BALTIMORE (AP) — Leody Taveras homered and drove in three runs, Samuel Basallo added a solo shot and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 8-2 Sunday for a three-game sweep.
The game was interrupted in the seventh inning when several players from both teams converged around the plate after Kansas City's Lucas Erceg hit Blaze Alexander on the left hand with a pitch. The off-target pitch came immediately after Erceg yielded Basallo's homer to make it 8-2.
Alexander shouted at Erceg, and Orioles manager Craig Albernaz quickly stepped in to restrain Alexander. Players from both dugouts and bullpens approached, but no punches were thrown, no one was shoved and no one was ejected. But Albernaz revealed after the game that Alexander has a nondisplaced fracture of his left hand.
Alexander had two hits and scored twice for the Orioles, who enter the All-Star break with their first four-game winning streak of the season.
Taveras hit a two-run homer in the second inning, a drive estimated at 448 feet. He also singled in the tiebreaking run during a five-run sixth that put Baltimore up 7-2.
Lane Thomas went 3 for 4 with an RBI for the Royals, who were swept for the eighth time this season, most in the majors. Kansas City's fifth straight defeat left the last-place team a season-high 21 games under .500 (38-59).
Baltimore's big sixth inning was fueled by a fly ball that Royals right fielder Jac Caglianone lost in the sun and a balk that forced in a run. Taveras made it 3-2 with an RBI single and Jeremiah Jackson had a pinch-hit RBI double before Taveras scored on a balk by Matt Strahm (3-3).
Orioles starter Shane Baz was lifted after throwing 104 pitches over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out nine and allowed one earned run.
Grant Wolfram (2-2), the second of five Baltimore relievers, got the win.
After the All-Star break, KC resumes play Friday night at home against San Diego. Baltimore follows the break with a matchup Friday night in Houston.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Pickleball Read morePickleball
CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.