Home runs doom Baltimore Orioles in 10-3 loss to Cleveland
BALTIMORE -- Anthony Santander hit his 32nd home run of the season, but the Baltimore Orioles opened their road trip with a 10-3 loss on Thursday at the Cleveland Guardians.
David Fry hit a three-run homer, José Ramírez had a two-run shot for Cleveland in a matchup of two of the AL's division leaders.
Bo Naylor added a three-run blast as the Guardians outhomered the Orioles, who lead the majors with 172 homers.
Fry homered in the third off Trevor Rogers (2-10), who went 4 1/3 innings in his debut for the Orioles after being acquired in a trade Tuesday from Miami. The left-hander allowed five runs and six hits.
Ramírez hit his 28th homer in the seventh, giving him homers in three straight games for the first time since 2021.
Naylor's eighth homer capped a five-run seventh when the Guardians blew it open.
Ben Lively (10-6) gave up two runs and four hits in six innings to become Cleveland's first 10-game winner. He's the first Guardians pitcher to reach 10 wins in his first 19 games with the club since Shane Bieber in 2018.
It was the first of four straight games between the Orioles and Guardians, who could see each other again in the postseason. Baltimore began its longest trip this season, an 11-day, 10-game swing through Cleveland, Toronto and Tampa Bay.
Lane Thomas doubled twice in his home debut for the Guardians after coming over in a trade from Washington this week.
Santander hit a home run in the fourth inning for Baltimore, which got just five hits.
Fry connected for his ninth homer — and first since May 31 — to give the Guardians a 5-1 lead.
Ramírez doubled with two outs in the third and Josh Naylor walked before Fry crushed a 3-2 pitch from Rogers 407 feet into the left-field bleachers.
Santander got a run back in the fourth with his sixth homer in 12 games, a 416-footer.
But the Guardians extended their lead to 7-2 when Thomas doubled in the seventh and Ramírez followed with his homer. The All-Star third baseman has 108 career games with at least two extra-base hits, behind only Earl Averill (135) and Tris Speaker (109) in club history.
After Steven Kwan led off Cleveland's first with a single, Thomas roped a double to extend his on-base streak to 27 games.
Rogers took the mound with a 1-0 lead after Gunnar Henderson's double brought in Colton Cowser, who doubled leading off to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.
Backed Up
Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee will have his scheduled start Saturday pushed back at least a couple days due to shoulder tightness.
Bibee, who is 9-4 in his second season with Cleveland, allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings at Detroit on Monday. Manager Stephen Vogt said Bibee's shoulder stiffened following the outing.
"We just want to make sure that we're being smart," said Vogt, who didn't reveal Bibee's issue until the end of his media availability.
Rookie left-hander Joey Cantillo will start in Bibee's spot against Baltimore's Zach Eflin.
Trainer's Room
Guardians: Newly acquired RHP Alex Cobb will make a rehab start for Triple-A Columbus on Saturday. Cobb, who came over in a deadline trade from San Francisco, hasn't pitched in the majors this season following hip surgery last October. He was set to rejoin the Giants' rotation last week before developing a finger blister.
Up Next
Guardians RHP Carlos Carrasco (3-9, 5.68 ERA) was set to start Friday against Orioles RHP Dean Kremer (4-7, 4.20).