BALTIMORE (AP) — Ezequiel Tovar hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the top of the eighth inning, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 on Friday night to improve to 5-2 since the All-Star break.
It’s a rare run of success for the Rockies, who improved to 27-76 on the season but still need 15 wins to avoid matching the modern record of 121 losses by last year’s Chicago White Sox. Colorado rallied from a 4-0 deficit after Jordan Westburg, Tyler O’Neill, Coby Mayo and Alex Jackson hit solo homers for Baltimore in the first two innings.
Mickey Moniak hit a solo shot in the third for the Rockies and Thairo Estrada added a two-run homer in the fourth.
Colorado took the lead in the fifth when Hunter Goodman hit an RBI double and then scored on Jordan Beck’s single. Jackson Holliday tied it for the Orioles with an RBI single in the seventh off Rockies reliever Jake Bird (4-1).
Tovar answered with a one-out drive off Andrew Kittredge (1-2), and the Rockies held on. Seth Halvorsen worked a perfect ninth for his 10th save in 13 chances.
Colorado and Baltimore — both in last place in their respective divisions — traded players to New York before the game. The Rockies sent infielder Ryan McMahon to the Yankees, and the Orioles dealt reliever Gregory Soto to the Mets.
Key moment
O’Neill led off the eighth with a double, but Tyler Kinley retired the next three hitters — two via strikeout — to protect the one-run lead.
Key stat
Baltimore remains the only team in the major leagues without a walk-off victory in 2025.
Up next
Trevor Rogers (3-1, 1.74 ERA) starts for the Orioles on Saturday night against Colorado’s Antonio Senzatela (4-13, 6.41).
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
