Rivals shine as Orioles experienced great loss and faces disgraceful…

In six scoreless innings, Reynaldo Lopez tied his career high with eight strikeouts, Ozzie Albies had four hits, and the Atlanta Braves held on to defeat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 on Thursday. With a two-run double in the first inning off Baltimore left-hander Cole Irvin (6-3), Marcell Ozuna helped the Braves snap a five-game losing streak and end the Orioles’ six-game winning streak.

With two additional runs in the ninth inning, Atlanta reached 12 hits, its highest total since June 1. In the fourth and sixth innings, the team added another run. In the eighth inning, reliever Pierce Johnson allowed Baltimore’s Kyle Stowers to drive in three runs, cutting the lead to one and casting doubt on Atlanta’s chances of winning its third game of a nine-game road trip.

Following the Braves’ two-run ninth inning, Joe Jimenez worked a scoreless eighth against the top of Baltimore’s order, and Raisel Iglesias recorded his 17th save by getting around a leadoff runner. With double-digit turns in the rotation for the first time since 2019, Lopez (4-2) arguably had the strongest start to his rookie season. He struck out 58 of 91 batters with strikes, retiring 14 in a row at one point.

He gave up two hits on ground balls. In the sixth inning, with two outs, the 30-year-old gave Adley Rutschman his lone walk. But in order to prevent Rutschman from being the first Oriole runner to reach second. After a rocky start, Irvin calmed down, but he gave up extra runs to the Braves on a bloop single to left by Abies and a base hit to the same location by Orlando Arcia. Over 5 2/3 innings, Irvin scored four runs, three of which were earned. base, he then forced Ryan O’Hearn into an inning-ending lineout.