Yastrzemski and Conforto homer to help Giants beat sinking Orioles 5-3

BALTIMORE (AP) — Mike Yastrzemski homered on the game's first pitch, Michael Conforto also hit a solo shot and the San Francisco Giants beat the sinking Baltimore Orioles 5-3 Wednesday night.

Baltimore has lost eight of 10 to fall five games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East with 10 to play. Before their current skid, the Orioles held a half-game lead.

For the second time in two nights, Yastrzemski put the Orioles in an immediate hole with a leadoff homer. On Tuesday, he did it on the second pitch. In this one, he hit Dean Kremer's initial offering into the right-field seats.

“That was pretty cool,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “He came in the dugout and said he had the same approach as he did last night, so I guess you stick with it, right? You don't see that often, two leadoff homers like that.”

Baltimore took a 2-1 lead in the third inning, but the Giants answered with a three-run fourth highlighted by a sequence that exemplified the Orioles' shortcomings of late. With the bases loaded and no outs, Grant McCray hit a tapper in front of the plate. Kremer (7-10) grabbed the ball and flipped it to catcher James McCann in plenty of time for the force play — but McCann's foot was off the plate.

“That hurt,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “The catcher is wearing spikes and he's not really feeling the plate. He came out a half-inch too far.”

Casey Schmitt followed with a two-run single to put San Francisco ahead for good.

“In the big inning I didn't do a good job limiting damage,” Kremer said. “Balls got put in play and a little out of the reach of fielders. It's on me.”

Conforto hit his 17th homer leading off the sixth for a 5-2 lead. That was too much to overcome for the Orioles, who haven't scored more than five runs since Sept. 3.

Down by two in the seventh, Baltimore loaded the bases with two outs for Colton Cowser, who was retired on a flyball.

Baltimore stranded eight and went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Giants rookie Hayden Birdsong (4-5) gave up three runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings to earn his first win in eight starts since July 27.

Ryan Walker, the fourth San Francisco reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his eighth save.

After coming to town with a four-game losing streak, the Giants are primed to sweep a team poised to reach the playoffs.

“They're fighting for a lot, and they're a real good team, too,” Melvin said. “To win the first two here, it's good.”

KIMBREL CUT

The Orioles bid farewell to struggling reliever Craig Kimbrel, designating him for assignment less than 24 hours after he gave up six runs in the ninth inning of a 10-0 loss to the Giants. The nine-time All-Star lost his job as closer in late July and had a 5.33 ERA with six blown saves.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Giants: 3B Matt Chapman was placed on the paternity list, and Schmitt was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.

Orioles: 3B Jordan Westburg (hand) and INF Ramón Urías will begin rehab assignments with Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday.

UP NEXT

San Francisco's Logan Webb (12-10, 3.53 ERA) faces Zach Eflin (10-9, 3.55) in the series finale Thursday afternoon. Eflin is 5-2 with a 2.22 ERA since coming to Baltimore in a July trade with Tampa Bay.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Baltimore Orioles' Jackson Holliday (7) celebrates with Anthony Santander, left, after scoring on a groundout hit in by Cedric Mullins during the third inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Hayden Birdsong delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

San Francisco Giants' Heliot Ramos slides into home base to score in front of Baltimore Orioles catcher James McCann during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Hayden Birdsong delivers during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Baltimore Orioles' Gunnar Henderson (2) reacts after striking out on a foul tip during the third inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

San Francisco Giants' Mike Yastrzemski rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

San Francisco Giants' Michael Conforto (8) and Tyler Fitzgerald, right, celebrate after both scoring on a single hit in by Casey Schmitt during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)