Orioles rally to stun Guardians, 6-4, as Jeremiah Jackson does it again

Jacob Calvin Meyer, The Baltimore Sun on Apr 17, 2026

Published in Baseball

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CLEVELAND — The Orioles were nearly no-hit on Thursday. Somehow, the offense looked just as bad on Friday.

Through seven innings, it appeared the Orioles had left their bats back in Baltimore and were still waiting on them to be shipped to Cleveland. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, they came alive in the eighth inning, scoring three runs to pull within one.

Up at the plate with two outs and the game on the line was precisely the hitter the Orioles wanted. No, it wasn’t Taylor Ward or Gunnar Henderson or Pete Alonso. It was Jeremiah Jackson, the ballclub’s hottest hitter, and he came through once again.

Jackson hit a three-run homer over the tall left-field wall at Progressive Field to stamp an exclamation point on Baltimore’s six-run inning and propel the Orioles to a 6-4 comeback win over the Guardians.

The second baseman has homered five times over the past seven games as he’s become an everyday player for the Orioles. His clutch streak began Monday when he homered twice late in the game, including a grand slam, to spearhead the Orioles’ come-from-behind win over the Diamondbacks — all of which followed Jackson hitting a foul line drive that struck manager Craig Albernaz in the face.

Since Jackson’s foul ball hit Albernaz in the face, he is 8 for 18 at the plate with four home runs and 11 RBIs. Jackson gave the ball that struck Albernaz and signed it, “Sorry, homie.”

Jackson, who was one of the Orioles’ best hitters to end last season, fought to earn a spot on the team during spring training and has now earned his way into Baltimore’s everyday second baseman with Jackson Holliday injured. The 26-year-old is hitting .317 with a .923 OPS and five home runs. His 17 RBIs rank tied for third in the American League.

Baltimore (10-10) ended its three-game losing streak with the win to move back to .500.

Orioles starting pitcher Chris Bassitt was shaky to open the game, allowing three of the first four batters he faced to reach base on two walks and a single. Bassitt, the 37-year-old veteran Baltimore signed on the first day of spring training to buttress the rotation, has been shaky to begin his Orioles career.

But he buckled down with the bases loaded to escape the early jam, inducing an infield popup and a soft groundout. Bassitt was sharp over the next four innings to make it through five frames without allowing a run for his best start with Baltimore. However, Bassitt walked two more batters for a total of four and struck out only two. On the season, he has a 6.19 ERA and 11 walks with only seven punchouts in 16 innings.

Bassitt ran into more trouble in the fifth inning after issuing two more walks, but he was assisted by an excellent play in the right-field corner by Colton Cowser, who traveled 113 feet and banged into the wall to catch a foul fly ball.

The Guardians’ offense found its rhythm in the seventh inning against left-hander Grant Wolfram, loading the bases on an error from Jackson, a double and an intentional walk. After Wolfram struck out Kyle Manzardo, Albernaz brought in right-hander Anthony Nunez. The rookie struck out Rhys Hoskins to come one out away from escaping the bases-loaded jam, but Daniel Schneeman clobbered a four-seam fastball over the heart of the plate for a grand slam to give Cleveland (11-10) a 4-0 lead. Before Schneeman’s slam, Orioles relievers had opened the season by stranding a franchise-record 21 inherited runners.

The lead made Guardians manager Stephen Vogt comfortable enough to go to one of his middle relievers, former Oriole Shawn Armstrong, who walked Ward, hit Alonso and walked Dylan Beavers to load the bases. Left-hander Erik Sabrowski entered the game, and pinch-hitter Johnathan Rodríguez hit a sacrifice fly to give Baltimore its first run of the game. Albernaz then pinch hit Weston Wilson, whose error was critical in Wednesday’s loss, for Cowser, and the move worked. Wilson hit a two-run double off the left-field wall to bring the Orioles within one run and set up Jackson for more heroics.

Rico Garcia pitched a scoreless eighth inning, extending his streak of hitless appearances to begin the season to 10, now a franchise record. And closer Ryan Helsley slammed the door in the ninth for his sixth save of the season.