Willson Contreras hit a pair of homers, Adrian Sampson pitched scoreless ball into the sixth inning, and the Chicago Cubs cooled the red-hot Baltimore Orioles 3-2 on Thursday at Camden Yards.
Contreras had his 10th multi-homer game, which ranks second among Cubs catchers behind Gabby Hartnett (14).
Sampson (1-3, 3.51 ERA) allowed four hits with six strikeouts and two walks over 5 2/3 innings, earning his first win of the season.
Rafael Ortega also homered for the Cubs(50-67) who have won five of seven and are one of those legitimate “spoiler” candidates when regular season ball intensifies this September.
Brandon Hughes picked up his first career save by getting a double play on a soft liner by Cedric Mullins in the ninth.
The Orioles entered the day 1 1/2 games out of an AL wild-card spot. They now play a three-game series against division rival Boston(59-60), which concludes with Sunday’s Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Thursday’s game was a makeup of a rainout on June 8.
It was scoreless in the fifth when Baltimore’s Austin Hays hit a one-out double and Rougned Odor had an infield single. Jorge Mateo attempted a squeeze bunt, but Sampson flipped the ball with his glove to catcher Contreras, who tagged out Hays before he could score.
Contreras then gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the sixth with a solo shot off Spenser Watkins (4-3, 4.04 ERA), who allowed one run and five hits with no walks and two strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. Ortega and Contreras gave the Cubs some cushion with back-to-back homers in the eighth off Joey Krehbiel, for insurance and a 3-0 Cubs advantage. Chicago reliever Sean Newcomb walked the first two batters in the eighth and was replaced by Erich Uelmen, who allowed an RBI single to Ryan Mountcastle that broke the shutout bid.
The Orioles pulled to within a run on a sacrifice fly by Anthony Santander, but
Uelmen then got out of the jam. Third baseman Zach McKinstry threw out Mouncastle at home on a grounder by Ramon Urias, and Ryan McKenna struck out, before Hughes made history with the save.
I used AP to help with the structure of this article.
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