Spenser Watkins gave the Orioles five strong innings on the mound in his return to the major leagues and Austin Hays drilled a three-run double as Baltimore won a season-high fourth consecutive game by defeating the host Chicago White Sox 6-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Jorge Mateo homered and doubled, joining Hays and Cedric Mullins as the Orioles’ multi-hit performers.
Chicago has lost the first three games of the four-game series. Overall, the Whites Sox are riding a four-game skid that matches their worst stretch since a major slide in April.
Watkins (1-1), who was officially recalled from the minors earlier in the day and was charged with one unearned run while striking out four and walking one. He allowed five hits.
Watkins didn’t record an out in his most-recent outing in the major leagues on May 22 vs. Tampa Bay.
His performance continued a trend of stellar pitching for the Orioles. Baltimore pitchers allowed a total of one run in the three previous games combined, though one of those games was rain-shortened to six innings.
White Sox starter Lance Lynn (1-1), who pitched just his third big-league game of the season, gave up six runs (five earned) on six hits with eight strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
The start of the game was delayed for about 80 minutes because of weather-related concerns.
Mateo hit his fifth home run of the season with two outs in the third after Lynn retired the first eight Baltimore batters.
The White Sox pulled even in the bottom of the third, with Luis Robert’s single that drove in Lenyn Sosa, who reached on a throwing error.
Baltimore went back ahead in the fifth. Mateo rapped a two-out double and later scored on shortstop Laury Garcia’s fielding error.
The Orioles added a run in the seventh when Trey Mancini was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. That brought on reliever Jose Ruiz, who was greeted by Hays’ big double.
Chicago’s other run came on Seby Zavala’s RBI groundout in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
