Kjerstad belts first house run as Baltimore romps

BALTIMORE — Corbin Burnes scattered nine hits over seven innings, rookie Heston Kjerstad hit his first home run of the season and drove in three runs as the Baltimore Orioles pummeled the struggling Texas Rangers 11-2 on Thursday night.

Cedric Mullins, Adley Rutschman and Colton Cowser also went deep for the Orioles, who built an 8-1 lead in the fourth inning against Jon Gray (3-4) and coasted to their second consecutive victory following a five-game skid.

Adolis Garcia homered for the defending World Series champion Rangers, who have lost four in a row to fall seven games below .500 (37-44). Texas has dropped seven consecutive road games and eight successive road series openers.

This four-game series that concludes Sunday is a rematch of the 2023 American League division series, in which the Rangers pulled off a three-game sweep. Although Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde conceded that a regular-season series in June isn’t quite the same as the playoffs, he acknowledged that “those three losses stayed with us for a while.”

The Orioles appear on course to return to the playoffs, having reached the midway point of the season at 51-30. This game showcased their most notable strength: power. Kjerstad (Arkansas Razorbacks) hit a two-run drive to deep center in the third to make it 6-1, Mullins connected for the second time in two nights for an 8-1 lead and Rutschman added a home run in the seventh against Jonathan Hernandez.

Cowser finished the long-ball party with a drive off Brock Burke in the eighth.

Baltimore hit 57 home runs this month, a franchise record for June, breaking the mark of 56 by the 2016 club.

Burnes (9-3) lowered his ERA to 2.28 in matching his longest outing of the year. The right-hander gave up one run, walked none and struck out five.

Obtained in an offseason trade with Milwaukee, Burnes wasn’t a part of the Baltimore team that last year won the AL East before falling flat against Texas in the postseason. The 2021 Cy Young winner is clearly the ace of the rotation, especially after the Orioles lost John Means and Kyle Bradish to season-ending arm injuries.

Gray (3-4) yielded 8 runs and 9 hits in 5 innings. The ineffective outing came two starts after he allowed nine runs in three innings against the Mets.

BLUE JAYS 9, YANKEES 2 George Springer had three hits, including a pair of three-run home runs, Jose Berrios (7-6) pitched seven strong innings and Toronto beat the slumping Yankees, handing New York its season-worst fourth consecutive loss and ninth in 11 games. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added a home run, his 11th, as Toronto won its second in a row after losing the previous seven.

ROYALS 2, GUARDIANS 1 Kyle Isbel and Maikel Garcia hit back-to-back triples to start a sixth-inning rally, and Vinnie Pasquantino delivered the go-ahead sacrifice fly that sent Kansas City to a win over Cleveland.

ANGELS 5, TIGERS 0 Luis Rengifo hit a two-run home run for Los Angeles as part of a three-run fifth inning that helped the Angels beat Detroit. Miguel Sano and Willie Calhoun added solo home runs for Los Angeles and Nolan Schanuel had an RBI single.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

CUBS 5, GIANTS 3 (10) Ian Happ homered in the 10th inning, Nico Hoerner had three hits and also went deep, and the Chicago Cubs snapped a four-game skid with a win over San Francisco. Happ homered to center off Luke Jackson (4-2) with automatic runner Cody Bellinger on base.

MARLINS 7, PHILLIES 4 Bryce Harper limped off the field with an apparent hamstring injury after making the final out for Philadelphia in their loss to Miami. Hustling down the line as he tried to beat out a grounder to the right side, Harper reached for his left hamstring after crossing first base and hobbled toward the dugout. Earlier in the day, the slugger was elected by fans to start at first base for the National League in the July 16 All-Star Game at Texas.

REDS 11, CARDINALS 4 Jonathan India had two hits to extend his hitting streak to nine games, Spencer Steer homered and Cincinnati beat St. Louis. India had his sixth consecutive multi-hit game. He had reached safely in 11 consecutive at-bats before finally being retired Wednesday.

INTERLEAGUE

TWINS 13, DIAMONDBACKS 6 Byron Buxton had a three-run home run among his three hits and Minnesota beat Arizona. Twins shortstop Carlos Correa left the game in the seventh inning after being hit by a pitch on the right wrist by Bryce Jarvis. X-rays were negative and the team listed him as day-to-day.

WHITE SOX 1, BRAVES 0 Luis Robert Jr. homered in the first inning and five Chicago pitchers combined on a three-hitter as the White Sox beat Chris Sale and Atlanta. Sale (10-3) struck out a season-high 11 in seven innings against his original team. The 35-year-old lefty allowed four hits and walked one in a fourth consecutive solid start. He was touched up only when Robert connected on a low-inside slider for his eighth home run.