BALTIMORE - Baltimore’s top pitching prospect made his home debut - and then this became a historic night for a completely different reason.
Ryan Mountcastle homered twice and tied a team record with nine RBIs, helping the Orioles rally from a four-run deficit to a 12-8 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night. Mountcastle hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning and added a grand slam in the seventh as Baltimore overcame a difficult Camden Yards debut for right-hander Grayson Rodriguez.
Austin Hays homered and had four hits for Baltimore, which handed the A’s their sixth straight loss. Mountcastle tied the franchise’s single-game mark for RBIs set by Jim Gentile in 1961 and matched by Eddie Murray in 1985.
“Two greats,” Mountcastle said. “To tie them in, I guess, any category is super special. Pretty cool night.”
Mountcastle became the first player anywhere in the majors to drive in nine runs since Adam Duvall in 2020.
Rodriguez allowed six hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings, although he also struck out six. The Baltimore right-hander - one of baseball’s top-ranked pitching prospects - allowed single runs in the first and third, and after he departed with the bases loaded in the fifth, all of those runners came in to score.
Still, it was a memorable experience for the rookie, who made his big league debut at Texas last week.
“Man, that was probably the most awesome thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Rodriguez said. “To see Oriole Park at Camden Yards from the pitcher’s mound.”
Shea Langeliers capped Oakland’s five-run fifth with a three-run homer off Austin Voth that gave the A’s a 7-3 lead, but Mountcastle answered with a three-run shot in the bottom of the inning and Hays tied it with a solo homer in the sixth.
Sam Moll (0-1) allowed a walk and a hit batter in the seventh, and Hays put the Orioles up 8-7 with a two-out RBI single off Dany Jiménez. Adley Rutschman - who reached base four times himself - was intentionally walked to load the bases, and then Mountcastle followed with a drive over the big wall in left field at Camden Yards.
“You pick your poison with Adley,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “With a base open, Adley’s been swinging the bat really good, and you got the right-on-right matchup I think that we wanted, with Dany, and Dany’s come in some big spots and got that out. Just wasn’t successful tonight.”
Oakland had scored just one run over its previous three games, and its big offensive night Tuesday couldn’t overcome a pitching staff that allowed at least three home runs for a fifth straight game. That tied a team record set in 2021.
Bryan Baker (1-0) pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the win.
Mountcastle hit a sacrifice fly in the first and an RBI single in the third.
RODRIGUEZ’S NIGHT
Rodriguez issued three walks on full counts in the fifth, pushing his pitch count all the way to 99 before he was removed.
Of the 23 hitters he faced, Rodriguez reached a two-strike count on 18 of them - but over half of those batters reached base anyway. All six hits he allowed and all four walks were with two strikes.
“Early, I think we made some mistakes 0-2, throwing pitches too close to the zone,” Rodriguez said.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Rodriguez - who began the season in the minors - would make another start with Baltimore.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: OF Seth Brown, who went on the injured list Monday, has a grade two left oblique strain. Kotsay said the timeline on that generally runs four to six weeks.
UP NEXT
Orioles RHP Dean Kremer (0-0) takes the mound Wednesday night against Oakland LHP Ken Waldichuk (0-2).
