– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — Before Baltimore Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander continued his hot hitting during a sweltering summer day, he flashed some serious leather on the field in taking away some early momentum from his opponents, all while getting a little bit of revenge in the process.
Santander made a home run-robbing catch in the first inning off Mariners’ star Julio Rodríguez, then proceeded to hit a game-tying two run home run in the third inning, all part of the Orioles’ 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Seattle to take the rubber game of the weekend series. Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish allowed just two hits and two runs in seven innings pitched for the Orioles in earning his fourth win of the season.
Bradish’s hits allowed total would have been three today, or more, if it wasn’t for Santander’s leaping catch of Rodríguez’s deep fly ball in front of the 373-foot sign and the Orioles’ bullpen. Less than 24 hours ago, Rodríguez robbed a home run from Baltimore’s Ryan O’Hearn in the sixth inning with a spectacular leap in front of the left-centerfield wall.
“I thought I had a chance,” Santander said of the play. “It was a high fly ball, so I was making sure to run all the way back to the fence and make good timing.”
The timing was perfect for Bradish, who proceeded to finish off a 1-2-3 first inning with his second strikeout of the frame one batter after Santander’s grab.
“That was almost the highlight of my game right there,” said Bradish, who struck out seven in his seven full innings of work. “To have that in the first inning kind of fired me up.”
Bradish did end up allowing a home run, as Cal Raleigh’s deep two-run blast down the right field line with two outs gave the Mariners a 2-0 lead. One inning later, however, Santander answered with a two-out, two-run shot of his own, off Seattle starter George Kirby, to even the score.
Baltimore’s winning run came home in the fifth inning, as with one out and Jorge Mateo on first base, Anthony Bemboom blooped a single to right field that was eventually kicked further down the right field line by Mariners’ second baseman Jose Caballero. Mateo was able to fly around the bases to score and give the Orioles’ the lead for the first time.
Félix Bautista, who blew the save yesterday when he allowed a game-tying home run to Mike Ford, nailed down the game for the Orioles in the ninth by striking out the side, with the final strikeout of Teoscar Hernández coming with the tying run on second base.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Yusuf Abdullah. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 15 pictures in total.
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