Orioles pitchers permitting solo dwelling runs, in supervisor Brandon Hyde’s totally logical estimation, shouldn’t be the worst-case situation. Of course, he would overwhelmingly favor they not surrender dwelling runs in any respect.
He couldn’t get his want Tuesday, when a pair of dwelling runs with the bases empty offered the margin in Baltimore’s 3-1 defeat to the Cincinnati Reds, night the sequence between two of baseball’s most enjoyable younger groups. Baltimore’s offense managed solely three hits, two by Jordan Westburg in his second main league sport, as right-hander Tyler Wells delivered one other high quality begin however was handed the loss because of Matt McLain’s sixth-inning solo shot.
The Orioles’ greatest offensive alternative got here minutes earlier than the skies opened above Camden Yards for a second straight evening, prompting a 1-hour, 43-minute delay. After the Orioles managed a run on three walks and Westburg’s two hits off Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott, Hyde deployed lots of the left-handed bats he had stored on his bench towards Abbott to face right-handed reliever Lucas Sims within the seventh. Cedric Mullins drew a pinch-hit stroll solely to be caught stealing second on a pitchout. After Westburg walked, pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn obtained forward 3-0 however grounded out on the subsequent pitch, shifting Westburg to second. Adam Frazier changed Jorge Mateo and was hit by a pitch to place two on for leadoff man Austin Hays, who Sims struck out trying to strand two runners.
It marked the primary time the Orioles (48-30) had managed a number of runners because the second, when Aaron Hicks walked, went to 3rd on Westburg’s 99 mph single and scored on Ryan McKenna’s sacrifice fly. Meanwhile, Wells, the foremost league chief in WHIP, didn’t permit any Reds to achieve till TJ Friedl started the fourth with a bunt single. McLain adopted with a run-scoring double off the middle discipline wall, then cleared it two innings later. Friedl took Bryan Baker deep within the eighth.
McLain’s dwelling run marked the nineteenth Wells has allowed this season and the thirteenth with no runners on base; each totals path solely Toronto’s Yusei Kikuchi for essentially the most within the majors. Of the 35 runs Wells has allowed in posting a 3.21 ERA that ranks tenth within the American League, 25 have come by way of dwelling runs.
Given Wells’ sturdy begin to the season, no pitcher entered Tuesday having confronted the next share of batters with the bases empty, in line with Baseball Savant. That has afforded him the flexibility to work within the strike zone, Hyde’s expressed need for his pitchers in these circumstances.
“I like that guys are being aggressive with nobody on base, for sure, and attacking with the best stuff that they have,” Hyde stated earlier than the sport. “And I think when you do that, then you’re gonna give up homers on occasion.”
McLain’s shot got here on an elevated four-seam fastball at 90.9 mph, the slowest Wells threw that pitch Tuesday. He retired the subsequent three Reds (42-38) to finish six innings for the eighth time in his 15 begins, recording no less than seven strikeouts on as many events. Including 5 hitless innings of emergency reduction in his season debut, the 28-year-old is tied for essentially the most five-inning appearances within the majors. He reached that mark solely 12 instances in 23 outings final season, working underneath inning and pitch restrictions after present process Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgical procedure, lacking a season amid the coronavirus pandemic and figuring out of the Orioles’ bullpen after being chosen within the second spherical of the Rule 5 draft.
“I’ve been so pleased with Tyler all season long,” Hyde stated earlier than the sport. “For me, you possibly can discuss him being an All-Star candidate, simply what he’s finished this primary half and what he’s been for our membership and each fifth day giving us an opportunity to win and pitched extraordinarily properly.
“I love the growth that he’s made and the progress he’s made over the last couple of years.”
Keegan Akin adopted Wells with a two-strikeout seventh and was set to pitch the eighth earlier than heavy rain once more disrupted the sequence. When play resumed after the delay, seven positions had been occupied by totally different gamers. The spotlight of the rearrangement got here on the left aspect of Baltimore’s infield, with Gunnar Henderson shifting from third base to shortstop and Westburg going from second to 3rd to kind a tandem that was frequent as the highest prospects climbed by the minors collectively.
After Friedl’s dwelling run off Baker doubled Baltimore’s deficit, Henderson’s two-out double went for naught within the backside half. Facing the identical portion of the Orioles’ lineup that got here up within the seventh, Reds nearer Alexis Díaz improved to 22-for-22 on save probabilities regardless of hitting O’Hearn and throwing the ball away, permitting O’Hearn to take second, earlier than strolling Frazier. Hays lined out to heart to finish the sport and Baltimore’s three-game successful streak.
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Reds at Orioles
Wednesday, 7:05 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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Source: www.bostonherald.com