Orioles beat Royals, 8-6, to take series as Coby Mayo shows off power

Matt Weyrich, The Baltimore Sun on Apr 22, 2026

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The power has always been there for Coby Mayo. It fully manifested in Kansas City this week.

One day after setting a career high with a 439-foot home run, Mayo went even deeper Wednesday with a three-run, 452-foot blast to help the Baltimore Orioles beat the Royals, 8-6, and clinch a series victory to close out their road trip.

Home runs arrived in bunches for Mayo in the minor leagues, where he developed into a top-100 prospect before making his MLB debut last summer. But while there were moments when that raw power appeared, he never quite put his strength on full display and entered the Orioles’ series with the Royals still looking for his first homer of the season.

It took two swings for Mayo to dismiss any concerns about his power. His two home runs now rank third and fourth in projected distance among all Orioles home runs hit at the Royals’ Kauffman Stadium since Statcast started tracking in 2015, behind only Jonathan Schoop (484 feet in 2015) and Anthony Santander (455 in 2022).

Pete Alonso also launched a two-run home run in the first inning — just the fourth and fifth runs the Orioles have scored in the first all season — and a sixth-inning rally punctuated by Leody Taveras’ RBI single and Jeremiah Jackson’s two-run double helped account for the rest of the offense. The Orioles’ eight runs were one short of their season high.

The Orioles (12-13) needed every bit of it as the Royals hung around. Chris Basitt allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings; he pitched into the sixth for the chance at a quality start, but catcher Carter Jensen took him deep for a solo home run, and he left a runner aboard that Yennier Cano allowed to score on center fielder Kyle Isbel’s long ball later in the frame.

However, the Orioles’ bullpen settled down from there. Tyler Wells took over Cano in the seventh and tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Anthony Nunez recorded his first career save — despite a throwing error from Mayo — with closer Ryan Helsley away from the team for a family matter.

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