Field Level Media
Jul 12, 2018
Jorge Alfaro homered and drove in three runs, and Nick Pivetta gave Philadelphia a strong start as the visiting Phillies defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 Thursday night at Camden Yards.
Alfaro finished 3-for-4 with the three RBIs while batting ninth. He wound up a triple short of the cycle in the game, which was a makeup of a postponed matchup in May.
Pivetta (6-7) bounced back from two straight poor starts and did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. He lasted 6 2/3 innings and gave up three runs on five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts, fading a bit on as Baltimore rallied in the later innings.
Pivetta got plenty of help from his offense, which created a number of good scoring chances, especially early in the game. The Phillies finished with 14 hits.
Seranthony Dominguez came on in the ninth and closed it out, recording his ninth save.
Orioles starter Kevin Gausman (4-7) allowed five runs on 12 hits in five-plus innings as the Phillies jumped out to a 5-0 lead. This was his first career appearance versus Philadelphia.
The Phillies took charge with back-to-back two-run innings in the third and fourth. In the third, Carlos Santana hit an RBI single, and Nick Williams added an RBI on a forceout, putting Philadelphia up 2-0.
The Phillies added on in the fourth when Alfaro doubled to right, scoring two for a 4-0 lead. Alfaro came through once more in the sixth with a solo homer against Gausman that stretched the lead to 5-0.
That's when the Orioles slowly began to bounce back. Manny Machado, the subject of numerous trade rumors as the trade deadline approaches at month's end, drove in the team's first run on an infield single in the sixth.
Trey Mancini cut the lead to 5-3 on a two-run homer off Pivetta in the seventh that ended the right-hander's night. Jace Peterson then greeted former Oriole Tommy Hunter with a solo shot that sliced the margin to one.
The Phillies head to Miami for a weekend series beginning Friday while the Orioles play host to the Texas Rangers to close out the pre-All-Star-break schedule.
--Field Level Media