Orioles survive in extras to sweep Red Sox, 4-3, behind Samuel Basallo

Matt Weyrich, The Baltimore Sun on Aug 19, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — The Orioles aren’t playing like a team out of the playoff race.

After the bullpen blew a ninth-inning lead, rookie catcher Samuel Basallo drove in the winning run with an RBI groundout in the 11th to help the Orioles escape with a 4-3 win and sweep their two-game series.

Tomoyuki Sugano pitched five strong innings and the offense strung together a three-run rally against the Red Sox bullpen to go into the ninth with a two-run lead Tuesday. It wasn’t enough as Yaramil Hiraldo, looking for the first save of his young career, allowed a two-run home run to Nathaniel Lowe to send the game to extras.

But it was Basallo, the 21-year-old coming off the bench for his third career MLB game, who played the hero in a raucous Fenway Park environment. He was able to make contact with a pitch just six inches off the ground and poke it just into the infield grass, deep enough for automatic runner Jeremiah Jackson to score from third and send the team back to Baltimore on a happy flight.

Ryan Mountcastle and Colton Cowser recorded consecutive RBI base hits to tie the game and take the lead in the fifth, helping secure the Orioles’ third straight series win over a team in playoff position.

Baltimore (59-67) sold at the Aug. 1 deadline and shipped off two of its best hitters, its starting center fielder, a quality middle-of-the-rotation starter and half its bullpen. The club has also started looking ahead toward next season with its roster decisions, giving young infielder Coby Mayo ample playing time and promoting top prospects Basallo and Dylan Beavers.

Since getting over the disappointment of the deadline, the Orioles have regrouped and begun playing competitive baseball again with contributions from both new and familiar sources. The rotation has been perhaps the most impressive group, posting an MLB-best 2.26 ERA since the start of August.

Sugano kept the pitching staff trending in the right direction, allowing only an unearned run to join Dean Kremer in bringing his season ERA below 4.00 over the past turn. The run was scored on a balk, which he was assessed in the third when he failed to throw out catcher Connor Wong at third base on his third disengagement of his at-bat against shortstop Trevor Story.

But Sugano worked his way out of the jam and stayed in the game long enough to qualify for the win. The Orioles’ offense, quiet for the first four innings against Red Sox starter Walker Buehler, led off the fifth with a double by Jackson Holliday and a walk by Luis Vázquez, prompting Boston manager Alex Cora to turn to his bullpen early.

The move backfired as Mountcastle extended his hitting streak to six games with an RBI single and Cowser followed with a ringing double off the Green Monster to jump ahead 2-1. Mountcastle then came around to score on a wild pitch later in the frame, extending the Orioles’ lead to two for a score that nearly survived enough drama to hold the rest of the way.

Keegan Akin pitched two clean innings in relief of Sugano to get the game into the eighth with the Orioles’ three-run lead intact. Kade Strowd then replaced him but promptly allowed two singles and a four-pitch walk, loading the bases with nobody out. Interim manager Tony Mansolino turned to Rico García looking for a miracle and the right-hander delivered, striking out the next three batters to pull off a Houdini-esque escape act.

It was nearly all for naught. García threw only 12 pitches but Mansolino opted for Hiraldo, who walked second baseman Romy Gonzalez before the designated hitter Lowe, recently signed as a free agent after being released by the Washington Nationals, finally gave the Fenway Park crowd something to cheer about with the first home run of his Red Sox career in the ninth.

But for the first of what will likely be many, Basallo came through. He put the Orioles ahead and Corbin Martin closed out the game for his second save.

Instant analysis

Mountcastle might have lost his everyday position, but the first baseman has taken his uncertain future in stride with 10 hits over his past six games.

He needs to go on a run if he’s going to convince the Orioles’ front office to keep him around for next season, when he’s due for another raise in his third and final year of arbitration. There might not be room for him with Mayo and Basallo looking like the club’s first base tandem of the future and the oft-injured Tyler O’Neill and Jordan Westburg commanding many of the DH at-bats.

But whether it’s with the Orioles or someone else, Mountcastle is out to prove that he’s still capable of hitting better than the .670 OPS he’s put up this season. The Orioles might not be playing him at first but they are doing right by their veteran hitter giving him a chance to do so.

On deck

Baltimore wraps up a successful road trip and gets the day off Wednesday before they play two of the opponents they just beat. The Houston Astros travel to Camden Yards for a three-game series this weekend before the Red Sox play four to open next week. The Orioles haven’t announced any of their upcoming starters yet.