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

All seven Baltimore runs against McGreevy came within the first 11 Orioles batters.

Cardinals Begin Comeback

Kyle Bradish cruised through much of the early portion of the game but ran into significant trouble later.

Nolan Gorman put St. Louis on the board in the bottom of the second with a solo home run, cutting Baltimore’s lead to 7-1.

Bradish kept the Cardinals there through four innings.

The fifth was a completely different story.

St. Louis put together one of its biggest innings of the season and turned what had looked like a blowout into a tie game.

Alec Burleson delivered a two-run single to make it 7-3. The hit also extended Burleson’s hitting streak to 12 games.

Jordan Walker followed with an RBI double, bringing St. Louis within three runs at 7-4.

Nathan Church then ripped a two-run double, suddenly cutting Baltimore’s advantage to just 7-6.

Bradish’s night ended during the inning.

The right-hander allowed seven runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four while throwing 91 pitches.

Alex Hoppe entered from the bullpen, but the Cardinals completed the comeback when Church stole third and scored on José Fermín’s RBI groundout.

Just like that, a 7-0 Baltimore lead was gone.

The game was tied 7-7.

Orioles Bullpen Stops the Damage

One of the most encouraging developments of the night came after St. Louis completed its comeback.

Baltimore’s bullpen did not allow the Cardinals to take the lead.

Five Orioles relievers combined to cover the final 4 2/3 innings without allowing another run.

That gave the offense an opportunity to recover from the fifth-inning collapse.

Baltimore had chances before the ninth but could not convert. Cardinals reliever George Soriano escaped a scoring threat in the eighth by retiring Henderson.

The Orioles finally broke through against Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien in the ninth.

Encarnacion-Strand Comes Through Again

Samuel Basallo opened the ninth with a single.

Luis Vázquez, who had been added to Baltimore’s active roster earlier in the day after Tyler O’Neill went on the injured list, entered as a pinch runner.

Encarnacion-Strand then came to the plate against O’Brien.

On a 2-2 sweeper, Encarnacion-Strand drove a ball 103.2 mph into the right-center-field gap.

Vázquez raced around to score and Baltimore regained the lead, 8-7.

The double completed a huge night for Encarnacion-Strand. He finished with four hits and recorded his second four-hit game in the major leagues.

More importantly, his final hit gave Baltimore a lead it would not surrender.

Holliday Saves the Game

Andrew Kittredge entered for the bottom of the ninth looking to protect the one-run advantage.

He received a huge defensive assist from Holliday.

With one out, Nathan Church hit a hard ground ball that appeared capable of reaching the outfield. Holliday made a diving stop to take away a potential hit and recorded the out.

It was one of the biggest plays of the game.

Kittredge then retired Fermín on a popout to finish the victory.

Kittredge earned his seventh save of the season.

Grant Wolfram was credited with the win after pitching a scoreless inning, improving to 5-2.

O’Brien took the loss for St. Louis and fell to 3-6.

Baltimore Offense Keeps Producing

The Orioles finished with 13 hits and received contributions throughout the lineup.

Encarnacion-Strand’s four-hit performance highlighted the offense, while Taveras’ three-run homer and Alonso’s two-run blast accounted for five of Baltimore’s eight runs.

It continued an impressive offensive showing in St. Louis.

Baltimore scored 13 runs in Tuesday’s series opener before adding eight more Wednesday, giving the Orioles 21 runs over the first two games of the series.

The Orioles have also displayed significantly more power in the middle of the lineup, with Alonso and Encarnacion-Strand emerging as major run producers.

A Win That Became Much Harder Than Expected

There will certainly be things for Baltimore to clean up.

A 7-0 lead should rarely become a tie game.

Bradish was unable to finish five innings after appearing to have complete control through the first four, forcing Baltimore to use its bullpen much more extensively than anticipated.

Still, there is something to be said for how the Orioles responded after St. Louis completed the comeback.

Baltimore did not panic.

The bullpen stopped the Cardinals’ momentum, the defense made plays and the offense eventually created another opportunity.

Encarnacion-Strand capitalized.

MSB Take

This was one of the strangest Orioles wins of the season.

Baltimore looked like it was going to cruise to another blowout after scoring seven runs before the end of the second inning. Instead, the Orioles found themselves tied after a disastrous fifth.

The encouraging part was the response.

Baltimore could have completely folded after blowing a seven-run advantage on the road. Instead, the bullpen immediately stabilized the game and gave the offense four more innings to find a way to win.

Encarnacion-Strand did exactly that.

His four-hit performance was impressive enough, but delivering the game-winning double in the ninth made it even bigger.

Holliday’s defensive play in the bottom half should not be overlooked either. In a one-run game, that diving stop may have been just as important as the go-ahead hit.

It was not pretty, but the Orioles found a way.

Baltimore has now scored 21 runs in the first two games of the series and will have an opportunity to finish off a sweep Thursday in St. Louis.