Adley Rutschman hit a tiebreaking two-out, pinch-hit single in the eighth inning to drive in two runs and Gunnar Henderson homered earlier as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the host Chicago White Sox 6-4 on Friday night.
Rutschman’s single came on a full-count pitch from Michael Kopech after the Orioles nearly wasted a scoring threat. Ryan O’Hearn led off the Baltimore eighth with a double but almost didn’t advance any further. Anthony Santander reached on a one-out walk to put two runners on base.
Rutschman has five runs batted in across the first two games of the series after going four straight games without an RBI.
Chicago’s Andrew Vaughn, who was at the center of Thursday night’s controversy when he was ruled out for runner interference in what became a game-ending double play, launched a tying home run in the seventh inning.
The game ended when center fielder Colton Cowser robbed Tommy Pham of a would-be solo home run.
Vaughn’s fourth homer of the season came off Orioles reliever Yennier Cano (3-2), who ended up as the winning pitcher.
Orioles starter Corbin Burnes lasted six innings and gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out six.
White Sox starter Chris Flexen gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings on five hits and two walks, striking out two. John Brebbia (0-3) took the loss for Chicago, which has lost seven of eight.
Henderson, who belted a two-run shot, shares the majors lead in homers with 17. His blast pushed the Orioles to a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning. Ryan Mountcastle’s run-scoring double later in the inning made it 4-0.
But the White Sox responded right away. Vaughn’s RBI double put them on the board in the bottom of the fifth and Paul DeJong’s two-run single trimmed their deficit to 4-3.
Henderson and O’Hearn finished with two hits apiece for the Orioles, who finished with eight hits.
The start of the game was delayed about 40 minutes because of weather-related concerns.
–Field Level Media
