This game had everything but the kitchen sink.
After 10 wild innings between the Orioles and the Philadelphia Phillies, the game entered a rain delay before the start of the 11th. The contest between two of MLB’s best teams was tied 3-3 with the Phillies due up to begin the frame.
Rain started to pour down in Baltimore seconds after Cedric Mullins was ruled safe at home on a wild pitch. He was originally called out to end the game, but replay review showed he was narrowly safe ahead of the tag by Phillies catcher Rafael Marchán. Anthony Santander flied out to end the inning, sending the game to the 11th. Philadelphia won, 5-3, after a two-run double by Alec Bohm in the top half of the inning against reliever Jacob Webb.
The rain delay began at approximately 9:55 p.m. and ended at 11:05 p.m.
A sold-out crowd of an announced 43,987 — a combination of rabid Phillies fans and just-as-loud Orioles fans — repeatedly shook the yard during the game’s most exciting moments, giving it the feel of a playoff contest.
The teams play again Saturday at 4:05 p.m. and Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a home run, bringing the sizable number of Phillies fans to their feet at Camden Yards. Orioles starter Kyle Bradish, who exited at just 74 pitches, allowed just one more run across his five innings, a solo blast to No. 9 hitter Rafael Marchán. It’s unclear why Bradish, who missed the first five weeks of the season with an elbow injury, exited early.
Baltimore’s bats struggled against Phillies starter Ranger Suárez, a National League Cy Young Award candidate and perhaps baseball’s best left-handed pitcher. The Orioles tallied six hits and walked twice off Suárez, but they couldn’t come through with runners in scoring position. They left two runners on in both the fourth and seventh innings without scoring in either frame.
Adley Rutschman’s tear against lefties continued with an RBI single in the third, and Santander cleared the nearly indomitable left field wall for a game-tying solo homer in the eighth.
Closers Craig Kimbrel (Orioles) and José Alvarado (Phillies) both pitched scoreless ninth innings to send the game to extras, during which an automatic runner is placed on second base.
Baltimore’s bullpen nearly escaped the 10th without surrendering a run. Yennier Cano allowed a hit and two base runners but was aided by second baseman Jorge Mateo throwing out Bryson Stott at the plate on a grounder. Southpaw Cionel Pérez entered with the bases loaded and two outs to face the left-handed hitting Schwarber, and the slugger lined a single into right field. Edmundo Sosa scored to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead, but Santander nabbed Johan Rojas trying to score.
Down to the Orioles’ last out, Gunnar Henderson walked to load the bases, and Mullins raced home to score on Orion Kerkering’s wild pitch. It first appeared Mullins was easily going to be out, but he deftly evaded Marchán’s tag. He confidently jumped up to express his displeasure with the original call and waited to see proof he was safe on the video board.
When the umpire announced Mullins was safe, cheers rained down upon Camden Yards, and so did the rain shortly thereafter.
