BALTIMORE—Entering the eighth inning, the Orioles looked lifeless. They hadn’t scored and had just five hits against the Kansas City Royals.
The 5-0 deficit looked insurmountable, but 12 batters, 69 pitches and a dropped fly ball later, the Orioles had managed to score nine runs and held on for an improbable 9-8 victory Wednesday night before an announced crowd of 4,965 — the lowest full-capacity crowd in the history of Oriole Park, 16 fewer than Tuesday night.
To add to the unlikelihood of the comeback, Manny Barreda, who was making his major league debut after 15 seasons in professional baseball, picked up the win after pitching a perfect eighth. The night before, rookie Mike Baumann earned the win in relief in his major league debut. According to STATS, the Orioles are the first team in the modern era to have relievers win consecutive games in their debuts.
Royals pitcher Joel Payamps, who had struck out the side in the seventh, walked Cedric Mullins to start the eighth for the Orioles. Ryan Mountcastle followed with a single, and Austin Hays extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI double.
Joel Staumont walked Pedro Severino to load the bases, and Mountcastle scored on a single to right by Anthony Santander. With the bases still loaded, DJ Stewart got jammed on a 3-2 pitch and popped to first. Ramón Urias, playing for the first time since Sunday because of upper leg soreness, tapped a pinch-hit single to right to score Hays.
Jake Brentz struck out Jahmai Jones looking for the second out, but Kelvin Gutierrez’s third hit, a two-run single to center, tied the score, 5-5.
Mullins followed with a fly ball to right-center that Hunter Dozier, who had just come in to play right field, appeared ready to catch to end the inning until centerfielder Edward Olivares came into his path, causing them to bump. It also seemed to cause Dozier to drop the ball for a two-base error as Urías and Gutierrez scored for a 7-5 Orioles lead.
“We caught a break. We don’t get many of those usually,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.
Mountcastle then hit his 26th homer to left, and it was 9-5.
“It took us eight innings to put some at-bats together,” Hyde said. “We were pretty flat offensively … You string a few at-bats together and there was momentum, and that’s something we’ve had a tough time with this year, especially, to be able to put together, three, four at-bats together in a row. That’s how you create rallies.”
And wins.
“It was awesome,” Mountcastle said. “It was a great win. We didn’t give up. It’s very easy to do that, especially this late in the year. It hasn’t been the best year, but for us to battle back and win was huge.”
It turned out that the Orioles needed Mountcastle’s home run. Dillon Tate hit Olivares to start the ninth. Whit Merrifield singled and, with two outs and two strikes, Andrew Benintendi homered to right to reduce the Orioles’ lead to 9-8.
Tyler Wells was summoned and retired Carlos Santana on a grounder to Urías to end the game for his second save. Barreda got the win.
“Baseball-wise, this is obviously the pinnacle of my career right now,” Barreda said. “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for since I was a little kid.
“It was amazing watching guys taking great at-bats. It was destined to be. God put me here today so I could throw the eighth, and we could score nine runs.”
The Orioles (45-93) have won four of five and are 7-7 since the end of a 19-game losing streak.
“It’s good to see young guys not giving up, not giving in on the season,” Oriole starter Matt Harvey said.
Nicky Lopez singled with one out in the first against Harvey and scored on a one-out single by Benintendi.
The Royals (63-76) took a 2-0 lead in the third. With one out Merrifield doubled, stole third and scored on a wild throw by Severino.
Kansas City took a 4-0 lead in the fourth. Michael A. Taylor singled, a bunt by Olivares moved him to second, and he went to third on a single by Merrifield. Lopez doubled to score Taylor and, after Salvador Perez was walked intentionally, Fernando Abad replaced Harvey.
Merrifield scored on a grounder to first by Benintendi as Mountcastle’s throw home was not in time.
Perez hit his 42nd home run against Marcos Diplán in the seventh.
“Everybody’s trying to finish the year strong and finish on a good note so that they can show that they belong, or they are close to belonging,” Harvey said. “That’s what September’s about if you’re not in the playoffs is having guys around that can come in and pick up some of the other guys who are a little tired and show what they can do, and they’re doing a good job of that.”
Notes: John Means (5-6, 3.47) faces Carlos Hernández (5-1, 3.57) on Thursday night. …Barreda is the 58th player used by the Orioles this season, equaling the franchise record set in 2019. He’s the 16th player to make his debut for the Orioles this season, setting a new mark. … Barreda (32 years, 335 days) is the fourth-oldest player to make his Oriole debut, and he’s the third pitcher this year over 30 to make his major league debut. Mickey Jannis and Dusten Knight are the others.
Minor League update: Kevin Smith (3-5) allowed five runs in four innings in Triple-A Norfolk’s 9-3 loss to Durham. Centerfielder Zach Jarrett hit his ninth home run.
Gray Fenter pitched six scoreless innings, allowing four hits, as Double-A Bowie beat Harrisburg, 2-0, in the first game of a doubleheader. Fenter (5-4) struck out three and walked one.
David Lebron and Matt Conroy combined to limit Harrisburg to three hits in the Bowie’s 1-0 win in the second game, which was ended after six innings because of rain. Conroy (1-2) pitched two innings. Bowie’s only run came on designated hitter Andrew Daschbach’s fifth home run.
First baseman TT Bowens hit his second home run and shortstop Gunnar Henderson hit his eighth in Single-A Aberdeen’s 9-3 win over Wilmington. Houston Roth (1-2) pitched 1 2/3 spotless innings and Jake Lyons pitched four shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, for his first save.
Colton Cowser had three hits, and third baseman Coby Mayo had two as Low-A Delmarva lost to Fredericksburg, 5-3. Cowser, the team’s No. 1 draft pick, is hitting .348. Ty Blach started and allowed a run on two hits. Shane Davis (4-6) allowed four runs, three unearned, in four innings.
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Simply the best and most fun game to watch during the Elias era. Hope all my east coast fellow bird watchers didn't give up and go to bed before the 8th last night. IT WAS AWESOME!!
And why Hyde even screwed around with Tate is beyond me. I don't give a dang about save situations, Wells should have started the 9th. Makes me wonder about Hyde.
Ken, Hyde is being extremely careful about using Wells. He really likes him and because he had Tommy John surgery in 2019 and didn’t pitch at all last year, only wants to put him in the most crucial spots.
Last night was the first time he’d been in back-to-back games since he was on the IL with right wrist tendinitis.
He doesn’t want to overuse him.
Hyde likes Tate’s arm, too, and thinks he can be a top-shelf reliever, too. He got within a strike of finishing.
If there’s a save situation tonight, I doubt he’d use Wells a third straight game.
Dang Rich ... you're always so logical. Makes sense I guess.
4,965...........Elias, YOU STINK!...........4,965
LOL .... Easy there big fella! Rememer ...it's a process .... losses and fans (or lack thereof) matter not! In the 80's they made movies (comedys) about franchises like ours.
While that is abysmal, the O’s are still averaging more fans per game than Tampa, Toronto (although the Jays player most of their games in Buffalo) and Oakland who are all in playoff races.
Baltimore, Tampa, Toronto -- 60% of the "formidable" AL East -- can't draw flies. Says something about a very overrated division. The only team in the division to win a WS in about the last dozen years is Boston, who did it twice but also managed to finish last a couple times. And the fifth team is rolling over after a brief spurt last month. This division is no excuse for thinking the O's shouldn't be competitive and more.
You ought to be directing some of that fire at Dan Duquette ... in 2018, Duquette traded Machado, Britton, Gausman, O'Day, and Brach, supposedly for "prospects" ... as of today, in September 2021, only one player the Orioles received in return (Tate) is even on the Orioles active roster ... the lack of return on those trades by Duquette has a lot more to do with the Orioles woes in 2021 than any moves by Elias.
Horse Crap. This is called losing by design. It's all part of Elias' plan. He's darn smart and knows exactly what he's doing.
If this guy isn't tanking, then he's the worst GM in the history of the game. If he's not tanking, then he really is what his record says he is.
Hmmmm oh boy let's dump on Duquette for the 2018 trades, that was fun! Now let's look a little closer at those trades shall we?
Machado for Bannon who had a 0.961 OPS at A+ when acquired, Diaz had 0.905 OPS at AA when acquired, Kremer who had a 1.177 WHIP at A+ and 0.857 WHIP at AA when acquired, Pop who had a 1.163 WHIP at A and 0.704 at A+ when acquired and is now pitching for Miami with respectable 4.14 ERA and 1.358 WHIP, and Valera who had 0.783 OPS at AAA when acquired and is now playing for Toronto.
Is it on Duquette for the O's organization not being able to develop Bannon, Diaz, and Kremer into steady MLB players by 2021? Is it on Duquette when the O's failed to protect Pop from the Rule 5 draft in favor of players like Cesar Valdez? Is it on Duquette the O's sold Valera to SF?
We can look at other 2018 trades but your comment looks like a swing and a miss to me...
You can try to spin it all you want, the bottom line is that Duquette traded for 18, that's 18, "prospects" in 2018, and more than three years later only one of them is on the Orioles active roster, and even that one (Tate) is badly under performing ... Duquette blew the 2018 fire sale, not to mention blowing $100 million on Ubaldo and Cobb.
Yeah, the trades haven't worked out as we wish they would have. But let's face it, they were all made waaaay to late and were mostly knee jerk reactions to a terrible season, and were more likely than not, a directive from ownership to cut payroll.
The issue I have with your post was that you stated "the lack of return on those trades by Duquette has a lot more to do with the Orioles woes in 2021 than any moves by Elias".
I would venture to say that Elias'/ownerships lack of spending, combined with a reluctance to bring up young stars for whatever reason, has waaaaayyyyyyy more to do with these last 3 years than a few bad trades. You think Elias is incapable of putting a better product onj the field? Really? This losing is intentional my friend, and Duquette is long gone. This is on Elias. I don't think that's even arguable.
Joe?
Glad to see you at least acknowledge that ownership actually might have something to do with determining the team's payroll. Duquette never had to work with a payroll of less than $80 million, and it reached as high as $140 million during his tenure. Once you get past Davis and Cobb (neither of whom Elias signed), Elias has had about a $20 million payroll per season to work with. Maybe you think that's Elias' fault, but I put that responsibility on ownership.
And other than arguably Rutschman, who are all the major league ready young stars that Elias is keeping buried in the minor leagues? (I sure hope you're not including Grayson Rodriguez, who is only 21 years old and had never pitched above A ball until just a few months ago.)
He's held others back in the1st couple years. Mountcastle, Hays, Santander and Sisco all were brought up a year or so late. You're relatively new around here or you would have heard me calling for those guys a couple years ago.
And no, I"m never one to rush young pitchers along...not because they may not be ready,it's just the health of thier arms I'm leery of.
The O’s have used 58 players this year. To say they aren’t bringing guys up is inaccurate. Plenty of birds have made their debuts this year.
Duh. I never said they never brought 'guys' up ... but since you bring it up ... where's Rutschman?
They've brought up a string of Joe Palookas. Who of any consequence came up AND was given an extended look this year?
LOL, good call deuce…go O’s…
Amy chance Colton Cowser would move up another level before the minor league season ends?
I don’t think so because Aberdeen’s season ends in 10 days.
Great rally…..nice to something very positive for a change. Hope they can continue to play 500 ball anyhow and finish the season on an uplift.
I still say Elias is a turkey.
Jive-turkey
That 8th inning was next level stuff! They're seeing what they're capable of. #OriolesMagic!
I am one of those that missed the rally. Shame on me. The Hunter Dozier play is reminiscent of some of the old Orioles OF plays(era before Mullins,Hays,McKenna). Dillon Tate has definitely been overworked. Never had a solid role except cleanup messes. Still wondering if Rutchsman will make a difference with these "borderline" pitchers. O's have a tendency of resting lame players instead of just biting the bullet and putting them on the 10 day IL. Doesn't make sense--they're usually still lame after 10 days. Always leaves their bench short. Rich are there still more call-ups on the horizon(not that we really need any)? Don't wanna divy up the playing time between too many players. Could work adversely.
Al, because of the 28-man limit, there are sure to be more transactions. Rylan Bannon and Dean Kremer could get looks in the next few weeks.
Mountcastle is the real deal. He’s going to be our middle of the order masher for years to come. Wells is really impressive. Tate has been struggling for two weeks now. Maybe he’s hurt. Jones has been screwed by bad umpires. The ball on him in the eighth was four inches inside.
As long as the O’s continue to be basement dwellers the umps are going to be the 10th man for whoever they are playing… just saying…
Agree with everything you just said. However that strike on Jones was being called all night long.
Bye Bye Elijah Green.
Hello SS Brooks Lee, who hit over .400 in the Cape Cod League. I'll take that.
As to Tate, I’d be willing to bet that with just about any other team he would blossom. An underlying theme to any number of my posts is that the O’s coaches, collectively, stink. Pitching, fielding, running, etc, etc. etc… just saying…
It seems to me that the O's and Royals traditionally make for exciting baseball, regardless of their individual records at a given time. I'm not sure why, but I think there's a sense of rivalry between the teams that adds energy to the games. It's much better, of course, when we come out on top.
I would agree with you. I think they are teams that compete well with one another. The Royals have some good players, and they play hard, field their positions well, hustle and run the bases like madmen.
They play the traditional sort of ball and are heads up about it. Benetendi and Merrifield are awesome. Their center fielder and their catcher help them be strong behind the plate and up the middle.
As well as their 2014 WS appearance & 2015 Title…go O’s…
What’s wrong with Hyde? Hays is really hot and he platoons him with DJ a guy who probably won’t be on the team next year because a righty is pitching
I'll betcha a Happy Meal that DJ will be with the team next year .... at least the 40 man roster anyway.