BALTIMORE (AP) Closer Craig Kimbrel blew his second save in as many opportunities and departed with back tightness on Sunday as the Oakland Athletics rallied to a 7-6, series-deciding victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
āI mean I donāt know how long, what the time table is with Craig, or if any at all,ā Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said postgame of the nine-time All-Star. āWeāll see. I think weāve been playing pretty good baseball, weāve just had a couple unfortunate kind of endings this series.ā
Two nights after he threw only eight of 24 pitches for strikes, Kimbrel (3-1) threw six straight balls to open his outing, the fifth of which prompted the first visit from Hyde and team medical staff.
āThe way he was walking around didnāt look right,ā Hyde said of what prompted that talk.
Kimbrel eventually convinced Hyde to let him continue the at-bat against Kyle McCann, who drove Kimbrelās 3-2 offering into the seats next to the out-of-town scoreboard in right center.
Kimbrel then exited after a second visit including medical staff and Dillon Tate completed the inning for an Orioles team that is now 2-4 in one-run games.
āHonestly, I think we trust our pitching staff,ā said Baltimore catcher Adley Rutschman. āThereās going to be ups and downs. I donāt think anyoneās worried.ā
Seth Brown hit his second homer and Brent Rooker singled in two runs off Oās starter Albert Suarez in Oaklandās highest-scoring showing during a 10-game road trip.
Tyler Nevin connected off Danny Coulombe in the seventh to close Oaklandās deficit to one run, before McCann's shot helped the A's close their trip with four wins.
Kyle Muller retired seven of eight batters he faced in relief, and Austin Adams and T.J. MacFarland (1-0) bridged the gap to Lucas Erceg, who threw a scoreless ninth for his first career save.
āKyle's been throwing the ball really well," said A's manager Mark Kotsay. āAnd without that type of performance from Kyle today, we wouldn't have had that type of opportunity.ā
Ryan Mountcastle and Rutschman each connected for their fourth home runs for the Orioles. Ramon Urias also homered to bring Baltimoreās league-leading team total to 44 on the season and seven during the three-game set.
All six Orioles runs came off Aās starter Paul Blackburn, who worked only four innings in his shortest outing of the season.
TRAINERS ROOM
Orioles: 3B Jordan Westburg was unavailable Sunday due to illness, Hyde said.
UP NEXT
Athletics: Begin a 10-game home stand against Pittsburgh on Monday when RHP Joe Boyle (1-4, 7.06 ERA) tries to go deeper than his last outing, a three-inning loss at the Yankees.
Orioles: Begin a four-game series against the Yankees on Monday with RHP Grayson Rodriguez (3-1, 4.45) trying to rebound from his roughest outing of 2024, a seven-run, 4 1/3-inning loss at the Angels.
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