Orioles

The Orioles got their hands dirty with a benches-clearing incident in the fourth inning of what was an otherwise clean 4-2 win over the White Sox on Saturday, clinching just their fourth series victory of the season and putting them in position to earn their first sweep.

Jackson Holliday put the Orioles (21-36) ahead with a leadoff home run, Dean Kremer worked six impressive innings of one-run ball and the rest of the offense tacked on enough insurance runs for the bullpen to close out the lowly White Sox (18-40). Baltimore has won six of its past 10 games for the club’s best 10-game stretch at any point this season.

“I’d like to think so,” Kremer said of whether the team has stabilized. “Guys are starting to get comfortable in their positions. I think there’s been less platooning or, it’s consistently the same guys in the lineup, I guess. Guys are getting their reps in. I think for everybody, not just for position players but for pitchers, as well, getting in there more often than not is easier to get into a rhythm and I feel like guys are starting to hit their stride.”

Coby Mayo was the source of the on-field scrum, collecting his first career RBI with a single that scored Ryan O’Hearn before getting into a rundown and colliding with White Sox second baseman Lenyn Sosa with his arms outstretched in an apparent effort to draw an interference call. Mayo and Sosa exchanged words and shoves to prompt both benches and bullpens to empty, though the situation quickly deescalated and no one was ejected from the game.

“The guys always have your back,” Mayo said of his teammates spilling out of the dugout. “I think everyone in here will fight for one another — not literally, but, you know, everyone has each other’s back. I think that’s just what happened. Looking out for teammates, and we’ll do the same thing for them.”

Holliday’s blast, the first career leadoff home run for the 21-year-old, coupled with Mayo’s run-scoring single provided Kremer with all the run support he would need to put himself in line for the win. The right-hander scattered six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts, feeding the White Sox a balanced diet as he used all six of the pitches in his arsenal.

It wasn’t until the fifth inning when Chicago finally managed to scrape a run across with an RBI single by designated hitter Andrew Benintendi, but Kremer went back out for the fifth to finish off the quality start with a season-high pitch count of 102.

“If you ask Dean, he’ll probably say that he should have had that pitch count in the seventh or eighth inning, but, nonetheless, to me, he threw the ball great,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “We need to throw up zeros right now with where everything’s at. There’s a lot of pressure on the pitchers to throw up zeros. They feel it. They want to win these games. They kind of understand where we’re at with the offense and guys not being here right now.”

The Orioles’ offense responded in the bottom half of the frame as well when center fielder Jorge Mateo crushed a two-run home run for his first long ball of the year. Mateo, who also walked twice and stole two bases in the game, was shaken up after another collision occurred between him and Heston Kjerstad on a fly ball in right field.

Kjerstad made the play but their left arms got tangled up, causing Mateo to drop his glove and get an extended meeting with a trainer. Though Mateo underwent season-ending surgery on his left elbow last season and appeared to be in some pain, he remained in the game until being replaced by recent addition Jordyn Adams in the ninth inning and said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones that he was all right.

“It was an uncomfortable moment, just because I went through it,” Mateo said, referring to his injury rehabilitation that sidelined him through spring training this year. “But thankfully I’m doing good right now.”

The White Sox trimmed the Orioles’ lead to two runs with an RBI single by right fielder Mike Tauchman off Yennier Cano, but their offense stalled from there as Keegan Akin, Seranthony Domínguez and Félix Bautista combined to 2 2/3 scoreless frames.

Bautista, who has struggled lately, pitched for the second straight day after throwing 29 pitches Friday for just his second back-to-back outings since returning from Tommy John elbow surgery. He worked around a pair of walks to convert his 10th save of the season, tied for the eighth most in the American League.

“I thought it was a big step for him that, after 29 pitches, to kind of come back out,” Mansolino said. “This was his second back-to-back in I think a span of probably 10 days. So, I think these are important steps for him to kind of get back to the consistency that we’re looking for and the guy that we want.”

Postgame analysis: Over their past 10 games, the Orioles’ starting pitchers have delivered eight starts with three or fewer runs allowed.

It hasn’t always been pretty, and the two exceptions — five-run outings by Cade Povich and Zach Eflin — both resulted in losses, but the rotation has been perhaps the biggest driver behind the club’s ongoing 6-4 stretch.

Kremer put up 2.72 ERA in May, Tomoyuki Sugano remained a stabilizing force, Eflin dominated the White Sox on Friday and Charlie Morton put together his best and longest start of the year Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Trevor Rogers was brilliant in his spot start May 24 and could be an option for the club in the coming weeks. Rogers allowed just two runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings Saturday with Triple-A Norfolk.

Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, Albert Suárez and Tyler Wells are all still a ways away from returning from their respective injuries, but the Orioles finally have a group of starters putting them in position to win games on a nightly basis.

What they’re saying: Mansolino on Holliday’s success out of the leadoff spot this season:

“He’s doing great, and I told him when I took over the seat, I said, ‘J, you’re going to play every day, right or left. We’ll give you a blow when we need to give you a blow, essentially. It might be against a righty, if you need one. It might not just be a lefty. In terms of hitting leadoff, you’re going to be in there for the time being.’

“We’ll see where it goes. We’ve got a lot of good players coming back. You look at the bottom line on the kid right now, it’s pretty impressive. So, he’s done well in the spot and everybody knows who he is. That’s for sure.”

By the numbers: O’Hearn went 1-for-4 with a double to extend his active hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 17, both career highs. He’s hitting .475 (19-for-40) with five extra-base hits and seven RBIs during the former, which is tied for the third-longest hitting streak of the season by an Orioles hitter behind Ramón Urías (11). and Ryan Mountcastle (12), who was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a right hamstring strain.

Roster move: Cionel Pérez is back. The left-hander cleared outright waivers Saturday and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. The 29-year-old was designated for assignment to create space in the bullpen last week after posting an 8.31 ERA in 21 2/3 innings this season, but he cleared waivers and returned to the organization. In his career with the Orioles, Pérez has recorded a 3.72 ERA in 186 1/3 innings.

On deck: The Orioles have won the series and will look to complete their first sweep of the year Sunday when Morton takes the ball hoping to build off a promising quality start his last time out. The veteran right-hander will have to outduel White Sox right-hander Adrian Houser, who has yet to allow a run two starts into his campaign.

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