BALTIMORE — Mike Yastrzemski homered on the game's first pitch, Michael Conforto also hit a solo shot and the San Francisco Giants beat the sinking Baltimore Orioles 5-3 Wednesday night.
Baltimore has lost eight of 10 to fall 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East, pending New York's late matchup with Seattle. Before their current skid, the Orioles held a half-game lead.
For the second time in two nights, Yastrzemski put the Orioles in an immediate hole with a leadoff homer. On Tuesday, he did it on the second pitch. In this one, he hit Dean Kremer's initial offering into the right-field seats.
“That was pretty cool,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “He came in the dugout and said he had the same approach as he did last night, so I guess you stick with it, right? You don't see that often, two leadoff homers like that.”
Baltimore took a 2-1 lead in the third inning, but the Giants answered with a three-run fourth highlighted by a sequence that exemplified the Orioles' shortcomings of late. With the bases loaded and no outs, Grant McCoy hit a tapper in front of the plate. Kremer (7-10) grabbed the ball and flipped it to catcher James McCann in plenty of time for the force play — but McCann's foot was off the plate.
“That hurt,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “The catcher is wearing spikes and he's not really feeling the plate. He came out a half-inch too far.”
Casey Schmitt followed with a two-run single to put San Francisco ahead for good.
“In the big inning I didn't do a good job limiting damage,” Kremer said. “Balls got put in play and a little out of the reach of fielders. It's on me.”
Conforto hit his 17th homer leading off the sixth for a 5-2 lead. That was too much to overcome for the Orioles, who haven't scored more than five runs since Sept. 3.
Down by two in the seventh, Baltimore loaded the bases with two outs for Colton Cowser, who was retired on a flyball.
Baltimore stranded eight and went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
Giants rookie Hayden Birdsong (4-5) gave up three runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings to earn his first win in eight starts since July 27.
Ryan Walker, the fourth San Francisco reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his eighth save.
After coming to town with a four-game losing streak, the Giants are primed to sweep a team poised to reach the playoffs.
“They're fighting for a lot, and they're a real good team, too,” Melvin said. “To win the first two here, it's good.”
KIMBREL CUT
The Orioles bid farewell to struggling reliever Craig Kimbrel, designating him for assignment less than 24 hours after he gave up six runs in the ninth inning of a 10-0 loss to the Giants. The nine-time All-Star lost his job as closer in late July and had a 5.33 ERA with six blown saves.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Giants: 3B Matt Chapman was placed on the paternity list, and Schmitt was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.
Orioles: 3B Jordan Westburg (hand) and INF Ramón Urías will begin rehab assignments with Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday.
UP NEXT
San Francisco's Logan Webb (12-10, 3.53 ERA) faces Zach Eflin (10-9, 3.55) in the series finale Thursday afternoon. Eflin is 5-2 with a 2.22 ERA since coming to Baltimore in a July trade with Tampa Bay.
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