ST. LOUIS—When Blaze Alexander went on the injured list with a fractured left hand, the Orioles recalled third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand from Triple-A Norfolk, where he’d been compiling impressive statistics since his acquisition from Cincinnati in April.
In the last six weeks, Encarnacion-Strand has become indispensable for the Orioles. On Wednesday night, after the Orioles blew a 7-0 lead, Encarnacion-Strand belted four hits, and the most important was a ninth-inning double that scored pinch-runner Luis Vázquez and gave the Orioles an 8-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals before 21,185 at Busch Stadium.
Samuel Basallo led off with a single against Riley O’Brien (3-6). Vázquez, who’d been added to the team before the game when Tyler O’Neill went on the injured list, ran for Basallo and moved to second on a wild pitch. He scored on Encarnacion-Strand’s double to right-center.
“He’s been huge,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Obviously, the way he’s been swinging the bat has been a huge, huge plus for us, especially with Blaze going down. Like we talked about with all our injuries, it sucks for the guy that gets hurt, but also it’s an opportunity for someone to step up, and CES has done that — not to mention his defense at third base has been really good for us and steady.”
Grant Wolfram (5-2) pitched a scoreless eighth, and Andrew Kittredge recorded his seventh save with a scoreless ninth, with the help of second baseman Jackson Holliday.
St. Louis (66-68) had runners on first and second with one out when Holliday made a diving stop at second on Nathan Church’s grounder. He quickly got to his feet and made a throw to Encarnacion-Strand at first to record the out. Iván Herrera moved to third and Jordan Walker to second. José Fermín popped out to Holliday to end the game.
“I think if I don’t stop it, they probably tie the game and go into extras and home teams have a pretty distinct advantage when you do so,” Holliday said of his play. “Be able to at least knock it down and get the out was pretty big.”
With the win, the Orioles (65-68) remain 2 ½ games behind Cleveland for the third and final wild-card spot. The Guardians won their seventh straight.
“Honestly, I try not to think too much about it,” Kittredge said. “I think we’re in a good spot right now. It feels like we’re kind of playing our best baseball of the year. I know we had that skid against the Yankees just the other day, but overall, the last couple weeks, guys are playing a little more free, a little more easy, offense is swinging it.”
After scoring a season-high 13 runs on Tuesday night, the Orioles scored five runs in the first inning with RBI singles by Encarnacion-Strand and Dylan Beavers. Leody Taveras hit a three-run home run, his eighth, to give the Orioles a 5-0 lead before Kyle Bradish threw a pitch.
Pete Alonso hit a two-run home run, his 32nd, in the second to make it 7-0. Alonso has nine home runs in his last 16 games.
The the Orioles loaded the bases with one out in the third against Michael McGreevy, who yielded seven runs on 10 hits in five innings, and had runners on second and third with two outs in the fourth and didn’t add on.
Nolan Gorman homered off Bradish in the second, and the Orioles led 7-1 until the bottom of the fifth when St. Louis scored six runs to tie it, 7-7.
Alec Burleson hit a two-run single, Walker a run-scoring double, and Church a two-run double, and Bradish left with a 7-6 lead.
The tying run scored on Fermín’s grounder to short.
Bradish allowed seven runs, which tied a career high, on nine hits in 4 1/3. He struck out four and allowed two consecutive walks in the fifth to JJ Wetherholt and Herrera, who both scored.
How important is Encarnacion-Strand? One of the quietest Orioles, Encarnacion-Strand lets his teammates speak about him.
“I’ve gotten to watch Christian since college do this,” Holliday said. “Just his demeanor and approach has always been very steady and very professional. When you have the ability to hit the ball all over the field like Pete, it opens up a lot of room for error, and for him to be able to just stay on a sweeper, smoke it in the gap, sinker comes in, he can turn on it. It’s a lot of fun to watch.”
After Vázquez scored the run, he played third base, and with Basallo out of the game, Encarnacion-Strand moved to first base in the ninth. On Holliday’s game-saving play, Encarnacion-Strand ranged to his right but retreated to first in time to catch the throw as Kittredge also was moving toward first.
“He’s been huge,” Kittredge said. “He’s kind of been doing a little bit of both, offensively and defensively. I feel like he’s been playing a great third base, and first base tonight. I think that’s the first time this year he’s been over there. But what he’s doing with the bat, he’s hit a couple big homers for us, just putting together professional at-bats. He’s been huge ever since he got here.”
How much has Holliday’s defense improved? Holliday felt badly about Sunday’s loss, feeling as if he should have made a play in Tampa Bay’s three-run sixth inning with Shane Baz on the mound.
“I didn’t help too much on the offensive side tonight, so to go out there and make a play to help win the game is pretty awesome,” Holliday said. “I feel like I’ve wanted to make some plays that I haven’t made earlier this year. Even last week with Shane, to be able to make that play and help us win, it was pretty good.”
Infield coach Miguel Cairo has worked with Holliday and that’s really helped.
“I know analytically, I’ve improved quite a bit, which has been great,” Holliday said. “I feel like I’m more comfortable over there and my range is much better than it was last year. Obviously, there’s lots of room to improve and I’m going to work to do so. Yeah, I think I’ve improved.”
What does it mean? The Orioles have won the first series on a three-city road trip and a sweep would be helpful.
What’s the stat of the day? 0. Overlooked in the win was the great work of the bullpen. Alex Hoppe, Josh Walker, Rico Garcia, Wolfram and Kittredge combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks, striking out three.
What’s the word? “Pete’s so hot right now, kind of carrying us, but other guys are falling in, and back-to-back nights of just coming out the gates hot and putting a lot of runs on the board. You’ve got to like where we’re at. So, try not to pay too much attention to the standings, but just take it one game at a time.”-Kittredge on the playoff push.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Enrique Bradfield Jr. homered and drove in three runs as Triple-A Norfolk beat Durham, 7-6. In his second rehab game, Alexander played center field and was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Luis De Léon pitched a spotless inning in relief, striking out two.
Joseph Dzierwa allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings in Double-A Chesapeake’s 5-4 loss to Harrisburg.
Aron Estrada, Victor Figueroa and Thomas Sosa each had two hits.
Randal Diaz’s 11th-inning single gave High-A Frederick a 3-2 win over Asheville. Enddy Azocar drove in two runs. In his first game for the Keys, Jake Dykhoff allowed one run on three hits in six innings, striking out eight.
Single-A Delmarva was held to three hits in its 3-0 loss to Fredericksburg. Eric Booth Jr., the Orioles’ No. 1 draft pick was 1-for-3 with a walk. He’s hitting .200.
Two Orioles pitching prospects — Frederick right-hander Kyson Witherspoon, No. 12 (shoulder impingement) and Norfolk right-hander Nestor German No. 18 (right shoulder) — are unlikely to pitch again this season.
What’s next? Trevor Rogers (9-8, 4.14) will start for the Orioles in the final game of the series on Thursday. The Cardinals will use a series of relievers. Game time is 2:15 p.m.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]