Orioles drop finale to Cardinals, streak of 106 series without being swept snapped

ST. LOUIS — Brendan Donovan doubled home two runs and scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday for a three-game sweep.

“That was fun,” Donovan said. “This was a great series sweep for us.”

The game had a 1 hour, 25-minute rain delay in the middle of the fourth inning.

Earlier Wednesday, Nolan Gorman homered in the completion of a suspended game that St. Louis won 3-1. Gorman drove in all three St. Louis runs, and Lance Lynn pitched six solid innings on Tuesday night before the game was suspended because of rain in the middle of the sixth.

It was the first series sweep this season for the Cardinals, who have won eight of their last 10 games.

“It’s been incredible,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, who was ejected in the bottom of the third inning of the second game. “We’ve had a lot of guys who are stepping up. It’s fun to watch.”

The Orioles had gone 106 consecutive regular-season series without being swept, a span of more than two years. Baltimore had just eclipsed the 1903-05 New York Giants for the third-longest such streak in MLB history.

“I felt like we didn’t catch many breaks,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “We didn’t play our best baseball in these three games. We’re going to have to play better in Chicago.”

Neither starter returned after the delay in the second game. John Means allowed one hit in three innings with two walks and a strikeout for Baltimore.

“He was going to come out anyways,” Hyde said of Means. “He had some elbow discomfort. He’s going to get some further tests.”

Kyle Gibson, who won a career-high 15 games for the Orioles last year when they won 101 games and the American League East title, gave up five hits and three runs, all of them unearned, in four innings.

John King (1-1) picked up the win with two innings of no-hit work. Rookie Ryan Fernandez pitched the ninth for his first save despite giving up two hits and a run on a sacrifice fly.

St. Louis was helped by two errors in a three-run sixth against Cole Irvin (4-2). Nolan Arenado led off with a single. With one out, shortstop Gunnar Henderson booted a possible double-play grounder by Dylan Carlson. Donovan followed with a two-run double. Donovan took third on the throw home. Catcher James McCann’s tried to throw him out but his throw was wild to Ramón Urías. Donovan dashed home and scored on a head-first slide to give St. Louis a 4-3 lead.

“I’m just trying to hit a ball hard,” Donovan. “I want to have good at-bats with runners in scoring position. … I took the ball off the neck there at third.”

An error in the third inning by third baseman Arenado led to three unearned runs. It was the ninth consecutive game in which the Cardinals have committed an error. Urías led off with a single. Arenado muffed a grounder hit by McCann. Henderson singled home Urías and McCann scored on a fielder’s choice. Anthony Santander’s single scored Henderson.

Masyn Winn extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a two-out double in the fifth inning.

Winn hit his second homer of the season in the seventh off Irvin. St. Louis has homered in a season-high 10 straight games, its longest streak since a 12-game run in 2022.

“They haven’t been swept in a couple of years,” Winn said. “This was something this team needed. To put it all together against a really good team felt great.”

Lynn (2-2) allowed one unearned run on two hits and struck out five while pitching six innings Tuesday night.

“It’s different,” Lynn said about earning the win on a day after he pitched. “Last night, I threw the ball well. I was in a good spot to keep going, but rain said otherwise.”

Andrew Kittredge and JoJo Romero combined to pitch two innings of scoreless relief. Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth to earn his 15th save, tying the Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase for the major league lead.

Jacob Webb (0-3) walked Alec Burleson in the bottom of the sixth, and Gorman blasted his eighth home run of the season off left-handed reliever Keegan Akin to put St. Louis ahead 3-1.

“Big left on left homer there,” Marmol said. “He took a really nice swing to get us up and then our pen did a phenomenal job of finishing that game. JoJo did his job, Kittredge and Helsley closing the door there. It was a really good start yesterday to give us a shot to be in position to win today.”

Kyle Bradish allowed one run on four hits in five innings Tuesday night. He struck out six.

“We had three hits,” Hyde said. “It’s hard to win when you only have three hits.”

ROSTER MOVES

Orioles: Added LHP Nick Vespi from Triple-A Norfolk to serve as the 27th man Wednesday.

Cardinals: Added RHP Chris Roycroft from Triple-A Memphis to serve as the 27th man.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RHP Keynan Middleton (right forearm flexor strain) is scheduled to pitch in consecutive games for Double-A Springfield on Wednesday or Thursday. The Cardinals could activate him from the injured list prior to Friday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs.

UP NEXT

Orioles: RHP Grayson Rodriguez (4-1, 3.15 ERA) faces White Sox RHP Mike Clevinger (0-2, 5.56) on Thursday in the opener of a four-game series at Chicago.

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (3-5, 5.77) faces the visiting Chicago Cubs, who have not named a stater, on Friday.

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