Guardians' rally in 9th falls short in loss in Baltimore

BALTIMORE — Trevor Rogers pitched into the eighth inning, Coby Mayo homered twice and the Baltimore Orioles took advantage of Cleveland's wildness on the mound, beating the Guardians 6-4 on Monday to snap a six-game losing streak. Rogers (10-9) allowed a run on six hits. The Orioles pulled within three games of Cleveland for the final AL wild card. The Guardians fell to a half-game ahead of Toronto, which played later Monday out west against the Athletics. The Orioles scored only one run over their previous three games against Boston, but Joey Cantillo (9-9) did plenty to help them out of their slump, allowing three hits and five walks and hitting two batters in 2 1/3 innings. Baltimore left eight runners on base in the first three innings but still led 4-0. Pinch-hitter Nathaniel Lowe hit a three-run homer in the ninth for Cleveland off Andrew Kittredge. Josh Walker got the final out for his first career save. Cleveland's Steven Kwan led off the game with a groundball single up the middle. He was quickly erased on a double play, and Rogers retired everyone else he faced until the Guardians strung together three straight hits with two outs in the sixth. Cantillo and reliever Franco Aleman combined to throw 102 pitches in the first three innings — just two fewer than Rogers needed to go 7 1/3. Dylan Beavers doubled home a run in the second, and Mayo hit a solo shot in the third. With the bases loaded, Blaze Alexander drew an 11-pitch walk off Aleman, and Pete Alonso followed with another walk to make it 4-0. Jo Adell's bloop double landed barely fair in right field in the sixth to bring home the first Cleveland run. Mayo had a two-run homer in the bottom half for his first career multihomer game. Mayo's homer off Cantillo brought his season total against left-handers to a major league-leading 16. He has 21 overall. Cantillo is tied for the major league lead with 77 walks. Plate umpire Chris Guccione left the game in the second inning after being hit in the mask by a foul tip.