Baltimore Orioles’ Adley Rutschman (35) watches his solo walkoff home run hit against Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Trevor May during the ninth inning at Camden Yards at Thu Apr 13, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Baltimore Orioles’ outstanding young catcher Adley Rutschman sent Trevor May’s second pitch in the bottom of the ninth out of the park to give the O’s a walk-off win 8-7 over the A’s Thursday afternoon. The A’s offense put seven runs on the board. Oakland scored eight runs in each of the two previous games.

The A’s pitchers needed help to contain the Orioles’ hitters. A’s starter, Adam Oller, was knocked out of the game in the top of the third. Oller gave up seven runs and eight hits in just two and 1/3rd innings of work.

A’s reliever Adrian Martinez restored order as he went three and 2/3rds innings and did not allow a hit or a run. Martinez allowed the A’s to stay in the game. The Orioles led 7-4 after three innings of play. Oakland fought back and tied the game at seven in the fifth. Here’s how things went.

The A’s grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. A’s centerfielder Esteury Riz led off with a double. Ruiz tagged and advanced to third on Ramon Laureano’s fly ball to right field. Brent Rooker’s sacrifice fly drove in Ruiz with the A’s first run. 

The Orioles put three runs on the board in the bottom of the second inning. The O’s rally started when Adam Oller hit O’s third baseman Gunnar Henderson with a pitch. Austin Hays continued his onslaught against the A’s pitching when he singled, sending Henderson to second base.

Right fielder Terrin Vavra singled to load the bases with one out. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn singled to drive in Henderson and Hays. Vavra went to third on the play. Jorge Mateo hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Vavra with the O’s third run of the game. The Orioles sent eight men to the plate in the inning. The O’s lead 3-1.

The A’s regained the lead in the top of the third. With one out, second baseman Nick Allen singled to right. Former A’s pitcher, Cole Irvin, hit Esrury Ruiz with a pitch to put men on at first and second. Irvin stuck out Laureano for the second out. For the second game in a row, Brent Rooker slammed a three-run dinger over the fence in center field.

The A’s led 4-3 midway through the third inning. The lead didn’t last long. The Orioles’ offense continued to pound Adam Oller’s slants. Ryan Mountcastle led off the bottom of the third with his sixth home run. It was his fourth homer in the four-game set with the A’s. Gunnar Henderson then doubled to deep right field. Austin Hays singled, sending Henderson to third.

Orioles’ second baseman Adam Frazier singled to drive in Henderson with the O’s fifth run. Hays went to third on the hit. Oller had not retired a hitter in the inning. Oller walked Vavra to load the bases. Ryan O’Hearn’s sacrifice fly drove in Hays with the sixth run of the game for the O’s. A’s manager Mark Kotsay brought in Adrian Martinez to pitch.

Martinez got Jorge Mateo to ground into a fielder’s choice. Vavra was out at second, but Frazier scored on the play. Martinez struck out Cedric Mullins to end the inning. The Orioles sent eight men to the plate for the second consecutive inning. This time they put four runs on the board to lead 7-4 after three innings of play. 

The A’s. to their credit, refused to wilt. The A’s rallied to score twice after two out in their half of the fourth. The O’s starter Cole Irvin retired the first two hitters. A’s catcher Carlos Ruiz singled to start the rally. Irvin, who normally does not walk a lot of batters, walked Shea Lamgeliers and Nick Allen to load the bases. Esteury Ruiz singled to drive in Carlos Perez and Langeliers. The A’s were back in the game, trailing by one 7-6.

The A’s tied the game in the fifth. Brent Rooker, who homered earlier, blasted his second of the game. The ball traveled 4-1 feet and landed in the first row of seats in the left-field stands. It was Rooker’s fifth RBI of the game.

The game stayed scoreless until the bottom of the ninth. Mark Kotsay summoned the veteran hurler, Trevor May, from the bullpen to face the Orioles’ Adley Rutschman. Rutschman homered on May’s second pitch. The ball was right down the middle, and Rutschman did not miss. Baltimore wins the game 8-7.

Game Notes: The A’s offense came to life in the last three games of the four-game Series. The A’s scored 23 runs in those three contests. The A’s won only one of the three. The Orioles won the four-game set three games to one. The A’s are now 3-10, and they lost six of the seven games on the road trip. The A’s return home to Oakland to host the New York Mets for three games starting Friday night.

The hitting starts for Oakland on Thursday were Carlos Perez, Esteury Ruiz, and Brent Booker. Perez and Ruiz each had three hits. Booker smashed two homes and drove in a career-high five runs in the game.

The pitching start was Adrian Martinez. Martinez kept the A’s in the game with three and 2/3rd innings of work. He did not allow a hit or a run. Dany Jimenez and Zach Jackson each pitched a scoreless inning.

The hitting stars for the Orioles were the big three plus two. Ryan Mountcastle’s home run in the fourth inning was his fourth in the Series. Austin Hays continued to torment the A’s pitchers. Hays had three hits in Thursday’s game.

The A’s pitchers held Rurtschman hitless in his first four trips to the plate on Thursday. Rutschman became the Orioles hero of the day when he hit a walk-off home run in the ninth to win the game for Baltimore. Vavra and Ryan O’Hearn each had two hits.

The line score for Oakland was seven runs, nine hits, and no errors. The Orioles’ line was eight runs, 12 hits, and no errors.

 The A’s will send James Kaprielian (0-1 ERA 11.17) to the mound to face the Mets’ Kodai Senga (2-0 ERA 1.59) Friday night 6:40pm. Shintaro Fujinami will face Carlos Carrasco on Saturday, and JP Sears will go for Oakland against the Mets’ Max Scherzer. 

Sunday’s game will honor the 1973 A’s team that beat the Mets four games to three in the World Series. 

Friday night’s game will start at 6:40 pm.