No staff over the previous two weeks has been hotter than the Orioles. None had been colder than the Tampa Bay Rays.
They swapped locations Friday night time.
In the Orioles’ first sport in sole possession of first place within the American League East this season, the Rays performed like they’d earlier than their dismal July, silencing Baltimore’s bats en path to a 3-0 victory.
The Orioles had been stymied by beginning pitcher Zach Eflin and Tampa Bay’s bullpen, tallying simply two hits, hanging out 14 instances and failing to attain a run for the seventh time this season.
“Just wasn’t our night offensively,” supervisor Brandon Hyde stated.
Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish continued his current stretch of excellence, pitching six innings of two-run ball. Over his previous seven begins, the right-hander has a 1.62 ERA. The final time he allowed greater than two runs in a begin was June 8. It’s been two months since he’s given up greater than three.
Designated hitter Harold Ramirez hit an RBI single to place the Rays up 1-0 and finish Bradish’s scoreless innings streak at 16 1/3, and third baseman Isaac Paredes clobbered a solo residence run off Bradish within the sixth.
“I think it’s been a good little stretch,” Bradish stated of his current success. “Obviously, would’ve liked a different outcome today. That home run kind of irritated me, just can’t really happen right there in the sixth inning when the guy on the other side was kind of dealing like he was.”
In the seventh, catcher Jose Siri hit his twentieth lengthy ball of the season off reliever Shintaro Fujinami, who made his Orioles debut after becoming a member of the staff Wednesday by way of a commerce from the Oakland Athletics.
After Thursday’s extra-innings win, the Orioles gained sole possession of first place within the AL East for the primary time since Aug. 12, 2016. At 59-38, they’re now tied with the Rays, who improved to 61-40.
The Orioles reached base in simply 4 innings, advancing a runner into scoring place in one in all them. Designated hitter Ryan Mountcastle doubled with one out within the second, however the Orioles went 0-for-2 of their solely alternatives with runners in scoring place.
Eflin, the previous Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, struck out eight in seven shutout innings to decrease his ERA to three.36 as a member of the Rays’ dominant rotation. Only three of the Orioles’ 15 batted balls off the right-hander had exit velocities over 100 mph. Aside from Mountcastle’s double, the one different Oriole to report a base hit was first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. Adley Rutschman walked twice to spice up his whole to 58, which ranks second greatest within the AL.
“He was definitely sharp tonight, using both sides of the plate,” Hyde stated. “They were getting balls down for strikes. He didn’t leave a whole lot of balls in the middle part of the plate for us. We just had a tough time getting anything going against him.”
Relievers Colin Poche and Pete Fairbanks adopted with scoreless innings to keep up the shutout, each hanging out the aspect. The Orioles have struck out greater than the 14 instances they did Friday simply 5 instances this season.
“No,” Hyde stated when requested if he was involved with the strikeouts. “We’re taking a shot with Poche there, who’s a strikeout guy, and he punched the side out. And Fairbanks has got a ton of punchouts also, he’s got great stuff.”
Bradish (6-5) combined his 5 pitches for his fifth straight begin of six or extra innings and his seventh in a row with out permitting greater than two runs. The 26-year-old threw his slider 35% of the time and his curveball 23%. The two breaking balls are the 2 greatest choices in his arsenal, in accordance with Baseball Savant’s run values. He induced 5 whiffs with the slider and three extra with the curve.
His 3.05 ERA is greatest amongst Orioles beginning pitchers, forward of Tyler Wells (3.54), Kyle Gibson (4.76), Dean Kremer (4.80) and Grayson Rodriguez (7.33).
“I think fastball command has been really good,” Bradish stated. “Using both my breaking balls. Not walking guys. Just kind of out there pitching.”
Fujinami’s Orioles debut didn’t go as deliberate, because the 29-year-old right-hander allowed a solo homer on the primary pitch he threw in a Baltimore uniform — a 99.4 mph four-seam fastball that Siri deposited 359 toes over the left discipline fence.
Fujinami rapidly bounced again, although, and displayed the superb stuff that piqued the Orioles’ curiosity sufficient to accumulate him in change for Triple-A left-hander Easton Lucas on Wednesday. The 6-foot-6 Japan native retired the following three batters, together with a strikeout of All-Star Wander Franco, averaging 100.5 mph on his fastball and topping out at 101.5 mph. He threw six splitters that averaged 93.9 mph and two sweepers, a pitch that a number of Orioles pitchers have realized lately.
“He got ambushed there that first pitch, but after that, wow,” Hyde stated. “I thought he had great stuff. Throwing over 100, got a really nice split. Siri came out of the on-deck circle ready to swing, guy’s first pitch with us after being on a flight all night last night. But he settled in and pitched great after that.”
Orioles at Rays
Saturday, 4:10 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com