ATLANTA -- Ramón Laureano was eager to help the Orioles win as quickly as possible once Saturday’s game vs. the Braves went to extra innings. As it turns out, the 30-year-old outfielder has become an advocate for the automatic-runner rule implemented for regular-season games since 2020 -- and not for any reason fans may think.
“You get home quicker, you eat quicker, because I’m hungry this whole time,” said a smiling Laureano. “It’s totally the best rule right now.”
Before Laureano could dig into his postgame meal in the visitors’ clubhouse at Truist Park, he had to ensure Baltimore would emerge victorious.
And Laureano did exactly that, smacking a go-ahead RBI double to spark a three-run rally in the 10th and helping lift the O’s to a 9-6 victory over the Braves. Laureano plated Jordan Westburg (the automatic runner to open the 10th), then Jacob Stallings padded the lead with a two-run double to put the game away.
The Orioles (39-49) have won the first two games of the series in Atlanta and will go for a sweep on Sunday.
While Laureano expressed his support of automatic runners, interim manager Tony Mansolino was part of a different campaign. Mansolino was asked earlier in the day which of his players he thinks should join Ryan O’Hearn in the upcoming All-Star Game, and he expressed his reasoning for why he believes Laureano should be considered.
“Let’s look at his numbers here,” Mansolino said.
Let’s do that. Laureano is hitting .273 with 14 doubles, 10 home runs, 28 RBIs and an .851 OPS over 61 games during his first season in Baltimore, which signed the veteran corner outfielder to a one-year deal worth $4 million in February.
Entering Saturday, only four American League outfielders had a bWAR of 2.0 or better and an OPS of .850 or higher this season -- the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, the Tigers’ Riley Greene, the Twins’ Byron Buxton and Laureano.
Judge and Greene were voted into the All-Star Game as starters. Buxton is likely to be selected as a reserve when the full rosters are announced Sunday (5 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Perhaps that trio should be joined by Laureano, who has unexpectedly been one of the top players for an Orioles team that has been plagued by bad health luck all season.
“As he’s gotten a run here because of the injuries, he’s kind of reverted back to the everyday Ramón Laureano that was such an impact player in Oakland [from 2018-23],” Mansolino said. “Excited about him, and definitely a guy that should be getting some more run than probably what he is getting.”
Those words meant a lot to Laureano, who has never previously been an All-Star.
“It’s awesome that Tony is supporting me in that. I love that guy to death,” Laureano said. “At the end of the day, I control what I can, just play the game. At the same time, I don’t really think too much about it. I’m just glad to be playing this game, playing with a good group of guys and continuing to do the thing that I love -- that is just playing baseball hard.”
Laureano got plenty of help from his offensive teammates in Saturday’s back-and-forth contest.
The O’s hit a Statcast-projected 1,332 feet worth of home runs across the third and fourth innings. In the third, Westburg clobbered a 461-foot homer that marked the longest of his MLB career, and Tyler O’Neill added a 445-foot blast.
Westburg and O’Neill both returned to Baltimore’s lineup on Friday. Westburg missed the previous five games after reaggravating his left index finger sprain, while O’Neill had been out for more than month due to a left shoulder impingement. Both right-handed hitters have quickly made a positive impact.
Colton Cowser swatted a go-ahead two-run homer in the fourth that traveled 426 feet. But after the Braves later went back ahead, Jackson Holliday knocked a game-tying RBI single in the seventh that helped get the game to extras.
The most surprising contributor was Stallings, who entered the game in the fifth after catcher Gary Sánchez exited with right knee pain. Stallings signed a Minor League deal on June 24 for extra depth, then got called up when Chadwick Tromp (lower back tightness) became the third O’s catcher to hit the injured list on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old Stallings’ first Orioles hit came in a big spot to seal the 10-inning victory.
“It felt really good,” Stallings said. “Getting the big hit for the team is always nice, and to do it early on at a new place is nice as well. We’re still within striking distance of this thing, so to help the team win is fun.”