About 11:30 Tuesday night, Orioles pitching coach Chirs Holt called Alexander Wells to tell him he was making his first major league start the next day. Wells immediately called his parents, girlfriend and brother to share the good news, then tried to get as much sleep as he could despite the excitement racing through him.
He appreciated that the Orioles’ series finale with the Tampa Bay Rays was a day game, meaning he didn’t have to spend too much time thinking. But it also meant his family back home in his native Australia had to set their alarms for 2 a.m. local time to watch a game that started at noon at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
If they went back to sleep once Wells came out of the game, they couldn’t be blamed. They also would’ve missed a disappointing finish for his team. Wells’ strong but unexpected first start came in a game that ended when the Rays scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning against Tanner Scott on Austin Meadows’ bases-loaded single for a walk-off 5-4 victory.
Wells, who had pitched 11 scoreless innings in his previous two outings for Triple-A Norfolk, drew the start only because scheduled starter Keegan Akin and outfielder Anthony Santander were placed on the COVID-19 injured list Wednesday morning. He had been a member of the Orioles’ taxi squad for the road trip, one they finished 3-3 but ended feeling disappointed they couldn’t earn what would’ve been their first road series victory against the Rays since June 2017.
Wells gave them the chance to do so, working 5 ? innings and striking out seven. Rays postseason star Randy Arozarena homered off him twice, including on his second pitch of the start, but after Joey Wendle’s RBI triple in the second, Wells settled in. Arozarena’s second home run was one of only two hits he allowed over the final 16 batters he faced. The performance gave the Orioles (31-64) their fourth straight start of at least five innings, their longest streak this season.
“Third inning onwards, I felt a lot better,” Wells said. “Instead of trying to nibble around the plate, I just went out there and I attacked the zone like I normally do and have been doing lately. Knowing that my stuff can play here, it gives me confidence going into my next appearance.”
Added manager Brandon Hyde: “He had a tough first inning, first couple innings there, a lot of balls kind of up in the middle of the zone, and then he really settled in nicely. Thought he threw well to their left-handers really after that second inning, thought he had the slider going, pitched in with his fastball to lefties and righties, and really competed in the sixth inning, so gave us a chance to win.”
Cole Sulser, Dillon Tate and Paul Fry combined to get the game to the ninth with the Orioles leading 4-3. Scott, who has yet to earn a save this season, scattered two strikeouts amid a walk and two singles, one of which was a bloop from Arozarena that fell when first baseman Ryan Mountcastle and second baseman Pat Valaika collided. In an 0-2 count, Meadows singled to center to end the game.
“I called it pretty late there, and honestly, I didn’t know Pat was over there,” Mountcastle said. “Here at that the Trop, you can’t really put your head down and run. You’ve got to stare at the ball the whole time so you don’t lose it, so I think we were both just doing that, and it was a sort of a tough play for both of us and unfortunately collided a little bit and let it fall.”
Hyde hadn’t seen a replay of the fallen pop-up and wasn’t exactly sure what went wrong. He said rookie right-hander Tyler Wells, who has been getting a share of ninth-inning appearances lately, wasn’t available Wednesday because of his recent usage.
“That one hurts,” Hyde said.
Mountcastle gets going
Before Valaika and Mountcastle bumped into each other, they collided with a couple of first-pitch offerings from Rays starter Michael Wacha.
With the Orioles trailing 2-1, Valaika tied the game by homering on Wacha’s first pitch of the third, and Mountcastle gave the Orioles the lead by hammering Wacha’s first offering of the fourth out to right-center field. The homer was his first of July after he hit nine to earn American League Rookie of the Month honors in June.
“It feels like barrel’s been tough to find, as of late,” Mountcastle said. “But today, I felt good to the plate and hopefully I can keep it going moving forward.”
After Arozarena tied the game with his homer on Wells’ first pitch of the fifth, Mountcastle put Baltimore back ahead with an RBI single in the sixth. In eighth, Mountcastle also battled back from a 1-2 count to draw a walk as the Orioles loaded the bases but failed to score.
Wynns stays in
Arozarena did damage almost each time up. In the seventh, it was to Orioles catcher Austin Wynns’ face.
After Sulser allowed a one-out triple to Brett Phillips, Hyde turned to Tate to face Arozarena. Amid a 10-pitch battle, Arozarena’s backswing whacked Wynns, who wears a traditional catcher’s mask when he’s behind the plate, and cut the catcher’s left cheek. He remained in the game, and Tate struck out Arozarena and got Vidal Bruján to ground out to strand the tying run at third.
When Wynns came up to bat in the ninth, he had a bandage on the wound.
NATIONALS@ORIOLES
Friday, 7:05 p.m.
TV: MASN, MASN2 Radio: 105.7 FM
