Albert Suárez holds down A's as Orioles win for 7th time in 9 games, 3-2

OAKLAND, Calif (AP) — Albert Suárez matched a season best with six strikeouts over six sharp innings and won back-to-back outings for the first time this season, pitching the Baltimore Orioles past the Oakland Athletics 3-2 on Friday night.

The right-hander (5-2) surrendered Miguel Andujar's first-inning home run but settled in to hold down an A's lineup coming off consecutive 5-0 shutouts and a series sweep of the Los Angeles Angels.

Coming off his first quality start of the season, Suárez allowed two runs on four hits and walked one as the Orioles won for the seventh time in nine games following a five-game losing streak. He spent the 2016-17 seasons with San Francisco, so it almost felt like coming home.

“It's fun. Yesterday when we went (by) the stadium I was like ‘Wow, that was like my last home,'” he said. “Being back here is something that brings a lot of memories, a lot of good memories. I'm happy.”

Craig Kimbrel pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his 22nd save to finish the 2-hour, 28-minute game in front of an announced crowd of 9,654.

Baltimore is now 56-32 and joined four previous Orioles teams to win at least 56 of their initial 88 games and are the first to do so since 1979.

Austin Hays hit an RBI double in the second and Adley Rutschman drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning. Hays doubled again in the third and added a sixth-inning single for his second three-hit game of the year — on his 29th birthday.

“Haysie swung the bat great,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We had traffic. That game should have been blown open early in the game.”

Baltimore went ahead in the first after Gunnar Henderson's leadoff single. He advanced on a groundout then stole third before scoring an unearned run when catcher Shea Langeliers made a low throw trying to catch him and it got past third baseman Brett Harris for an error.

Andujar tied it in the bottom half with a solo home run and Langeliers connected for his 16th homer in the seventh. But Oakland didn't manage much against Suárez.

“He did a really good job tunneling and mixing his pitches and kept us off balance," Langeliers said. “Obviously, he’s got good numbers and he’s been having a good year.”

Oakland's pitchers have now gone six straight games without giving up a home run. The Orioles lead the majors with 142.

A's lefty Hogan Harris (1-3) was tagged for three runs — two earned — on five hits over five innings. He struck out four and walked three.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: 1B Ryan Mountcastle returned to the lineup after sitting Sunday's finale at Seattle. He was sidelined by an illness for a couple of days last week.

Athletics: RHP Ross Stripling (strained pitching elbow) and RHP Paul Blackburn, dealing with a stress reaction in his right foot, will each throw bullpen sessions Saturday then report to Class-A Stockton to pitch on Tuesday. If all goes well they would join Triple-A Las Vegas next Sunday.

UP NEXT

LHP Cade Povich (1-2, 4.05 ERA) pitches Saturday for the Orioles against A's RHP Luis Medina (1-3, 4.80).

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

Baltimore Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg, right, throws out Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker at first during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Yennier Cano throws to an Oakland Athletics batter during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Oakland Athletics' Shea Langeliers runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Baltimore Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg, right, catches a popup hit by Oakland Athletics' Max Schuemann during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Oakland Athletics' Shea Langeliers (23) is congratulated by Zack Gelof, front left, after hitting a solo home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Oakland Athletics' Shea Langeliers, right, runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against Baltimore Orioles pitcher Albert Suárez, foreground left, during the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Oakland Athletics center fielder JJ Bleday catches a flyout hit by Baltimore Orioles' Jorge Mateo during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Baltimore Orioles' Albert Suárez pitches to an Oakland Athletics batter during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Oakland Athletics second baseman Zack Gelof, center, throws to first baseman Tyler Soderstrom, foreground left, after forcing out Baltimore Orioles' Austin Hays at second during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. Colton Cowser reached first in the play. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Albert Suárez, center, hands the ball over to manager Brandon Hyde, left, as he exits during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics, Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Oakland Athletics' Shea Langeliers, right, celebrates with third base coach Eric Martins, left, after hitting a solo home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Baltimore Orioles' Albert Suárez pitches to an Oakland Athletics batter during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 5, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Nearly a week after Hurricane Helene brought devastation to western North Carolina, a shiny stainless steel tanker truck in downtown Asheville attracted residents carrying 5-gallon containers, milk jugs and buckets to fill with what has become a desperately scare resource — drinking water.

Flooding tore through the city’s water system, destroying so much infrastructure that officials said repairs could take weeks. To make do, Anna Ramsey arrived Wednesday with her two children, who each left carrying plastic bags filled with 2 gallons (7.6 liters) of water.

“We have no water. We have no power. But I think it’s also been humbling,” Ramsey said.

Helene’s path through the Southeast left a trail of power outages so large the darkness was visible from space. Tens of trillions of gallons of rain fell and more than 200 people were killed, making Helene the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. Hundreds of people are still unaccounted for, and search crews must trudge through knee-deep debris to learn whether residents are safe.

It also damaged water utilities so severely and over such a wide inland area that one federal official said the toll “could be considered unprecedented.” As of Thursday, about 136,000 people in the Southeast were served by a nonoperational water provider and more than 1.8 million were living under a boil water advisory, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Western North Carolina was especially hard hit. Officials are facing a difficult rebuilding task made harder by the steep, narrow valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains that during a more typical October would attract throngs of fall tourists.

“The challenges of the geography are just fewer roads, fewer access points, fewer areas of flat ground to stage resources” said Brian Smith, acting deputy division director for the EPA's water division in the Southeast.

After days without water, people long for more than just a sponge bath.

“I would love a shower,” said Sue Riles in Asheville. “Running water would be incredible.”

The raging floodwaters of Helene destroyed crucial parts of Asheville’s water system, scouring out the pipes that convey water from a reservoir in the mountains above town that is the largest of three water supplies for the system. To reach a second reservoir that was knocked offline, a road had to be rebuilt.

Boosted output from the third source restored water flow in some southern Asheville neighborhoods Friday, but without full repairs schools may not be able to resume in-person classes, hospitals may not restore normal operations, and the city’s hotels and restaurants may not fully reopen.

Even water that’s unfit to drink is scarce. Drew Reisinger, the elected Buncombe County register of deeds, worries about people in apartments who can’t easily haul a bucket of water from a creek to flush their toilet. Officials are advising people to collect nondrinkable water for household needs from a local swimming pool.

“One thing no one is talking about is the amount of poop that exists in every toilet in Asheville,” he said. “We're dealing with a public health emergency.”

It’s a situation that becomes more dangerous the longer it lasts. Even in communities fortunate enough to have running water, hundreds of providers have issued boil water notices indicating the water could be contaminated. But boiling water for cooking and drinking is time consuming and small mistakes can cause stomach illness, according to Natalie Exum, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“Every day that goes by, you could be exposed to a pathogen,” Exum said. “These basic services that we take for granted in our everyday lives actually do do a lot to prevent illness.”

Travis Edwards’ faucet worked immediately after the storm. He filled as many containers as he could for himself and his child, but it didn’t take long for the flow to weaken, then stop. They rationed water, switching to hand sanitizer and barely putting any on toothbrushes.

“(We) didn’t realize how dehydrated we were getting,” he said.

Federal officials have shipped millions of gallons of water to areas where people also might not be able to make phone calls or switch on the lights.

Power has been restored to about 62% of homes and businesses and 8,000 crews are out working to restore power in the hardest hit parts of North Carolina, federal officials said Thursday. In 10 counties, about half of the cell sites are still down.

The first step for some utilities is simply figuring out how bad the damage is, a job that might require EPA expertise in extreme cases. Ruptured water pipes are a huge problem. They often run beneath roads, many of which were crumpled and twisted by floodwaters.

“Pretty much anytime you see a major road damaged, there’s a very good chance that there’s a pipe in there that’s also gotten damaged,” said Mark White, drinking water global practice leader at the engineering firm CDM Smith.

Generally, repairs start at the treatment plant and move outward, with fixes in nearby big pipes done first, according to the EPA.

“Over time, you’ll gradually get water to more and more people,” White said.

Many people are still missing, and water repair employees don’t typically work around search and rescue operations. It takes a toll, according to Kevin Morley, manager of federal relations with the American Water Works Association.

“There’s emotional support that is really important for all the people involved. You’re seeing people’s lives just wiped out,” he said.

Even private well owners aren’t immune. Pumps on private wells may have lost power and overtopping floodwaters can contaminate them.

There’s often a “blind faith” assumption that drinking water won’t fail. In this case, the technology was insufficient, according to Craig Colten. Before retiring to Asheville, he was a professor in Louisiana focused on resilience to extreme weather. He hopes Helene will prompt politicians to spend more to ensure infrastructure withstands destructive storms.

And climate change will only make the problem more severe, said Erik Olson, a health and food expert at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.

“I think states and the federal government really need to step back and start looking at how we’re going to prepare for these extreme weather events that are going to be occurring and recurring every single year,” he said.

Edwards has developed a system to save water. He’ll soap dirty dishes and rinse them with a trickle of water with bleach, which is caught and transferred to a bucket — useable for the toilet.

Power and some cell service have returned for him. And water distribution sites have guaranteed some measure of normalcy: Edwards feels like he can start going out to see friends again.

“To not feel guilty about using more than a cup of water to, like, wash yourself … I’m really, really grateful,” he said.

Phillis reported from St. Louis. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed from Washington.

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Volunteers stage water for people in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Volunteers stage water for citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Volunteers stage water for citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Volunteers stage water for citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A backhoe is used to clear debris left by Hurricane Helene that washed away a road and destroyed a waterline for the city of Asheville Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Black Mountain, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Workers hand out fresh water at a distribution site in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Lindsay Rust carries a jug of fresh water after filling up at a distribution site in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

The remnants of a waterline serving Asheville, N.C., is piled up downstream from North Fork Reservoir, a main source of water for the city, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, after the line was destroyed during Hurricane Helene in Black Mountain, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

People carry bags of fresh water after filling up at a distribution site in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Reginald Klemz, right, fills a container of fresh water from a tanker with the help of volunteer Julie Koenke in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Electrical contract worker Matthew Tipton looks over the remnants of a waterline serving Asheville, N.C., downstream from North Fork Reservoir, a main source of water for the city, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, after the line was destroyed during Hurricane Helene in Black Mountain, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

A person carries bags of fresh water after filling up from a tanker at a distribution site in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)