Cowser hits tiebreaking HR, Laureano has HR among 3 hits as Orioles beat Athletics 7-4
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Colton Cowser hit a tiebreaking 455-foot home run in the sixth inning and the Baltimore Orioles held on to beat the Athletics 7-4 on Saturday night.
Ramón Laureano also homered and had three hits and three RBIs to help the Orioles get their seventh win in eight games. Gunnar Henderson also had three hits.
Cowser, who homered on Tuesday in his first game back off the 60-day injured list, crushed a first-pitch cutter from A's starter Luis Severino (1-6) that landed deep into the grass beyond the outfield wall in right field.
Keegan Akin (1-0) retired one batter for the win. Felix Bautista struck out three in the ninth for his 12th save.
Jacob Wilson and Lawrence Butler each had two hits for the A's. Tyler Soderstrom, the team leader with 14 home runs, walked four times.
Severino allowed eight hits and six runs — five earned — in 5 2/3 innings.
The A's got to Morton for four runs in a wild first inning that included five hits, a bases-loaded walk and a ground-rule double that bounced into the stands near third base. Max Schuemann also drove in a run with an infield single when he slid under Morton's tag attempt near first base.
The 41-year-old Morton retired seven batters and allowed six hits and four walks.
Key moment
JJ Bleday led off the fifth with a walk for the Athletics but was thrown out sliding into home plate trying to score on Butler's double
Key stat
Seven Orioles pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts, extending the team's streak with at least eight Ks to 12 games, the longest active streak in the majors.
Up next
Orioles RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (5-3, 3.04 ERA) pitches the series finale Sunday. The A's have not announced a starter.
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Yahoo
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Arizona Diamondbacks' offense hitless in last four innings, swept by Reds
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New York Times
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In first series at Petco Park since October, Dodgers claim tense Game 1: ‘We'll take it'
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We're doing what we can to help our clubs win. But the love and respect, nothing has changed.' Nothing has changed, including the electricity that comes with this matchup. Both starters combined to allow 11 runs. The two sides swapped leads three times in the game's first three innings. Mistakes got punished. Two clubs who know each other well seemed poised to jump on each other's weak spots. Gameplanning for one another, Muncy said, is 'the hardest.' Each team is poised for the counterpunch before the first punch is even thrown. 'Like I said last year, it's a street fight,' Roberts said. The Dodgers stressed Pivetta for 32 pitches in a two-run first, only for May to cough up the lead in a span of just four batters. A pair of May walks in the second inning set the stage for San Diego to jump out in front, as Jake Cronenworth scored when Will Smith's throw to try to nab a stealing Fernando Tatis Jr. trickled away. 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The early rounds were a flurry of blows before the game settled into yet another nailbiting affair between two teams who have combined for quite a few close contests. Advertisement Pages, who has compiled a compelling All-Star case, struck the biggest blow. The 24-year-old outfielder had all of two plate appearances in last year's series, but laced a double to open extra innings, allowing Max Muncy to race around as Padres left fielder Brandon Lockridge took a horrific route to the baseball. Tommy Edman followed with a sharp ground ball that ricocheted off second base for what would prove to be a vital insurance run. Tanner Scott started off the inning with a backdoor slider that may or may not have grazed the outside part of the plate for strike three to Machado. 'Luckily it worked out in my favor,' Scott said. Machado obviously disagreed, voicing his displeasure with home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook. Scott held on, keeping the tying run at second base to close out the win against his former club. Again, the Dodgers mustered a way to fend off the competition. 'It wasn't a pretty game to be quite honest but we found a way to win,' Roberts said. 'Got some hits when we needed to. Made some pitches when we needed to. Here against this ballclub, we'll take it any way we can get it.'
