Cardinals rally for rare series sweep of Orioles
Brendan Donovan hit a two-run double as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied past the visiting Baltimore Orioles 5-4 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.
That snapped the Orioles’ streak of 106 series of two-plus decisions without being swept. The streak — the third-longest in National League/American League history — started in May 2022.
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Masyn Winn had a double, a homer and two runs scored as the Cardinals erased a 3-0 deficit. St. Louis has won eight of its last 10 games.
Earlier Wednesday, the Cardinals defeated the Orioles 3-1 to finish a game suspended Tuesday night by rain.
Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson allowed three unearned runs on five hits in four innings in Wednesday’s scheduled game. He struck out three batters and walked none.
John King (1-1) earned the victory with two scoreless innings and Ryan Fernandez earned his first save after allowing one run in the ninth.
Baltimore starting pitcher John Means threw three scoreless innings while allowing one hit and two walks. Cole Irvin (4-2) took the loss for the Orioles, who have dropped four of their last five games.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was ejected by home plate umpire Charlie Ramos in the third inning after protesting called strikes.
St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado’s fielding error in the third inning opened the door for the Orioles. Gunnar Henderson’s RBI single, Ryan O’Hearn’s run-scoring groundout and Anthony Santander’s RBI single put Baltimore up 3-0.
After rain interrupted the game in the fourth inning, the Cardinals cut their deficit to 3-1 in the fifth. Winn hit a double and scored on Lars Nootbaar’s single.
Baltimore miscues helped the Cardinals surge ahead 4-3 in the sixth inning.
Arenado hit a one-out single, then Dylan Carlson’s would-be double-play grounder eluded Henderson at shortstop. Donovan hit a two-run double, took third on the throw home and scored on catcher James McCann’s throwing error.
Winn’s homer leading off the seventh inning pushed St. Louis’ lead to 5-3.
Singles by Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins followed by pinch hitter Kyle Stowers’ sacrifice fly got the Orioles within a run in the ninth inning.
