Samuel Basallo hit a two-run tiebreaking home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the host Baltimore Orioles to a 5-3 victory against the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a three-game series Friday night.

Blaze Alexander homered in the fourth inning and was the only Oriole with two hits as they totaled nine. Baltimore has won back-to-back games following a three-game losing streak.

Pete Alonso greeted Royals reliever Matt Strahm to begin the eighth with a single and Basallo followed with his 15th homer of the season on a 2-2 slider.

Right-hander Rico Garcia (4-1) notched the victory with one inning of relief, though Baltimore starter Brandon Young did much of the heavy lifting by working seven-plus innings. Andrew Kittredge posted his third save — and second in as many days — by pitching the ninth despite giving up Michael Massey’s one-out double.

Jac Caglianone and Isaac Collins homered for the Royals, who lost their third game in a row and for the seventh time in their last 10 games. Josh Rojas joined Caglianone and Collins with two hits apiece as Kansas City totaled nine.

Royals starter Luinder Avila gave up three runs on seven hits in five innings with three walks and three strikeouts. Left-hander Strahm (3-2), the third Kansas City reliever, took the loss.

Young allowed three runs on eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

The Orioles scored first on back-to-back run-scoring singles by Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson in the second inning.

Caglianone led off the fourth with his 15th home run of the season. The Royals pulled even later in the inning on Rojas’ two-out double.

Baltimore regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth on Alexander’s one-out solo homer. Alexander’s fourth long ball of the season was his first since June 21 and just his second extra-base hit since that date.

Collins’ fifth homer of the year tied the score again leading off the eighth.

The Orioles left six runners on base, all through the opening five innings.

–Field Level Media

Tampa Bay starter Nick Martinez posted his eighth win on the day he was named to his first All-Star team, and the Rays opened the final series before the break with a 7-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The 35-year-old right-hander replaced injured Boston Red Sox pitcher Ranger Suarez on the American League squad for Tuesday’s game, then went out and tossed 5 1/3 innings, yielding two runs on four hits. Martinez (8-2) fanned one and walked one.

Junior Caminero went 2-for-4 with a homer — his 28th of the year and 13th in 17 games — a double, two RBIs, two runs and a walk.

Victor Mesa Jr. (homer), Jonathan Aranda (double) and Chandler Simpson had three hits apiece, while Richie Palacios and Cedric Mullins each went deep.

Cole Young hit a home run, and J.P. Crawford was 2-for-4 with a run as Seattle lost its fourth straight.

Starter Luis Castillo (3-8) allowed four runs on nine hits over five innings. He struck out four with one walk.

After leaving four men on base in the first two frames, the home side cashed in after Caminero lashed a double into the left field corner. Following his advancing to third, Simpson grounded a single through Castillo’s legs and off the second base bag to make it 1-0.

Tampa Bay shortstop Taylor Walls saved a run in the fourth after Crawford’s leadoff double. With one out, Walls made a diving snag of Dominic Canzone’s grounder at the edge of the outfield and tossed him out, preventing Crawford from scoring. Martinez then whiffed Cal Raleigh.

Palacios jumped on a 94 mph four-seam fastball from Castillo in the bottom of the fourth, belting it out to right for his third homer to double the lead.

However, Young ripped his 11th shot on a 1-2 changeup well below the zone to make it 2-1 in the fifth.

Mullins continued the home run barrage by swatting Castillo’s slider to right for his 11th long ball, and Mesa tagged another slider to right for a 4-1 advantage.

After Canzone’s RBI fielder’s choice cut it to 4-2 in the sixth, Tampa Bay scored three times on Caminero’s two-run slice shot down the right field line and Walls’ sacrifice fly.

–Field Level Media

Parker Messick took a no-hit-bid into the sixth inning, and Chase DeLauter slugged a two-run homer as the Guardians cooled off the host Miami Marlins 3-2 on Friday night.

All-Star closer Cade Smith pitched a scoreless ninth, earning his major-league-best 28th save. It was the third time in three days that Smith pitched.

It was also DeLauter’s 10th homer of the season — one less than team leader Angel Martinez, who hasn’t played since June 13 because of a foot injury.

Messick (8-5) lasted six innings, allowing one hit, four walks and one run. The left-hander struck out just one batter, but he got 10 groundouts.

DeLauter and Messick are both rookies.

Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara, who had won seven straight starts, took the loss. Alcantara (10-5) allowed five hits, zero walks and three runs while fanning eight in seven innings.

Miami, which had its six-game win streak snapped, got a homer from Heriberto Hernandez to break up the no-hit bid. It was Hernandez’s 13th homer of the season and his fifth in his past seven games. Leo Jimenez also went deep.

Cleveland opened the scoring in the fourth inning as Brayan Rocchio singled and scored on DeLauter’s 430-foot homer to right-center on a 97-mph fastball.

The Guardians extended their lead to 3-0 in the fifth as Austin Hedges and Steven Kwan singled, and Travis Bazzana lofted a sacrifice fly.

The Marlins broke up the no-hit bid with one out in the sixth as Hernandez pulled a 2-0 curve over the left field fence, cutting Miami’s deficit to 3-1. The pitch was in the middle of the plate, and Hernandez slugged it 380 feet to left.

Miami made it 3-2 in the seventh as Jimenez blasted a 1-0 fastball 407 feet for a homer. Later in the inning, Miami had runners on second and third with one out. But reliever Colin Holderman struck out Joe Mack on a ninth-pitch sweeper and got Otto Lopez on a groundout.

Hernandez nearly went deep again in the eighth, but his drive was caught on the warning track by center fielder Kahlil Watson, and the Marlins went down 1-2-3 in the ninth.

–Field Level Media