Orioles complete wild comeback to beat Diamondbacks, 9-7

Q: How did the Baltimore Orioles come back from a six-run deficit against the Diamondbacks?

The Orioles capitalized on late-game opportunities, scoring multiple runs in the final innings to secure a 9-7 victory.

Q: What injuries occurred during the Orioles vs. Diamondbacks game?

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was hit in the face by a line drive during the game.

Q: What were the key moments that led to the Orioles' victory over the Diamondbacks?

Key moments included the Orioles' bats awakening after five innings and their ability to capitalize on the Diamondbacks' pitching mistakes.

(Patrick Smith/Getty Images North America/TNS)

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles were drawing dead.

They were down six runs. Their pitchers had surrendered four homers. Their manager was hit in the face by a line drive. Their bats had managed only one run in five innings.

Then, somehow, they won the game.

Jeremiah Jackson, whose foul liner struck skipper Craig Albernaz in the face, brought the Orioles and the approximately 10,000 fans at Camden Yards back to life with a grand slam in the sixth. An inning later, Pete Alonso completed the comeback with a two-run blast to propel Baltimore to a 9-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And as if those long balls weren’t enough, Jackson added another for insurance in the eighth for his first career multihomer game. Jackson had to fight for a roster spot out of spring training, but he’s earned his role as the Orioles’ everyday second baseman with Jackson Holliday sidelined. Jackson went 3 for 4 on Monday to improve his season average to .318 and OPS to .871.

After Jackson’s grand slam, Alonso and starting pitcher Shane Baz immediately celebrated in the dugout, almost like they were little kids again. Twenty minutes later, it was Alonso who was pumping up the dugout as he jogged down the first base line.

Alonso, the Orioles’ $155 million man, spent the first nine games of April slumping, entering Sunday’s matinee with a .522 OPS. But he smacked a pair of hits, including a clutch two-run double, Sunday and then clobbered the go-ahead long ball Monday. The “Polar Bear” now has a .691 OPS.

The victory — the first 2023-esque, don’t-count-em-out win of this season — maintains the Orioles’ hot streak. Baltimore’s last comeback of at least six runs was June 27, when the club inexplicably won 22-8 over the Rays. The Orioles’ last comeback of six-plus runs in the sixth inning or later was May 27, 2022, against the Red Sox.

After beginning the season 3-6, Baltimore is now 9-7 and has won six of its past seven games, moving to the top of the American League East standings.

Before the miraculous comeback, starting pitcher Dean Kremer gave up three homers in his season debut. The right-hander’s first pitch was a fastball several inches above the strike zone, but Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte hammered it 443 feet onto Eutaw Street.

Kremer, who was surprisingly optioned to Triple-A to begin the season, was recalled Monday to rejoin a rotation that officially lost Zach Eflin to Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery last week. Kremer is expected to remain in the rotation moving forward.

The other three runs scored off Kremer came off homers — another solo shot from Marte in the third inning and a two-run blast by Nolan Arenado in the fourth. The two runs from Arenado’s homer were unearned because of a Gunnar Henderson error. Albert Suárez relieved Kremer and gave up a three-run homer to Arenado in the sixth.

After the Orioles took the lead, setup man Rico Garcia and closer Ryan Helsley slammed the door. Garcia upped his scoreless and hitless appearance streak to begin the season to eight. Helsley’s save was his fifth in an Orioles uniform.

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