Baltimore Orioles' Season-High Win Streak Snapped Against Scorching Red Sox

The Baltimore Orioles opened up their most anticipated series of the season, a three-game set with the Boston Red Sox on Monday, with eyes on upholding their season-long win streak.

In what turned out to be an absolute battle of a ballgame, the Orioles found themselves with a chance to knot the game down to their final out, down by just one run in a 6-5 game.

With two runners in scoring position and two outs, Tyler O’Neill stood at the plate, opposing Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman. O’Neill lined a ball to the left side of the infield that was caught by a leaping Tsung-Che Cheng at shortstop, just inches away from tying or taking the lead in the  game and losing, snapping a seven-game win streak.

Baltimore had entered Monday’s game without a loss in their previous 12 days, with some help from the All-Star break. They knew heading into Boston presented a big challenge, especially considering they are on a historic run of their own. 

With Monday’s win, the Red Sox extended their win-streak to 14 games, the most of any team this season. What makes their run that much more crucial is the lead they narrowly hold of the Orioles in the Wild Card race, who now sit three games back of a spot.

"It was one of those games where whoever was left upright standing was gonna win," manager Craig Albernaz said, according to Orioles on MASN.

Baltimore’s ability to hang against a scorching hot Boston offense was impressive considering a lackluster defensive display nearly held them out of the game. The Orioles recorded a season-high four errors in the loss.

Trailing 3-1 heading into the fifth inning, the Orioles’ bats found some life from their newest hitter, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who launched his first homer with the team. He then contributed a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth just after Jeremiah Jackson tied the game with one of his own.

From that point on, both teams went run for run, with Boston knotting the game at five runs apiece on a Ceddanne Rafaela RBI knock in the seventh inning. 

However, with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Caleb Durbin launched a go-ahead home run off Tyler Wells to put the team ahead, bringing more theatrics to their unimaginable run. The Orioles could not battle back in a game that was in grasp.

"That's a game we could have won, and probably should have,” Jackson said, according to Jake Rill of MLB.com.

After what was a solid start from Shane Baz, the Orioles will now give the ball to ace Kyle Bradish with hopes to turn the page and start another win streak on Tuesday.