BALTIMORE (AP) — Charlie Morton struck out a season-high 10 in five innings, Ryan O'Hearn and Ramón Laureano hit home runs and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angeles 2-0 on Friday night in a game that was delayed by rain before the start and again in the fifth inning.
Morton (3-7) surrendered two straight singles to begin the fourth, but he struck out LaMonte Wade Jr. on three pitches before two ground balls got him out of the jam. Morton fanned Zach Neto leading off the fifth. He left after rain forced the second delay.
Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz (3-8) used three groundball outs to retire the side in order in the first, but O’Hearn hit his 10th home run on Kochanowicz’s first pitch in the second for a 1-0 lead. Laureano led off the fifth with his eighth homer for the final run. The second delay followed after a one-out single by Ramón Urías.
Yennier Cano, Gregory Soto and Bryan Baker each pitched a scoreless inning for Baltimore before Félix Bautista had the final two of 14 strikeouts by the Orioles in notching his 12th save in 13 chances.
Kochanowicz gave up two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings and the Angels used four relievers to finish.
The Orioles beat the Angels for the 20th time in the last 25 matchups. LA won 2 of 3 against Baltimore on May 9-11.
Key moment
Morton allowed the first two batters to reach in the first inning but came back to strike out Mike Trout and Jorge Soler looking and Logan O’Hoppe on a foul tip to set the game's tone.
Key stat
The Orioles began the day with a staff ERA of 5.00 — second-worst in the AL followed by the Angels at 4.76.
Up next
Angels LHP Tyler Anderson (2-3, 3.99) starts Saturday against Orioles RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4, 3.23).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
The Associated Press