Samuel Basallo's late towering blast gives Orioles 5-3 win over Royals

Jake Kauderer, The Baltimore Sun on Jul 10, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — Samuel Basallo stood and watched. Seconds later, he smiled wide, threw his bat and yelled emphatically toward a sea of orange fans behind the Orioles’ dugout.

The designated hitter’s eighth-inning home run, which barely looped inside the right-field foul pole, ignited Camden Yards into a frenzy. The 373-foot blast gave Baltimore a two-run lead that held in a 5-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

The shot marked Basallo’s 15th home run of the season, and third of July. That already matches how many the 21-year-old hit in June. It came after Orioles (44-51) starter Brandon Young surrendered a game-tying home run in the top half of the frame to Royals left fielder Isaac Collins.

Closer Andrew Kittredge secured a three-out save for the second straight game to seal the victory, for his third save of the season.

Baltimore led virtually the entire game. Its middle infielders led a second-inning surge.

Jackson Holliday first singled through the right side of the infield to score Dylan Beavers with two outs, marking his seventh straight at-bat in which he reached base. The second baseman went 4 for 4 on Wednesday and walked twice on Thursday after entering as a pinch-hitter.

Holliday hit just .179 in June, but entered Friday boasting a .308 average in July. That uptick was a stark contrast from his teammate, Gunnar Henderson.

The former All-Star had just three hits across 27 at-bats this month. Many of those were hard-hit outs, like in the first inning on Friday, when Henderson grounded out on a ball with an exit velocity of 99.7 mph. But he broke through in the next frame. The shortstop lined a single into center field to extend Baltimore’s lead to two.

Manager Craig Albernaz called Henderson “mentally tough” pregame, citing how he controls his emotions and remains mentally locked into the game. The 25-year-old came up short of his first multihit game this month, though he made a strong sliding defensive play to turn a double play in the second.

Young, staked to an early lead, surrendered it soon after.

In the fourth inning, Royals right fielder Jac Caglianone hit a 368-foot home run off a Young splitter — the first time a batter homered against that pitch this season.

But in the bottom of the frame, the American League’s top hitter since the start of May delivered to give the Orioles the lead again.

Blaze Alexander blasted a career-long 436-foot home run for his fourth round-tripper of the season and first since June 21. The third baseman’s .353 average since May 1 is the second highest in MLB. It’s the best in the AL.

“Is it hot or just is it normal?” first baseman Pete Alonso said pregame when asked about Alexander’s stretch. “He’s just been a huge boost for us. … The sky’s the limit. He’s really doing an incredible job of capturing his opportunity.”

Baltimore scored three runs off Luis Avila, who struck out three hitters across five innings.

For much of the night, that looked like it would hold. Young set down nine consecutive batters from the fifth through seventh inning.

Instead, Basallo was needed. And he delivered. In a season filled with feelings of lethargy, almost all of Camden Yards was standing by the time the night ended.