Bench coach Robinson Chirinos made his managerial debut this afternoon after Brandon Hyde was ejected. Ryan Mountcastle lined a ball over the left field wall that used to torment him. Tyler O’Neill almost nailed Mr. Splash with his home run into the Bird Bath section.
Gunnar Henderson showed signs of busting out of his slump with three hits in the first four innings. The bullpen couldn’t hold a three-run lead in the eighth, and the Orioles stranded the winning run at second base in the ninth.
Peel back the many layers and the Orioles still don’t have a series win.
The Orioles couldn’t score in the bottom of the 10th inning, leaving Jordan Westburg at third base, and the Blue Jays prevailed 7-6 before an announced crowd of 27,193 at Kids Opening Day at Camden Yards.
Myles Straw’s infield hit off Matt Bowman scored automatic runner Andrés Giménez. Bowman left two on base, but Ramón Laureano took a called third strike from Jeff Hoffman for the final out of the day.
Hoffman blew a kiss toward the Orioles’ dugout, his response to the contract offer reportedly rescinded after his physical due to concerns about his shoulder. The Braves did the same and he signed with the Blue Jays for $33 million over three years.
“When I’m thinking about the games before the games are being played and stuff, yeah, obviously that’s definitely in my head. But once I’m in the game, in the moment, I’m focused on making pitches,” Hoffman told reporters outside the visiting clubhouse.
“I’m excited when we win. It’s hard to win in this league. We put together a good second half of that game and it was good to get this one.”
The game moved past regulation after Adley Rutschman doubled off Hoffman in the ninth inning and right fielder Nathan Lukes made a sliding catch with two outs to rob Westburg.
“Every loss is disappointing,” Westburg said. “Sucks when you blow a lead. Always does. It’s never going to get old. Always very disappointing, but it’s part of the game. We have an off-day tomorrow and look to bounce back tomorrow.”
Gregory Soto was charged with his first three runs of the season in the eighth inning, the last on Bo Bichette’s RBI single off Yennier Cano.
Giménez and Alejandro Kirk had back-to-back doubles off Soto and another run scored on Davis Schneider’s ground ball. Soto hadn’t allowed a run in six appearances before today.
Anthony Santander led off the top of the ninth with a double and Rutschman picked off pinch-runner Lukes after Will Wagner missed on a bunt attempt.
The loss dropped the Orioles to 6-9.
“I think this is such a long season, baseball’s such a hard game, that you just try to stick to your process as a team,” Westburg said. “Trust the culture in this clubhouse. Trust the guys in this clubhouse. Not overreact to wins and losses this early. Yeah, it sucks losing, and obviously we wish we were winning more games. But I think when the tendency is to start changing, changing, changing, we might lose the identity we worked all spring to build.
“I think the most important part is just sticking to who we are and staying close here in this clubhouse, having each other’s back and just trusting that the product is just going to get better.”
Cade Povich lasted only 4 2/3 innings, allowed two runs and seven hits and was done after 76 pitches. Bryan Baker stranded two runners by striking out George Springer with a 97.5 mph fastball.
“Obviously, I’ve been built up, so (76) is not necessarily a lot,” Povich said. “I think, for me, no matter where I’m at, I always want the ball. But I think, based on the situation, and Baker got a huge out for us there.”
Keegan Akin retired the first two batters in the sixth before Ernie Clement doubled and scored on Straw’s soft single into right field – 70.6 mph off the bat.
Seranthony Domínguez stranded two runners by striking out Bichette with a 97.2 mph fastball, and he retired the side in order in the seventh.
The choice of closer remained a mystery. Cano entered for Soto with a chance for the four-out save but Bichette ruined those plans.
The issue again was a short start that applied too much pressure on the ‘pen. The rotation’s ERA is 5.30 ERA, 29th in the majors. Zach Eflin (3.00) is on the injured list and the Orioles haven’t announced a starter for Saturday’s game.
“A little bit,” Hyde said. “With the day off tomorrow, we were more aggressive yesterday and today with our bullpen. I thought that Cade hung in there, third time through the order there in the fifth. I thought he escaped traffic a lot of those first few innings. I thought Bake did a great job of getting him out of that second-and-third, two-out jam there in the fifth inning, and you take your chances with Soto and Cano there in the eighth and the ninth because those guys have been unbelievable so far this year.”
Félix Bautista earned his first save yesterday since his elbow surgery and normally would have been used in this situation, but the club won’t push him early.
“He’s not fully back yet,” Hyde said. “That’s why he didn’t pitch.”
José Berríos surrendered three home runs to the Orioles in the season opener in Toronto and O’Neill got him again today with a shot to left-center field leading off the fourth. O’Neill has homered twice this season, both times against Berríos.
Mountcastle introduced himself to the new left field wall by lining a slurve over it in the second inning for a 2-1 lead. The ball traveled 388 feet, which would have been another frustrating out for Mountcastle the past three seasons, when he was robbed 11 times.
Kirk pulled a curveball over the wall with two outs in the first inning to tie the game. The ball traveled 389 feet, also an out last season before the latest renovation.
Henderson broke a 2-2 tie in the third with a leadoff triple and dive across the plate on Rutschman’s fielder’s choice grounder. Westburg struck out looking for the second time on pitches that missed the zone, this one low, and plate umpire John Bacon ejected Hyde for taking a few steps onto the field to argue.
Hyde was tossed for the first time this season and 18th in his career. He had good reason today. Bacon was a poster ump for ABS.
“I didn’t really appreciate the strike zone early,” Hyde said. “I thought Westy got punched out on two balls below the zone in his first two at-bats. I thought we weren’t getting many calls going our way there offensively.”
“I’m never going to disrespect an umpire, at least purposely,” Westburg said. “It’s frustrating, it’s part of the game. I know he’s not trying to screw anybody back there and I know that he’s trying his best, but it sucks. It’s a pretty helpless feeling, especially in two big at-bats with runners in scoring position where I put a little bit more pressure on myself to come through. It’s disappointing. I’m going to shake it off. I just really appreciate Hyde having my back there.”
Chirinos came out of the dugout after the third inning to protect O’Neill, who was at the plate when Berríos picked off Ryan O’Hearn at second base. O’Neill also had issues with Bacon and took out his frustrations on a Berríos changeup.
The Orioles turned two singles, a wild pitch and three strikeouts into a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Henderson led off with a single, O’Hearn singled with one out and Berríos bounced a pitch past Kirk. Bacon resisted the urge to call it a strike.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. dumped a two-strike RBI single into right field for the Jays’ third consecutive hit to begin the third inning.
The Orioles turned a 5-4-3 double play to limit the damage, and Giménez broke for home in the fourth on Clement’s grounder and got caught in a rundown. The Jays did the Orioles a few favors today.
Ahead 4-3 in the sixth, the Orioles scored twice after back-to-back fielding errors. Heston Kjerstad doubled off Nick Sandlin, Bichette misplayed Mountcastle’s ground ball and Guerrero botched Jackson Holliday’s grounder to let Kjerstad and Mountcastle cross the plate. But the Orioles couldn’t protect their three-run advantage.
“I thought we fought hard,” Hyde said. “I thought we took really good at-bats off Berríos. We’ve been pitching really well out of the bullpen and today just was — give them credit. I thought they took good at bats off Soto. Bichette got that piece of one off of Cano there to drive in the tying run. Rutsch hits a huge double, gets in position to try to win the game. Just didn’t happen. I thought our guys fought hard. We just didn’t add on a ton and they got some breaks late.”
* Here are the starters for the series against the Guardians at Camden Yards:
Tuesday: RHP Charlie Morton vs. LHP Logan Allen
Wednesday: RHP Dean Kremer vs. RHP Gavin Williams
Thursday: RHP Tomoyuki Sugano vs. RHP Tanner Bibee
The first game starts at 7:05 p.m. because it airs on TBS as well as MASN2. The other two starting times are 6:35 p.m.
