Alonso and Holliday homer and Orioles hand Tigers seventh straight loss with a 7-4 victory
BALTIMORE (AP) — Pete Alonso homered and drove in four runs, Jackson Holliday added a go-ahead two-run shot and the Baltimore Orioles handed the Detroit Tigers their seventh straight loss with a 7-4 victory on Friday night. Alonso homered for a second straight game, a three-run shot off Jack Flaherty (0-6) in the third to put the Orioles up 3-2. The slugger added a sacrifice fly in the seventh following his 10th home run.
Holliday hit a two-run homer in a three-run fourth that gave Baltimore a 6-4 lead. The second baseman, who was on the injured list for the Orioles' first 48 games, singled for his first hit before Alonso homered. Baltimore snapped a three-game losing streak.
Rookie Kevin McGonigle hit his third homer — on opener Keegan Akin's first pitch — to give Detroit the lead. Chris Bassitt (4-3) entered in the second and needed seven pitches to retire the side, but Gage Workman and Hao-Yu Lee led off the third with doubles to make it 2-0. Zach McKinstry's RBI fielder's choice and Hao-Yu Lee's two-out single put the Tigers ahead 4-3 in the fourth.
Leodys Taveras, who doubled in the second, reached on a bunt single to start the bottom of the fourth. Colton Cowser singled to put runners on the corners and Taveras scored on a balk to tie it 4-4. Flaherty did not have a balk through any of his previous 200 appearances and 1,037 1/3 innings.
He allowed six runs — three earned — in 3 1/3 innings, striking out seven. Bassitt left in the sixth after a one-out double by Wenceel Pérez, allowing three runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. Rico Garcia got the final two outs in the fifth, and Yennier Cano and Tyler Wells both pitched a scoreless inning before rookie Anthony Nunez fanned two in the ninth for his third save in five opportunities.