There was a glaring lack of contact from Baltimore Orioles’ hitters on Saturday.

The Orioles had four hits — two of them homers — while striking out a stunning 16 times.

Baltimore will look to have their bats smack the ball more often in Sunday’s finale of a four-game series against the host Cleveland Guardians.

The Guardians have won two of the first three games, including Saturday’s 4-2 victory when right-hander Gavin Williams dominated the Orioles.

Williams struck out 11 in seven innings and allowed one run, three hits and one walk. He leads the majors with 40 strikeouts.

“That’s not the biggest goal for me,” Williams said of the strikeouts. “I’m just trying to help the team win games. It’s cool, but I don’t think it’s necessary to have to punch that many people out. I’m just trying to win games.”

Meanwhile, Baltimore’s Pete Alonso and Colton Cowser struck out in all four at-bats and Dylan Beavers fanned three times on Saturday.

That breeze inside the ballpark wasn’t necessarily coming from the nearby lake.

Orioles manager Craig Albernaz pointed to Williams’ dominance as the reason for Alonso and Cowser’s difficulties.

“They couldn’t see the breaking ball early enough to either make an adjustment or hold off on it,” Albernaz said.

Alonzo was the club’s marquee offseason acquisition and signed a five-year, $155 million contract. But so far, he has fizzled with a .208 average, two homers and eight RBIs to go with 26 strikeouts in 78 at-bats.

Cowser has yet to go deep and is batting .178 with 16 strikeouts in 45 at-bats. The fifth overall pick in the 2021 draft continues to struggle with big-league pitching.

“Colton, he’s our guy, and he has to figure it out how he wants to approach guys and what he’s trying to feel,” Albernaz said. “But with Colton at the plate, he’s dangerous. He’s a guy where, if he’s not feeling great, he can still get one pitch and do damage on, and that’s something where we feel very confident in.”

Leody Taveras and Gunnar Henderson hit the homers for Baltimore’s runs.

All of Cleveland’s runs also came on homers on Saturday. Brayan Rocchio smacked a three-run homer and Bo Naylor hit a solo blast.

Rocchio said a more patient approach is paying off for him. He has three homers in 63 at-bats after having five in 344 at-bats in 2025.

“That’s impressive for me, too,” Rocchio said. “Last year, I was struggling at hitting. Now I’m able to help the team with my at-bats and to see more pitches is pretty cool.”

Left-hander Joey Cantillo (1-0, 2.61 ERA) will start the finale for the Guardians.

Cantillo, 26, received a no-decision against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday when he gave up two runs and five hits over six innings. Both runs came on solo homers.

Cantillo is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in four appearances (two starts) against Baltimore. Cowser is 2-for-4 with one strikeout against Cantillo.

Left-hander Trevor Rogers (2-1, 3.04) will take the mound for Baltimore.

Rogers, 28, was roughed up by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday and took the loss. He gave up four runs and nine hits over 4 2/3 innings.

Rogers is 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in two career starts against the Guardians. Rhys Hoskins is 9-for-21 (.429) with four homers off Rogers while David Fry (1-for-4) also has taken him deep.

–Field Level Media

The injuries continue to add up for the Houston Astros, who lost outfielder Joey Loperfido to right quad tightness on Friday. He was unavailable for the Astros’ 7-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

Loperfido underwent an MRI on Saturday and likely will be placed on the injured list, manager Joe Espada said. Houston, needing a victory on Sunday to avert a three-game series sweep, claimed outfielder Dustin Harris off waivers from the Chicago White Sox on Saturday in a move unrelated to the Loperfido injury.

Harris slashed .224/.318/.414 across 27 games with the Texas Rangers (2024-25) and White Sox (2026). The Astros, who have lost three straight overall, entered the weekend with outfielders Jake Meyers (right oblique strain) and Zach Dezenzo (right elbow sprain) on the 10-day injured list.

“Our reports have him pretty good in the (outfield) corners,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of Harris. “Left-handed bat. There’s some speed in there that we like. So the plan is to primarily stay in the corners, so once he gets here, we’ll get him in there.

“We like the player. We would like to have him in the organization.”

Right-hander Mike Burrows (1-3, 6.55 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale for Houston.

Burrows has allowed 33 hits, tied for the most in the majors, while tied for the most earned runs (16) and homers (five) surrendered in the American League. He logged a season-best six innings in a 6-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Monday but allowed 11 hits and six earned runs, both season highs.

Burrows will make his first career appearance against the Cardinals.

Left-hander Matthew Liberatore (0-1, 4.29) has the starting assignment for the Cardinals.

Liberatore earned his first decision this season in his previous start, allowing four runs on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts over five innings in a 9-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Monday. He posted a 3.38 ERA in his first three starts without a decision. The Cardinals won each game.

Liberatore has faced one batter in his career against the Astros, recording an out in the Cardinals’ 8-5 road loss on June 4, 2024.

St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol has lauded the early-season commitment to detail from his club, one purportedly entering a rebuilding phase this season. The Cardinals set the stage for a series sweep on Sunday by combining resourceful starting pitching with an egalitarian approach to offense, with contributors up and down the lineup playing a role in the first two series wins.

Starting pitchers Kyle Leahy and Andre Pallante combined to allow four runs over 10 innings in wins on Friday and Saturday. After four different Cardinals recorded RBIs in the series opener, three Cardinals homered on Saturday to help carry the offense, including Masyn Winn and Jose Fermin going deep for the first time this season.

A collective effort yielded a pair of interleague wins this series. Marmol wants more of the same.

“We’ve just got to stay head down and continue to work on the things that we’re working on,” Marmol said. “Stay downhill. These guys have done a nice job this road trip, so we need to continue that (Sunday).”

–Field Level Media

The Cincinnati Reds will look for their second series sweep of the season when they play the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Cincinnati’s scheduled starting pitcher, Brady Singer (1-1, 5.60 ERA), earned his first win of the season on Tuesday. The right-hander scattered six hits, gave up one run and struck out one in a 2-1 home victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Though Singer was struck with a comebacker to his right foot in the sixth inning, he finished the frame. X-rays came back negative.

“I’m glad the X-rays came back good,” Singer said. “It caught me square in the foot. But I’m good for the next (start).”

Both of the Reds’ wins over the Twins in this three-game series have been by one run — 2-1 in the opener on Friday and 5-4 after a comeback on Saturday.

Cincinnati swept three games at the Texas Rangers from April 3-5.

Singer said after his last start that the Reds’ bullpen was a difference maker. Cincinnati relievers have not allowed a run in a combined eight innings while posting 11 strikeouts against the Twins.

“They are incredible,” Singer said. “They’ve been huge for us all year long and are going to carry us the rest of the way, too. It’s great to see what they are doing.”

Singer has struggled over 13 career starts against the Twins. He’s 3-7 with a 5.63 ERA and 73 strikeouts.

Bailey Ober (2-0, 5.49 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Twins on Sunday. The right-hander picked up the win in his last start on Monday, when he allowed seven hits, four runs and one walk with seven strikeouts in six innings in a 13-6 decision over the visiting Boston Red Sox.

In four career starts against the Reds, Ober is 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA, 16 strikeouts and seven walks over 21 2/3 innings.

The Twins are 3-0 when Ober pitches at home this season.

After the Minnesota offense sputtered on Friday, the Twins shook up their lineup. Josh Bell moved into the No. 3 hole and Luke Keaschall slid down to the five spot. The move paid immediate dividends as Minnesota took a 2-0 first-inning lead.

Bell and Keaschall each collected two hits in the game, and Austin Martin scored two runs and secured a catch as he ran into the right-field wall. Martin is the right-handed-hitting complement in a right-field platoon with left-handed-hitting Trevor Larnach, who started in left on Saturday.

Martin has a .295 batting average, one home run and four RBIs this season while mostly hitting second when he is in the Twins’ lineup.

“He’s having really consistent at-bats,” manager Derek Shelton said. “It’s the rare opportunity for a guy in a platoon that we are seeing this many left-handers.

“Since spring training, he’s had a high quantity of at-bats and has been very impressive,” Shelton continued. “There’s no urgency in his at-bats, and I mean that in a really good way. He’s taking what’s coming to him, whether it’s taking a walk or being aggressive early in counts.”

Shelton said the team hopes to get Royce Lewis back from the 10-day injured list soon. The Twins’ third baseman has been sidelined by a left knee strain and started his rehab assignment on Saturday with Triple-A St. Paul.

“We thought all along that this (injury) was right at the minimum amount of time or close to it,” Shelton said. “His progression has gone extremely well. He’s done all on-field activities, hit on the field and took ground balls with the group. Now it’s on to the next step.”

–Field Level Media