Orioles lose to Royals, 6-5, on walk-off wild pitch by Ryan Helsley

Matt Weyrich, The Baltimore Sun on Apr 21, 2026

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rico Garcia had been perfect. Ryan Helsley had been nearly as dominant.

That came to a screeching halt in the worst possible way on Tuesday.

Garcia surrendered a game-tying home run to Kansas City Royals second baseman Michael Massey in the eighth inning, and third baseman Maikel Garcia scored on a wild pitch by Helsley to walk off the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5. It was a pair of rare missteps for a bullpen that had been one of the Orioles’ biggest strengths to date.

Coby Mayo launched a three-run home run in the second inning, and Adley Rutschman hit a go-ahead, two-run blast in the eighth, but it wasn’t enough as the Royals had their turn at a dramatic, late-inning comeback following the Orioles’ 7-5 win in extra innings Monday.

Baltimore (11-13) suffered its sixth loss in its past eight games while Kansas City (8-16) broke up an eight-game losing streak to send the series to a rubber match on Wednesday afternoon.

Shane Baz was perhaps the best the Orioles have seen him, losing out on a quality start only after the Royals scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in the seventh. The right-hander finished with four runs allowed on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks over 6 1/3 innings. He worked efficiently despite shaky fastball command, though he did give up some loud contact, including five doubles.

The Royals needed a comeback after Mayo’s monster blast, a 439-foot homer to left field off starter Kris Bubic that registered a 114.2 mph exit velocity. The long ball was Mayo’s first of the season, and both the Statcast-projected distance and exit velocity set career highs for the former top prospect, who was making his first start of the season at first base with Pete Alonso starting at designated hitter and Ryan Mountcastle on the injured list.

Kansas City chipped away, first on a sacrifice fly — only enabled by a wild pitch — off the bat of second baseman Michael Massey in the second and later in the fifth, when Garcia drove in center fielder Kyle Isbel with an RBI single before scoring on a fly ball by first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. Isbel got a second chance in his at-bat when Mayo missed a pop-up in foul territory, and he took advantage with a double.

Baz finally gave up the lead in the seventh. The Orioles’ bullpen was taxed after covering 6 2/3 in their extra-innings victory Monday, and Baz went back out for another inning at 84 pitches. He put runners on the corners with no outs for Witt to start the frame, and manager Craig Albernaz went out for a mound visit but left his starter in the game. Witt then hit a 1-1 fastball over the heart of the plate into right field to bring the go-ahead run home.

The Orioles responded with two runs of their own on Rutschman’s homer, his first of the season in his return from the injured list, but Massey tied the game back up in the bottom half of the frame before Garcia sent an exasperated Kauffman Stadium crowd home with some long-awaited relief.

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