Orioles lose to Royals, 6-5, on walk-off wild pitch by Ryan Helsley

The Royals needed a comeback after Mayo’s monster blast, a 439-foot homer to left field off starter Kris Bubic that registered a 114.2 mph exit velocity. The long ball was Mayo’s first of the season, and both the Statcast-projected distance and exit velocity set career highs for the former top prospect, who was making his first start of the season at first base with Pete Alonso starting at designated hitter and Ryan Mountcastle on the injured list.

Kansas City chipped away, first on a sacrifice fly — only enabled by a wild pitch — off the bat of second baseman Michael Massey in the second and later in the fifth, when Garcia drove in center fielder Kyle Isbel with an RBI single before scoring on a fly ball by first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. Isbel got a second chance in his at-bat when Mayo missed a pop-up in foul territory, and he took advantage with a double.

Baz finally gave up the lead in the seventh. The Orioles’ bullpen was taxed after covering 6 2/3 in their extra-innings victory Monday, and Baz went back out for another inning at 84 pitches. He put runners on the corners with no outs for Witt to start the frame, and manager Craig Albernaz went out for a mound visit but left his starter in the game. Witt then hit a 1-1 fastball over the heart of the plate into right field to bring the go-ahead run home.

The Orioles responded with two runs of their own on Rutschman’s homer, his first of the season in his return from the injured list, but Massey tied the game back up in the bottom half of the frame before Garcia sent an exasperated Kauffman Stadium crowd home with some long-awaited relief.

____