Baltimore Orioles' Pitching Squanders Pete Alonso's 20th Home Run

After a 5-2 loss in Tuesday's opener, the Baltimore Orioles seemed poised to take back control of their series against the 52-40 Chicago Cubs, who currently rank second in the NL Central and sit six games behind the rival Milwaukee Brewers. 

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However, Baltimore will now be looking to avoid a sweep in today's matchup instead of securing one in their favor after coming up short once again on Wednesday, 9-7.

The Cubs struck first in the third inning as Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a solo homer to right field off right-hander Dean Kremer. The Orioles answered right back as a sacrifice groundout by Gunnar Henderson drove in Blaze Alexander, knotting the game at 1-1.

Kremer would hold on in the fourth, giving Alonso the chance he needed to crush a 91-mph sinker to center field and give Baltimore a 3-1 lead.

Unfortunately, Kremer went on to surrender back-to-back homers in the fifth to Michael Conforto and Carson Kelly. Crow-Armstrong also launched his second homer of the game that same inning, reclaiming the lead for Chicago.

Despite a disappointing outing from Kremer, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz expressed confidence in the right-hander, crediting the Cubs' lineup for their excellent hitting.

"I think he threw the ball really well outside of that one inning, both of PCA's home runs were good pitches and he's a really good hitter, did a good job of getting underneath the split," Albernaz told reporters. "The other ones were just out and over the plate and they put good swings on them."

Craig Albernaz on Kremer, team resiliency in loss | 07/08/2026Craig Albernaz discusses Dean Kremer's outing, bullpen management and the fight he saw in the team following the Orioles' 9-7 loss

Enter Rico Garcia and Grant Wolfram in the seventh and things only went further south for Baltimore. Crow-Armstrong drew a walk that set up Kelly to return home on a sacrifice fly by Alex Bregman, which scored the Cubs' fifth run of the matchup. 

Wolfram's command worsened as a wild pitch allowed shortstop Dansby Swanson to reach home safely and make it 6-3, Chicago.

"The walk to PCA after being 0-2 was tough, then the sac-fly to Bregman, which was fine and then the ball to the backstop, that one hurt, which is uncharacteristic of Wolfie and it put us in a tough spot," Albernaz said.

Seiya Suzuki then broke the game wide open with a three-run homer to left field, capping off scoring action for the Cubs.

MLB Home Runs (@MLBHRs_) on XCHC - Seiya Suzuki 3-run HR (14) 📏 401 ft | 💨 101.1 mph | 📐 31° ⚾️ 88.5 mph slider (BAL - LHP Grant Wolfram) 🏟️ Out in 30/30 parks 💣 CHC (9) @ BAL (3) 🔺 7th #Cubs

Unfazed, Tyler O'Neill sparked a final rally with a solo homer to left field while Taylor Ward joined in the action with an RBI single that drove in Henderson. 

The Orioles kept up the fight in the eighth as Coby Mayo launched a solo shot of his own while O'Neill followed with his second homer of the night, cutting the Cubs' lead to just two.

Unfortunately, the deficit was just too much to overcome as Adley Rutschman, Ward and Alonso grounded out to end the contest. 

Going into tonight's matchup, putting hitters away and limiting mistakes will be key to Baltimore salvaging this series.

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