Kansas City Royals vs Baltimore Orioles Box Score on Aug 21, 2019

Jonathan Villar, Anthony Santander, Renato Nunez and Hanser Alberto all homered as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the visiting Kansas City Royals 8-1 on Wednesday night in the rubber game of a three-game series.

Baltimore has won two straight games after dropping eight in a row. Kansas City lost for the fourth time in five games.

The four home runs gave the Orioles seven of their eight runs on the night. Baltimore took an early 3-0 lead and never trailed.

That helped starter Aaron Brooks (3-7) earn his first win with the Orioles. He was 0-4 start since being claimed off waivers from the Oakland A's in early July. Brooks gave up one run and scattered seven hits in five innings Wednesday, working his way out of a few jams. He walked one and struck out four.

Baltimore relievers Paul Fry, Shawn Armstrong and Richard Bleier then blanked the Royals -- keeping them hitless -- over the final four innings.

Royals starter Mike Montgomery (3-6) allowed five runs on eight hits -- including three homers -- in five innings. He struck out three and walked three.

The Orioles took the lead in the second inning when Villar belted a two-run homer. Stevie Wilkerson added an RBI double later in the inning that made it 3-0.

Whit Merrifield hit a solo homer for Kansas City in the third inning, the 258th homer the Orioles have given up this season, tying a major league record set by the 2016 Cincinnati Reds. But Baltimore answered in the fifth as Santander and Nunez hit back-to-back solo homers that made it 5-1.

The home runs came as both players were trying to get out of slumps. Santander had been 2-for-36 when he came up, and Nunez was 1-for-18.

Alberto then broke the game open with a three-run homer off Tim Hill in the sixth. It was the second straight night Alberto hit a three-run blast, as his eighth-inning shot Tuesday gave the Orioles a 4-1 win.

This time, Baltimore took an 8-1 lead.

--Field Level Media