BALTIMORE — Rougned Odor came up clutch twice Sunday, producing when the Orioles most needed him. But when a laser left his bat in the eighth inning, he took three slow steps out of the box, watching the flight of the ball before breaking into a run.
By the time Odor began to hustle down the baseline, the ball off his bat banged off the top of the out-of-town scoreboard in right field, narrowly denying him of what he thought could’ve been a home run. The tying run had crossed but the second baseman stood on first rather than second.
There was plenty of more baseball to play, but the baserunning gaffe proved costly in Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Houston Astros in 11 innings, which ended the four-game series against the American League’s best club in a split.
