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It’s too late to salvage their season, but the Baltimore Orioles are discovering a penchant for clutch hitting.
Baltimore will shoot for a second victory in a row when it faces the Pittsburgh Pirates in the middle contest of the three-game series on Wednesday.
The teams needed 11 innings to settle the series opener on Tuesday, with the Orioles winning 3-2 on rookie catcher Samuel Basallo’s bloop single.
The Orioles’ past three victories all came on walk-off hits, two of them from Basallo.
“The fight in this team has been super fun to just be a part of,” Baltimore reliever Dietrich Enns said. “Playing these close games just brings the best out of you.”
Basallo sat out Sunday because of a hand injury sustained Saturday night. He appears fine based on the Tuesday results in his return to the lineup.
“Just trying to put the ball in play, not trying to be the big hero in that situation,” Basallo said.
The Orioles (67-77) have won six of their past seven games. The Pirates (64-81) have lost four straight.
“We’ve done a decent job of it this year (after sustaining tough defeats) being able to turn the page,” Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly said. “That’s what I like to see with these guys, how do we respond the next time out there?”
The Orioles are amid one of their best stretches of the season.
“The reality is we’ve been injured this whole time,” Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “The first of August we lost pretty much half the team (to injuries). We’re playing with a roster that, most nights there’s eight, nine, maybe 10 at the most from Opening Day, a lot of guys who were in the minor leagues to start the season. So I don’t have a whole lot of complaints with how we’re playing.”
Pittsburgh has right-hander Paul Skenes (10-9, 1.98 ERA) lined up as its Wednesday starting pitcher. He needs five strikeouts to reach 200 for the season — and he has fanned at least that many in 10 of his last 11 starts.
Skenes won each of his past three outings, and he is 6-1 with a 1.90 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break. This will be the first time he faces Baltimore in his two-year career.
“They’ve got a lot of good young position players that can really swing the bat,” Kelly said. “We’ve got really good young pitching.”
Right-hander Tyler Wells (1-0, 3.60 ERA) will make his second appearance of the season for the Orioles. He was the winner on Sept. 2 at San Diego, where he held the Padres to one run on five hits and no walks in five innings. He struck out four.
In two career starts vs. the Pirates, Wells is 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA.
The Pirates need more power at the plate. Despite Tommy Pham’s game-tying, ninth-inning homer on Tuesday, Pittsburgh has a majors-low 103 home runs this year.
Baltimore is 14-3 all-time in regular-season home games against the Pirates.
–Field Level Media
