John Means took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Anthony Santander had three hits and two RBIs, and the visiting Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Guardians 2-1 on Saturday.
Andres Gimenez belted a solo homer with two outs in the seventh inning for Cleveland’s only hit. The 406-foot blast came against Means (1-1), who was making his third start of the season after returning from Tommy John surgery.
Means was lifted after recording one out in the eighth inning. Yennier Cano retired the next two batters, and Cionel Perez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his third save.
Adley Rutschman and James McCann had two hits apiece for the Orioles (96-59), who ended a three-game losing streak and remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.
Cleveland (74-82) had its six-game home winning streak snapped. The Guardians were officially eliminated from postseason contention on Friday.
Baltimore claimed an early 1-0 lead on Santander’s RBI double after the first two batters of the game reached base against Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill (3-7).
Santander is 13-for-26 with seven extra-base hits (five doubles, one triple, one homer) and 11 RBIs in six games against Cleveland this season.
Quantrill was lifted after four innings. He gave up the one run on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
Baltimore, which left eight runners on base in the first four innings, pushed another run across in the sixth inning on Santander’s two-out RBI single off Xzavion Curry.
Means, who tossed a no-hitter on May 5, 2021, against the Seattle Mariners, walked one and struck out four while throwing 96 pitches. It was his first win since Sept. 20, 2021.
Gimenez extended his hitting streak to seven games.
Perez recorded his fourth career save and second in his last three appearances.
–Field Level Media
