Brewers lose to Orioles, Holliday's first hit helps avoid sweep

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Cedric Mullins #31 of the Baltimore Orioles rounds the bases in front of Willy Adames #27 of the Milwaukee Brewers after hitting a home run during the second inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 14, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Sc

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BALTIMORE - Jackson Holliday delivered his first big league hit in the seventh inning, then scored the tiebreaking run to help the Baltimore Orioles avoid a sweep with a 6-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

Holliday, baseball's top-ranked prospect, struck out in his first two at-bats and was 0 for 13 with nine Ks since his call-up before he came up with the Orioles down 4-3 in the seventh. With a man on first and no outs, Holliday pulled a 99 mph offering from Abner Uribe (1-1) into right field for a single. Then the rookie infielder flashed his speed, barely making it from first to third on Gunnar Henderson's RBI single.

That was an important extra base, because it enabled Holliday to score and put the Orioles up 5-4 when Adley Rutschman bounced into a double play. Colton Cowser went deep the following inning for Baltimore's third solo homer of the day. Holliday stranded two runners that inning with a groundout.

Yennier Cano (2-1) got four outs for the win, although he allowed a solo homer in the seventh by Blake Perkins that put the Brewers up 4-3. Danny Coulombe finished the eighth, and Craig Kimbrel allowed two singles in the ninth but struck out three for his third save.

Baltimore's Corbin Burnes allowed two earned runs in five innings against his former team. The Brewers traded Burnes to the Orioles in the offseason, and William Contreras greeted him with a leadoff homer in the first. Cedric Mullins and Ryan O'Hearn homered for Baltimore.

Milwaukee had tied a franchise record by scoring at least seven runs in six straight games. That included 11 each in two wins in this series. Regression hit hard Sunday, however. Milwaukee went 2 for 17 with runners in scoring position after going 33 for 69 over those previous six games.