BALTIMORE (AP) — Nine batters, nine runs — and still nobody out.
That was quite a trip through the batting order for the Baltimore Orioles.
On their way to a 13-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, the Orioles scored nine runs in the sixth inning before their first out. Baltimore’s lineup has looked formidable, scoring 24 runs in its first two games of this season, and that rally turned a 3-1 advantage into a 12-1 rout.
“A bunch of guys doing a lot of great things there in that sixth inning,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “All the way down the line.”
Ryan Mountcastle led off with a walk, and Ryan O’Hearn’s single chased Los Angeles starter Griffin Canning. Then Austin Hays hit an RBI single off Luis García, and Cedric Mullins followed with a run-scoring double.
Jordan Westburg drove in two runs with a single, then Baltimore caught a break when shortstop Zach Neto made an error on Ramón Urías’ routine grounder. Guillermo Zuñiga relieved García and promptly allowed a two-run triple to Gunnar Henderson.
“It’s fun watching us hit right now,” Hyde said.
After a walk to Adley Rutschman, Anthony Santander hit a three-run homer. Then Mountcastle hit a flyball for the first out.
The previous team to have its first nine hitters in an inning all score was the Kansas City Royals in the first inning on Sept. 29, 2023, against the New York Yankees, according to Sportradar. Although in that game, the ninth run came home on a sacrifice fly that was the first out of the inning.
The previous time a team had its first nine batters cross the plate before the first out was Arizona’s fifth inning at Colorado on Sept. 9, 2022.
Arizona scored 14 runs in the third Thursday night against Colorado, but the Diamondbacks only made it through the first seven hitters before the first out.
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