Samuel Basallo made sure the Orioles left Camden Yards with a win, and he did it in a hurry.
With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Basallo launched a two-run homer off Matt Strahm to break things open and send Baltimore to a 5-3 victory over the Royals before an announced crowd of 26,993. The ball left his bat at 105.9 mph, his 15th home run of the season, and it came right after Pete Alonso’s leadoff single.
Andrew Kittredge finished it off in the ninth for his third save, though not without a little late stress. Michael Massey’s one-out double gave Kansas City a chance to make things interesting before Baltimore closed the door.
The Orioles had already seen the lead slip away once in the late innings. Brandon Young took a 3-2 advantage into the eighth, but Isaac Collins opened the frame with a leadoff homer on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Young bent over as the ball cleared the center field fence, and Craig Albernaz came out of the dugout.
Young had been efficient enough to stay in the game. He started the seventh at 72 pitches and needed just five more to get through the inning in order, which made the decision easy for Albernaz. Young allowed three runs and eight hits, and his ERA moved from 3.38 to 3.42.
Baltimore built its early edge with a second-inning rally that featured four singles. Jackson Holliday drove in Dylan Beavers, and Gunnar Henderson added an RBI single into center field at 105.9 mph to bring home Blaze Alexander. Holliday also kept the line moving by reaching base for the seventh straight time.
The Orioles got a key answer from Alexander in the fourth. After Kansas City had tied it, he went the other way for a solo shot off Luinder Avila, a 436-foot drive to left field that gave Baltimore the lead back.
It was his longest homer in the majors among the 14 he has hit, and it pushed his career-best RBI total to 29. He’s batting .306 with a .791 OPS.
Alexander wasn’t only helping with the bat. In the sixth, he handled Jac Caglianone’s leadoff single and then turned Lane Thomas’ 105.3 mph grounder into a clean 6-4-3 double play.
Henderson, meanwhile, finally got a ball to fall after a rough stretch. He had been 0-for-11 before his hard contact started paying off, and he also sent one to the right field fence in the fourth on a 48-degree launch angle that hung in the air before coming down.
Kansas City kept poking at Baltimore throughout the game. Bobby Witt Jr. doubled in the first, the Royals turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the second after Salvador Perez singled and Josh Rojas reached on an infield hit, and Caglianone led off the fourth with his 15th home run. Rojas later added an RBI double with two outs.
The Royals nearly created more trouble in the fifth when Collins singled to lead off the inning, but Dylan Beavers threw him out trying for second. Collins came off the bag, and Henderson kept the tag on him.
That play preserved the lead for a while. Collins eventually erased it. Basallo made sure Baltimore didn’t give it back for good.
Down on the farm
Single-A Delmarva center fielder Jaiden Lo Re left Game 1 of a doubleheader after a collision on the bases while sliding into second in the bottom of the third inning.
Lo Re, a fifth-round pick last year out of Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, is batting .333 with a .917 OPS for the Shorebirds.
Stephen Still gave up two unearned runs and two hits over five innings.
At High-A Frederick, Twine Palmer allowed one run and three hits while striking out eight in six innings.
In Other News...
Dodgers Trade Proposal Puts Orioles In A Tough Spot With Lefty
The Orioles keep getting pulled into the pitching market chatter, and Trevor Rogers is the kind of arm that naturally draws it. He has been uneven enough over the full season to leave plenty of questions, but his recent stretch has also reminded teams why left-handed starters with upside still carry real appeal in July. For Baltimore, that creates the familiar tension of weighing short-term value against the kind of trade interest that can reshape a deadline conversation.
What makes the situation trickier is the timing. Rogers would come with no long-term control, so any deal has to be judged against the price of the return, not just the name value on the other side. The Dodgers are still shopping for pitching help and have bigger targets they could chase, which only adds to the sense that Baltimore could be asked to part with a useful arm without getting the kind of package that makes a move easy to justify. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Fans May Never Forget This Missed Chance At An Ace
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MLB Network Insider Jon Morosi has framed it as the kind of opportunity Baltimore may not get back, especially with Skubals name already surfacing again as the 2025 deadline draws closer. For an Orioles club that has spent the last year trying to balance present urgency with future value, the lingering question is whether the front office will be willing to pay the price this time around. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Mountcastle Just Became An Orioles Deadline Tension Point
Ryan Mountcastle is still working back from the 60-day injured list, and the Orioles at least have some clarity on the broad outline of his recovery. President of baseball operations Mike Elias said Mountcastle is progressing, with a return possible after the All-Star break, but he stopped short of putting a date on it. For a team in the middle of a rebuild, that leaves one of its more recognizable bats in a familiar holding pattern: close enough to matter, not quite close enough to know exactly where he fits.
The bigger question is what happens once he is ready. Baltimore has enough uncertainty around the roster that Mountcastles next step is not just about health, but about opportunity, and there is already a sense that the Orioles could listen if the right trade angle emerges before the Aug. 3 deadline. For now, the club is still waiting on the same thing everyone else is - a clearer picture of when he is back, and what role he would actually have when he gets there. [Read more 🡒]