Orioles edge Athletics, 2-1, behind Chris Bassitt’s bloody performance

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles’ luck wouldn’t seem to turn. Knotted in a 1-1 game with the Athletics, they kept barely missing the clutch hit they needed to take the lead.

Weston Wilson hit a liner down the right field line in the fifth that had the distance for a home run — but just stayed foul. Adley Rutschman crushed a fly ball to deep left field with the bases loaded later in the inning that Tyler Soderstrom caught with a leaping grab. Dylan Beavers dropped a blooper to left in the sixth with runners on the corners that was an inch into foul territory.

Then, their luck turned.

In that same at-bat, Beavers worked a lengthy at-bat against Athletics starter Luis Severino before putting the Orioles (18-23) ahead for good with an RBI single that salvaged a 2-1 win Sunday in their weekend series. The victory ended the Orioles’ three-game losing streak and marked their second win over a team with a winning record.

Chris Bassitt allowed one run in six innings while pitching with an apparent cut on his hand. He regularly wiped blood across his pants during the outing. He pitched behind Keegan Akin, who threw a scoreless first inning as the first pitcher to serve as an opener for the Orioles this season.

Bassitt struck out six with four hits and a walk, throwing 66 of his 94 pitches for strikes and generating a season-high 14 swings and misses. The right-hander who signed to a one-year, $18.5 million deal this offseason as a veteran innings eater has completed six innings in two of his past three starts after failing to make it that far in any of his first five.

His performance, as well as strong appearances from Akin and late-inning arms and , broke up a streak of 25 straight games in which Baltimore allowed three runs or more. That matched the Orioles’ longest streak since going 25 in a row from July 24 to Aug. 19 in 2019.