Orioles walk off Braves 3‑2 on Beavers’ single

BALTIMORE (Interstat) — Jackson Holliday doubled with one out in the ninth inning and scored on a walkoff single by Dylan Beavers, lifting the Baltimore Orioles to a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The Orioles won in front of 37,883 in a game that lasted 2 hours, 34 minutes. Yennier Cano pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn the win, improving to 2-2. Didier Fuentes, who worked the bottom of the eighth and got two outs in the ninth before allowing the decisive hit, took the loss and fell to 4-1.

Baltimore evened the three-game series at a win apiece after Atlanta had taken the opener in 10 innings Friday night, 7-6. The Braves saw their record go to 61-43 while the Orioles improved to 51-54.

The game was a pitchers’ duel for much of the afternoon. Brandon Young started for Baltimore and worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out six. He left with the Orioles ahead 2-1 after the Braves pushed across a run in the sixth.

Atlanta starter Bryce Elder matched Young through the early innings. Elder gave up two runs, one earned, on three hits over five innings with five strikeouts and three walks.

Baltimore struck first in the third inning. With one out, Pete Alonso reached on a fielding error by shortstop Jim Jarvis. Taylor Ward followed with a single to left, sending Alonso to second. Christian Encarnacion-Strand then lined a single to left deflected by Jarvis, allowing Alonso to score and putting the Orioles up 1-0.

The Orioles added a run in the fifth on a solo home run by Gunnar Henderson, his 18th of the year. Henderson drove a 1-0 pitch to right center field, giving Baltimore a 2-0 lead.

Atlanta got on the board in the top of the sixth. Matt Olson drew a leadoff walk after a successful challenge of a pitch call. Michael Harris II doubled to right, sending Olson to third. Mauricio Dubón grounded out to shortstop, scoring Olson and moving Harris to third. But Young retired Dominic Smith on a groundout to end the inning and preserve the 2-1 lead.

The Braves tied the game in the eighth inning. Ozzie Albies led off by driving a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall, his 17th home run, to make it 2-2. Atlanta threatened to take the lead when Matt Olson came to the plate, but he was called out on strikes after a challenge confirmed the call. Michael Harris II and Dubón both flew out to end the inning.

Baltimore had a chance in the bottom of the eighth but stranded runners. The Orioles went quietly in order in the eighth before mounting their winning rally in the ninth.

The decisive inning began with Tyler O’Neill striking out for the fourth time in the game. Holliday then lined a double to left field. After Colton Cowser flew out to center, moving Holliday to third, Beavers singled to right field off Fuentes, driving in Holliday for the walk-off win.

Beavers finished 2 for 4 with a run scored and the game-winning RBI. Henderson went 1 for 4 with his solo homer. Ward was 1 for 3 with a walk. Encarnacion-Strand went 1 for 4 with an RBI. Holliday added a single and the double, scoring the winning run. Leody Taveras, O’Neill and Chadwick Tromp combined to go 0 for 11 with six strikeouts.

For Atlanta, Harris II had a double in six at-bats. Dubón singled, and Albies homered. The Braves managed six hits in the game, one of them a double by Eli White in the seventh. Jim Jarvis committed two errors at shortstop.

The most important sequence of the game came in the bottom of the ninth when Holliday’s double put the winning run in scoring position with one out. After Cowser’s fly ball advanced Holliday to third, Beavers delivered the single that gave Baltimore its first walk-off win of the season.

Brandon Young allowed only one run over 6 1/3 innings but did not factor in the decision. Rico Garcia relieved Young and gave up one run on one hit in one inning with a strikeout. Grant Wolfram threw 0 2/3 innings, yielding one hit and one unearned run with one strikeout. Cano needed just nine pitches to retire the Braves in order in the top of the ninth, striking out Brewer Hicklen to end the inning.

Atlanta used three relievers after Elder departed. Daysbel Hernandez pitched a scoreless sixth. Didier Fuentes worked the seventh and eighth before returning for the ninth; he allowed one run on two hits over 2 2/3 innings, walking none and striking out three.

The Braves will look to take the series Sunday in the rubber game before heading to New York for a three-game set against the Mets. The Orioles open a six-game road trip Monday in Detroit against the Tigers.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Baltimore 7, Atlanta 6. Interstat’s ELO system gave Atlanta a 53.20 percent probability to win. The Braves were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total of five runs went under the over/under line of nine.