Sal Frelick singled home a 10th-inning run and the visiting Milwaukee Brewers pulled out a 6-5 victory against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.
There was late-inning drama for both teams before Chad Patrick retired the Orioles in order in the bottom of the 10th for his sixth save. Trevor Megill (3-3) was the winning pitcher despite a blown save.
Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio and Baltimore’s Pete Alonso hit three-run homers early in the game, and then there were five consecutive innings with no scoring.
With the score 3-3, the Brewers (96-58) took the lead with two runs in the top of the ninth. William Contreras delivered a run-scoring double off reliever Rico Garcia, and Christian Yelich hit a two-out RBI single against Grant Wolfram (6-4).
The bottom of the ninth began with Gunnar Henderson’s single and Coby Mayo’s double off Megill. Samuel Basallo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand each followed with a sacrifice fly to even the score at 5-5.
Chourio and Brice Turang both finished with two hits for the National League Central champion Brewers, who totaled 10 hits while winning for the eighth time in 10 games.
Henderson and Mayo both collected three hits for the Orioles (75-79). Colton Cowser added two hits to Baltimore’s 12-hit attack.
The Orioles left 12 runners on base as their three-game winning streak ended and they endured a damaging loss in their quest for an American League wild card. Baltimore trails the Chicago White Sox (78-76) by three games for the last wild-card slot with eight games to go.
Neither starting pitcher lasted long.
Cade Povich worked 3 2/3 innings for Baltimore, surrendering three runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Dustin May of the Brewers logged 2 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
Alonso socked his 38th homer of the season and his fifth in nine games. His RBI total rose to 105.
The Brewers threatened in the eighth with three walks, but they stranded the bases loaded on Cooper Pratt’s flyout.
