Even whereas enjoying a few of their greatest baseball, the Orioles hinted at their want for reduction assist. Their eight-game successful streak was not freed from bullpen blemishes, however they managed to cowl them up.
They weren’t as succesful in Monday’s 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, with Chris Taylor’s sixth-inning grand slam off right-hander Bryan Baker leading to Baltimore’s first loss in nearly two weeks and exemplifying its want for center reduction assist earlier than the approaching commerce deadline. With the Tampa Bay Rays’ loss, the Orioles stay one recreation again within the American League East.
“We didn’t pitch our best there in the sixth inning,” supervisor Brandon Hyde mentioned.
The Orioles (57-36) entered the decisive body with a 4-1 lead as prime pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez had pitched successfully in his return to the majors. In his first inning again with Baltimore since a disastrous outing in late May in opposition to the Texas Rangers, Rodriguez threw six straight fastballs of no less than 100 mph after by no means topping 99.3 mph in his first large league stint. He remained within the higher 90s for the remainder of his outing, however his changeup was significantly a weapon in a two-strikeout third inning. Those two choices accounted for 75 of his 91 pitches Monday.
The Dodgers lastly bought to Rodriguez within the fourth, two singles bookending a stroll plating a run and slicing into Baltimore’s three-run lead. Ryan Mountcastle doubled in a run within the first, and after Adam Frazier’s RBI groundout within the second, Gunnar Henderson laced a run-scoring triple down the sector line to construct the benefit.
Henderson practically added a house run to his line within the fifth, however the ball stopped on the warning monitor. Adley Rutschman adopted with a solo shot that narrowly cleared the out-of-town scoreboard in proper.
The third time via the order wasn’t sort to Rodriguez. The ultimate out of the highest of the fifth inning got here when Dodgers leadoff hitter Mookie Betts singled however middle fielder Aaron Hicks threw him out as he tried to stretch it to a double. The first three batters of the sixth reached on a triple, RBI single and stroll, ending Rodriguez’s day after five-plus innings.
In 11 main league begins, the previous first-round decide has but to finish the sixth inning. Rodriguez mentioned he “felt a little more confident coming into the game,” believing his time again with Triple-A Norfolk allowed him to “get back to the pitcher that I know I am” due to a give attention to emphasizing his fastball.
“I thought he threw the ball really well,” Hyde mentioned. “I thought the command has improved. I thought the stuff was excellent. Just had a tough time there in the sixth, but besides that, I thought he threw the ball really, really well. I’m really excited about him.”
Baker entered and produced a deep flyout that moved Will Smith, Los Angeles’ lead runner, to 3rd, then one other flyball shallow sufficient to maintain him there. He bought forward 0-2 on Jason Hayward however threw 4 of his subsequent 5 pitches out of the zone to load the bases for Taylor. He fouled off 4 straight pitches from Baker to begin the at-bat earlier than sending the right-hander’s fifth providing, a 3rd straight fastball within the zone, into the Orioles’ bullpen in left middle.
Even earlier than Baker’s outing, the Orioles’ bullpen had struggled of late when somebody apart from All-Star relievers Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano was on the mound, getting into Monday with a 5.03 ERA from the sixth to eighth innings because the begin of June.
“Just being one strike away from getting out of it, in general, for that long, not being able to execute, it’s tough for sure,” Baker mentioned.
Two of the 4 runs had been charged to Rodriguez, who has a 7.33 main league ERA round seven Triple-A begins during which he posted a 1.69 ERA with a 36.5% strikeout fee. Although left-hander Cole Irvin pitched properly of late as a starter, the Orioles elected to exchange him with Rodriguez out of the All-Star break, maybe an analysis interval to find out find out how to strategy the commerce deadline on the subject of their rotation. Irvin, to his credit score, didn’t bemoan his transfer to the bullpen, saying he was excited to share the workers with Rodriguez.
“All I want to do is win,” Irvin mentioned.
The Orioles have usually granted his want, particularly these days by successful their ultimate 5 video games of the primary half earlier than popping out of the break with a sweep of the Miami Marlins. Even after Taylor’s house run, that they had the possibility to increase the streak Monday however managed little in opposition to the Dodgers’ relievers, with two of their three baserunners over the ultimate 4 innings erased on double performs.
“We had four innings to try to catch up,” Hyde mentioned, “and we didn’t score.”
Around the horn
- Outfielder Cedric Mullins was out of the lineup for a second straight recreation after exiting Saturday with proper quadriceps tightness. Hyde mentioned the damage is just not associated to the precise groin pressure that induced Mullins to spend 20 video games on the injured record earlier this month. “He’s a lot better today,” Hyde mentioned.
- Hyde mentioned the Orioles are “gauging” subsequent steps with left-hander Cionel Pérez, who’s on the 10-day injured record with forearm tightness. He pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in a rehabilitation outing with Double-A Bowie on Saturday.
- To create roster area for Rodriguez, the Orioles optioned reliever Eduard Bazardo to Triple-A Norfolk.
- Right-hander Austin Voth, on the 15-day injured record since mid-June with proper elbow discomfort, is scheduled to make a rehab begin within the Florida Complex League on Tuesday.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com