BALTIMORE (AP) — Ramón Laureano came off the bench and hit two home runs, and the Baltimore Orioles went deep five times in their 9-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Cedric Mullins and Gunnar Henderson led off the first with back-to-back home runs off Hunter Greene (2-2), who lasted only three innings and allowed five runs. Jordan Westburg also homered for Baltimore, snapping an 0-for-30 draught with a solo shot in the seventh.
Orioles starter Brandon Young yielded three runs in four-plus innings in his big league debut, and Seranthony Domínguez (2-0) got the win in relief. Félix Bautista came on with two on and got the final three outs for his second save — with Laureano making a leaping catch in left field to end it.
Young allowed seven hits and a walk among his first 10 batters, but a pair of Cincinnati outs on the bases helped him avoid excessive damage. Gavin Lux put the Reds up 1-0 with an RBI single in the first, and after the homers by Mullins and Henderson, Jake Fraley went deep to lead off the second, tying the game at 2.
TJ Friedl had four hits and a walk, including an RBI double in the second that put the Reds up 3-2. Young did not allow a hit after that.
Greene permitted six hits and two walks and also hit two batters. Heston Kjerstad took a fastball at 99.5 mph around the right elbow in the first. Laureano replaced him in the outfield after the second. X-rays on Kjerstad were negative.
Laureano's two-run drive in the third made it 5-3. It was 5-4 before Laureano and Westburg hit consecutive homers in the seventh. Laureano's bid for a third home run fell a few feet short in the eighth when Friedl made the catch in front of the wall in center.
Former Oriole Austin Hays homered in the ninth for Cincinnati.
Key moments
The Reds left the bases loaded in the fifth and seventh. They had men on first and third with one out in the sixth, but Matt McLain hit into a 5-4-3 double play.
Key stats
Greene allowed three homers for the first time since Sept. 26, 2023, against Cleveland. ... Laureano became the fifth player in Orioles history to hit two home runs off the bench, and the first since Trey Mancini on June 7, 2017, against Pittsburgh.
Up next
Charlie Morton (0-4) starts the series finale for Baltimore on Sunday. Carson Spiers was listed as Cincinnati's starter, but then pitched four innings in relief Saturday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Noah Trister, The Associated Press
