Late homers, including back-to-back pinch-hit solo shots, lift Orioles to 5-3 comeback win over Nationals
WASHINGTON — For every bit of the 5.3 seconds Anthony Santander’s go-ahead home run hung in the cool Washington air Saturday night, Nationals Park was silent. The outburst that rung out from the Orioles dugout when it hit the left-field seats was startling by comparison.
So, too, was the Orioles’ breakout eighth inning itself.
An offense that a night before couldn’t be stopped looked hopeless Saturday until a pair of back-to-back pinch-hit home runs by Pat Valaika and Pedro Severino to begin the eighth inning, with Santander’s blast the difference in a 5-3 win over the Washington Nationals that put the Orioles (7-7) in position for another improbable weekend sweep against a World Series hopeful.
The pinch-hit home runs by Valaika and Severino, both right-handed bats brought off the bench to face left-handed reliever Sean Doolittle, were the Orioles’ first consecutive pinch-hit home runs since Aug. 12, 1985.
They were much-needed as well. Starter Austin Voth and the front end of the Nationals bullpen had allowed just three base runners until that eighth inning.
Doolittle survived one batter past those home runs by striking out Chris Davis, but Austin Hays battled Daniel Hudson for an 11-pitch walk and Hanser Alberto hit a line drive off of Trea Turner’s glove for a single before Santander’s third home run of the season.
Cole Sulser stranded two Nationals in scoring position in the eighth inning and Miguel Castro earned his first save of the year with a scoreless ninth.
The Orioles’ offense didn’t accomplish much early, making any gripes moot, but they did have a couple of gripes. Rio Ruiz had their first hit of the game with a single in the second, but was erased on a strikeout/caught stealing double play when replay review ruled that he came off the bag slightly after beating the throw to the base.
In the sixth inning, Hyde argued that leadoff man Starlin Castro was out of the baseline when he was on the infield grass running out a swinging bunt that Tanner Scott threw past Chris Davis at first base, but to no avail.
Save for the newcomer Sulser, every Orioles pitcher manager Brandon Hyde called on Saturday is trying to prove himself trustworthy in a way he couldn’t in extended chances in 2020. Everyone came through.
Starter Tom Eshelman pitched four solid innings, allowing two runs, before Evan Phillips, Scott, and Shawn Armstrong each kept the game close for the eighth-inning comeback.
Castro recorded his first save in 44 appearances.
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