The second pitch thrown by Roansy Contreras with the Orioles drilled Alex Bregman in the middle of the back. Bregman winced and bent forward as the Red Sox’s athletic trainer rushed onto the field. Contreras had followed an opener and raised a welt.

Contreras was a pain to the Red Sox for most of his outing, retiring 12 of 14 after Bregman reached base in the Orioles’ 3-2 loss before an announced crowd of 16,790 at Camden Yards. He tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings, with three hits allowed, and came close to earning his first win since July 28 with the Angels.

That reward went up in smoke in the ninth inning on Ceddanne Rafaela's two-run homer off Keegan Akin after Jarren Duran's leadoff single. Akin stood with his hands on his hips as the ball headed for the splash zone.

"I felt really good, especially because I had worked with (Samuel) Basallo down in Triple-A, so I think that made it much easier to go out there today and get the job done," Contreras said via interpreter Brandon Quinones.

"I'm very thankful to the Orioles organization for giving me the opportunity to be up in the big leagues and be here with them now. So, I'm very thankful for them."

Connor Wong drew a leadoff walk in the eighth and David Hamilton singled to put runners on the corners and bring Akin into the game. Akin struck out Roman Anthony and Bregman, and Trevor Story grounded into a force.

Contreras applauded from the dugout railing and stepped onto the field to slap hands with Akin and give him a pat. But Akin couldn't record the six-out save and the Orioles (60-73) fell to 1-6 on a homestand that concludes Thursday afternoon with Garrett Crochet waiting for them.

Coby Mayo made the final out, but it took 12 pitches. He struck out looking against Aroldis Chapman.

Rico Garcia was warming in the ninth, but interim manager Tony Mansolino stuck with Akin.

“So the first two hitters, Duran and Rafaela, historically and this year much better against right-handed pitching. Significantly better," Mansolino said. "So lefties are the play on him. Akin’s neutral. The idea was to get through those two guys with Akin and then most likely they would have pinch-hit one of the righties, probably Romy Gonzalez right there for Lowe, at which point we had Rico Garcia up.

"We just didn’t want to send Rico out basically against four straight hitters that are really tough on right-handed pitching. And then on top of that, just the idea that Akin had a five-out save a few days ago. We felt like he was kind of primed for it.”

Akin has appeared in three of the last four games.

"We talked to him," Mansolino said. "He felt great, he wanted the ball. Just trying to get him through two hitters most likely there was kind of the idea with the two guys being so much better. We felt very comfortable with it. Just didn’t work out."

Brayan Bello walked Dylan Beavers with two outs in the seventh, and the rookie scored the tie-breaking run on Dylan Carlson’s fly ball to the base of the left-center field wall. Duran and Rafaela pulled up in a miscommunication, the second Orioles run that came with some assistance.

They tied the game in the second inning on Mayo’s two-out single, a passed ball and Beavers’ fly ball that popped out of Rafaela’s glove after an apparent diving catch. Rafaela couldn’t hold onto it as he hit the ground.

Contreras hadn’t pitched in the majors since Sept. 29, 2024. The Orioles selected his contract today from Triple-A Norfolk after he posted 3.73 in 28 games with Triple-A Norfolk, half of them starts.

The Dominican native wasn't discouraged that so many teammates got the call ahead of him, despite his better numbers in many instances.

"In reality, no, I still felt patient and wasn't in any sort of rush to get up here," he said. "I continue to trust in my work and the results that I was getting and that was my focus, not trying to get too ahead of myself. Didn't feel rushed in any sort of way to get up here."

Contreras stranded Rafaela in the fourth after a one-out double, and Basallo threw out Hamilton trying to steal in the fifth after a one-out single.

"That’s a nice outing right there," Mansolino said. "Ball came out hot right out of the gates. Some 98s threw up on the board. I think that kind of caught a lot of our eyes. I liked the different breaking pitches. The changeups to the lefties were good. Sixty-something pitches, rolled through six innings and got us into the eighth after the opener situation. I thought he threw the ball great.”

If this was an audition for Contreras, he advanced to the second round.

"Well, it's very important, we're in the final stretch here and I think bodies start to wear down," he said, "but I'm feeling really good and hoping to finish strong."

Dietrich Enns worked the first 2 2/3 innings and allowed a run on Anthony’s leadoff homer in the first. Enns also surrendered an infield single to Duran before retiring the last six batters, striking out three. Twenty-two of his 34 pitches were strikes.

Anthony has two career leadoff homers, both against the Orioles. Tonight’s shot to center field came on a 3-1 pitch and traveled 416 feet at 108 mph. Colton Cowser gave it a courtesy chase.

Jeremiah Jackson extended his hitting streak to seven games with a one-out double in the first inning and was stranded. He’s collected a hit in 12 consecutive starts and 14 of 15.

Beavers lined a single into center field at 106.9 mph with one out in the fifth, close enough for Bello to flinch, but he was stranded.

Jackson reached on an error leading off the sixth, Gunnar Henderson grounded into a fielder’s choice and stole second base, and the Orioles still couldn’t break the tie. Bello struck out Ryan Mountcastle and Cowser.

Henderson joined Brady Anderson, Brian Roberts (six times) and Cedric Mullins as the only Orioles with back-to-back seasons with 30-plus doubles and 20-plus steals.

Beavers reached for a third time with his walk in the seventh inning. He’s batting .344 with a .1.038 OPS in 10 games.

“I definitely feel more comfortable in the box," he said. "Just feel like the more at-bats and the more games I log on defense, just going to settle in a little more. But compared to my first game to now, I feel a whole lot better.

“It’s still a small sample, but I can’t say I expected to start this well. I thought there would definitely be a little buffer period where I’d try to get my feet under me. But I felt good to start the year in Triple-A and I just try to carry that same approach up to here, and it’s worked well for me.”

* Tyler Wells made his final injury rehab start tonight with Norfolk and threw 90 pitches in 6 1/3 innings. He allowed two runs and six hits with one walk and four strikeouts before exiting with two runners on base. Gwinnett’s Jonathan Ornelas hit a two-run homer in the fifth.

Double-A Chesapeake's Zach Fruit allowed one run and two hits with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

High-A Aberdeen's Boston Bateman allowed two runs and two hits in three innings, with five walks and five strikeouts.