Cole Irvin’s dominant outing and Baltimore’s offensive explosion propelled the Orioles to a resounding 7-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday. Irvin, a former A’s pitcher, silenced Oakland’s bats, allowing only four singles over seven innings. He struck out five and walked none, extending his scoreless streak to 13 innings.
The Orioles’ offense came alive in the fourth inning, rattling off five hits against JP Sears. Anthony Santander’s RBI double opened the scoring, followed by run-scoring singles from Jordan Westburg and James McCann. In the fifth, Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle delivered back-to-back solo homers to extend Baltimore’s lead to 5-0. Gunnar Henderson added a two-run homer in the seventh to cap off the scoring.
Sears, who had won his previous two starts, struggled against the Orioles, surrendering seven runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. Oakland’s offense, which had hit at least one home run in each of its previous 12 games, was held in check by Irvin and the Baltimore bullpen.
The victory marked Baltimore’s second shutout of the season and extended their streak of avoiding a series sweep to 100 consecutive regular-season series. The Orioles, who lead the AL East, have now won three of their last four games.
Oakland, on the other hand, has lost three of its last four games and is now 13-21 on the season. The A’s will look to avoid a series sweep in the series finale on Sunday, while the Orioles will aim to continue their winning ways.
