BALTIMORE — The Orioles were one out away from pitching their third straight shutout and extending their scoreless innings streak to 35.
Then Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez popped those balloons with a two-out single off closer Félix Bautista in the ninth, forcing the Orioles to score more than one run to win a game for the first time since Sunday.
The pitching party might have been over, but the Orioles still had some celebrating left in them. Ryan Mountcastle raced home to beat first baseman Spencer Torkelson’s throw after Adam Frazier’s ground ball to give Baltimore the 2-1 walk-off win.
Mountcastle reached base with a one-out single and advanced to third on a single from Anthony Santander. Frazier then hit a soft grounder to the right side, and Torkelson’s throw pulled catcher Eric Haase away from the sliding Mountcastle.
The walk-off victory is the Orioles’ second of the season; the first was Adley Rutschman’s solo home run against the Oakland Athletics last week. The Orioles (12-7) have won four straight games and are 7-0 in series openers.
The shutout would have been the club’s first streak of three since September 1995, and the 34 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings was the the sixth-longest span in the club’s history since moving to Baltimore in 1954, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Tyler Wells started the game for the Orioles, and it was perhaps the best of his young career.
In his second season as a starting pitcher, Wells recorded an out in the seventh inning for the first time. He allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out five. The 28-year-old right-hander got 14 whiffs — tied for the second most in his career — on his 95 pitches, including 61 for strikes.
It appeared the Orioles would win another low-scoring game after Austin Hays’ solo home run in the seventh gave Baltimore a 1-0 lead. But Bautista gave up a leadoff single to Akil Baddoo, allowed him to steal second and then surrendered the game-tying single to Báez on a 2-2 pitch. It was Bautista’s second blown save of the season.
