CLEVELAND (AP) — Steven Kwan singled home Bo Naylor with two outs in the eighth inning for the go-ahead run, lifting the Cleveland Guardians to a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.
Naylor was on second base when Kwan lined a pitch from Colin Selby (0-2) into left field. Colton Cowser fielded it cleanly, but his throw to catcher Alex Jackson was well off the mark, allowing Naylor to score.
Hunter Gaddis (1-1) pitched a clean eighth for the win and Emmanuel Clase earned his 23rd save in 27 opportunities. The Guardians have won 11 of their last 13 games — immediately after losing 10 straight — to move back into the AL wild-card race.
Jackson Holliday homered for the Orioles leading off the sixth against Slade Cecconi, tying the game at 2. Ryan O’Hearn opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, plating Jordan Westburg.
The Guardians took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on Kyle Manzardo’s single that scored Kwan and José Ramírez. They were the only runs allowed by Zach Eflin, who worked five innings after being sidelined since June 28 with lower back discomfort.
Selby also lost the series opener for Baltimore, which has dropped seven of eight and is 1-5 on its road trip. The Orioles have been outscored 19-10 in losing the first three games of the four-game set.
Key moment
After Daniel Schneeman and Brayan Rocchio both flied out in the eighth, Naylor doubled to keep the inning going for Kwan. It was just his 15th hit in 94 at-bats since June 1.
Key stat
Eflin was activated from the injured list and retired his first nine batters. The right-hander had allowed 17 earned runs and 27 hits over his previous nine innings before getting hurt.
Up next
Orioles RHP Charlie Morton (5-8, 5.58 ERA) faces Guardians LHP Logan Allen (6-8, 4.06) in the series finale Thursday.
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