BALTIMORE—After the Orioles played crisply in their final 10 games before the All-Star break, a rocky first inning from Dylan Bundy started their second half horribly.
Bundy allowed seven runs on eight hits, and was yanked after an inning when manager Brandon Hyde discovered that Bundy had knee soreness.
The evening didn’t get any better after Bundy left when Gabriel Ynoa allowed nine runs, seven of them earned in 5 1/3 innings as the Orioles lost to the Tampa Bay Rays, 16-4, on Friday night.
The 16 runs equaled the most given up by the Orioles this season, and the 20 hits was a season high.
Bundy said that he felt the soreness during his warmups but decided against telling Hyde and pitching coach Doug Brocail.
“There might have been a slight thought in there,” Bundy said. “You always want to go out there and give your team a chance and hopefully it will get better throughout the game, but it just didn’t today.”
Hyde didn’t know there was anything wrong, and wouldn’t make excuses for Bundy.
“We were just checking on him after the first inning,” Hyde said. “We just wanted to see how he was physically and he said he was a little sore so we decided to get him out of the game.”
Bundy is now 4-11 with a 5.28 ERA.
“My knee’s a little sore, but I just wasn’t locating and didn’t really have any good movement on my pitches,” Bundy said. “They came out aggressive and hitting the ball where there’s plenty of grass, and I couldn’t slow them down.”
The knee will be checked on Saturday, and Bundy hopes to quickly put Friday’s start behind him.
“Quit giving up hits,” Bundy said. “Trying to hit your location better, throw different pitches. You’re just really trying to do whatever you can to get them to hit the ball right to somebody or get a strikeout.”
Overall, it was an abysmal start to the second half.
“We did not play the game well,” Hyde said. “There are a lot of things to clean up and just get back to work. That was really sloppy defensively and just poor baseball. So, it’s 1 of 162. We have a lot of games left ,and we have to get better.”
Wilkerson gets them out: Hyde used utility player Stevie Wilkerson to pitch the ninth, and he retired Tampa Bay on three fly balls.
“That’s one of the better innings from a position player I’ve ever seen,” Hyde said. “A guy able to throw strike after strike. Got guys to swing the bats early. I’m taking that as a positive tonight.”
Wilkerson was the 31st pitcher used by the Orioles, a club record, and the fourth position player to pitch in 2019. Hanser Alberto, Chris Davis and Jesus Sucre were the others.
Means on All-Star Game: Many Orioles fans stayed up through the end of Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Cleveland just to see if pitcher John Means would get into the game. He didn’t, but that didn’t ruin his experience.
American League manager Alex Cora explained to Means that he was unlikely to get in the game—if it went nine innings.
“I knew before the game I was extra innings,” Means said. He said Cora told him: “I’ve got to plan out 15 innings. I know you’re a starter, you can go longer, so you’re probably going to be the extra-innings guy. If it doesn’t look like it’s going to extra innings, I’ll try to get you in.’”
The AL won, 4-3, and Means was a happy fan.
“Being there, being in that clubhouse with those guys is all the experience that I need. Obviously it would have been cool to get in the game, but honestly I feel like being an All-Star is about being with all the other guys.”
Means got to spend time with the New York Yankees’ CC Sabathia, who’s retiring at the end of the season after a stellar career. He got advice from Sabathia.
“Just the winning mentality,” Means said. “That’s what me and CC were talking about for a little while. He was telling me about it because he was kind of part of a rebuild and he was part of a World Series team. The differences between it and what he’s learned on the path he’s been on.”
Means starts the second game of Saturday’s day/night doubleheader.
Surprise starter for Game 1: Hyde surprised some by naming Aaron Brooks, who was acquired from the Oakland Athletics on waivers on July 6, to start Saturday’s first game.
“We’re going to work him in,” Hyde said. “We’re going to stretch out. He hasn’t thrown in a while. He hasn’t started in a while.”
Brooks, who is 2-3 with a 5.01 ERA, hasn’t started since April 30.
“Always excited for the new opportunity,” Brooks said. “I feel comfortable as a starter.”
Brooks will be the 15th starter used by the Orioles. Including four position players, Brooks will be the 32nd pitcher and 47th player.
“We see him, potentially, possibly, joining the rotation at some point,” Hyde said. “We’ll see how it goes. We’ve got to get him stretched out. It’s going to take a little while before that happens, because he hasn’t pitched.
“We’re going to continue to give guys opportunities to build the talent level in this organization. I think there are going to be lots of opportunities for starts over the last 70-plus games.”
Pitcher David Hess will be the 26th man for the doubleheader.
It’s time to make some tough choices on my 2025 Hall of Fame ballot, and…
Bruce Zimmermann, who was born in Baltimore and raised in Ellicott City, is one of…
The Orioles never played in a World Series when Peter Angelos owned them. Nor was…
Here's the annual Baltimore Baseball.com holiday Orioles quiz. Answers will appear tomorrow. 2024 Orioles 1)…
Question: Is it possible Keagan Akin can return to being a starter in 2025? I'd like to…
With Christmas just a day away and more free-agent starting pitchers signed to contracts, it’s…
View Comments
Please have Dillon work with Rick Dempsey I believe Rick can help Dillon get on track
Take care of this, will you Rich Dubroff?
Bundy was pulled because of injury? Really? 7 runs also had a say in that decision. Villar plays like he doesn't care.,Smith Jr will be gone by Sept 1,Hays here by 8/1,Stewart here within a week or two,Mancini gone this winter,Straily teasing us in AAA,Ynoa what the.....? . Sorry just a few early morning thoughts.
...and the O’s charged admission for that??????????? They should’ve given refunds!
You know, the way the team looked last night, it makes you wonder what they all did on their All-Star break. I know Bundy went back home to Oklahoma, so it is pretty safe to assume that he injured his knee while there. As for the rest of the team, they looked like they were still on vacation. One final thought, is Mancini suffering from his All-Star snub?
Did anybody else find themselves laughing at the futility during last night's 1st inning? For me, it was either that or cry.
Boog did you hear Gary Thorne's comment about Smith Jr?--"he's got no arm". Gary getting a little ornery/frustrated.
WelI I must have missed that one. However what I DID notice was Thorne being more than annoyed when Tampa's reliever couldn't get the ball anywhere near the strike zone and walked Broxton & Sisco to start the 9th with the score sitting at 16-2. He was practically begging Gibaut to get it over. Obviously, all he wanted to do was get the heck out Dodge and head for the nearest watering hole! Frankly, I can't blame him.
Seriously, best position player pitching performance, Wilkerson was the best pitching performance period, after last nights performance, Villar has little if any trade value....lazy play, left fielder has NO hustle going after anything....time to move younger/hungry guys up, the younger guys up now are not playing with any energy like they first were, zero sense of urgency...go O’s...
On a normal team Villar wouldn’t be anywhere near SS. They only put him there so as to get Alberto’s bat in the lineup and they don’t want to expose Richie Martin as much. Ever since Smith Jr crashed into the wall, he seems hesitant in the field. Cisco’s defense behind the plate still leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe they should experiment with him at 2nd or 3rd. Not much to lose at this point
I’ve said play him at 2/3 months ago, agree, he signed as a SS...I’d guess he would do better than Villar, his 1st error was in the shift, in his regular 2B position...go O’s...
As much as Bundy has been built up over the years, he sure has been a disappointment. I’ve noticed he typically can’t get thru the lineup the 3rd time, but when he throws a stinker like last night he goes all out. Is there a mental make-up issue? He looks good physically but can never string together consistent good starts. Seems he has mental lapses during the game and can’t stay focused. Do the O’s have a psychologist on staff who could help?
Where was Adley rutschman assigned? Anyone know?
Rutschman is on the Gulf Coast roster and will briefly play there later this month and then be assigned to Aberdeen.
I read that Rutschman was going to Delmarva to start and everyone else to the GCL. However, on the subject at hand we were told to be optimistic with the signings of Gausman and Bundy all through the resurgence in that they would anchor a championship rotation. That won't happen as Gaus is a non-tender candidate in Atlanta and Bundy is a future DFA. They drafted Sisco despite defensive concerns and Mountcastle with concerns about his arm strength and defense. Players drafted later already have impact roles in MLB. Meanwhile we scan the clearance bin for everyone else's trash to start our next series. We can either cry or consider this comic relief. Go St. Louis Cardinals! at least you are mediocre.
I’ve mentioned a few times that I live in Miami and don’t get to see the comic relief of this team play often but I have Tampa’s games so I couldn’t believe my eyes on a beautiful Saturday afternoon the stands are empty. I knew they weren’t drawing but this is seriously bad
All Mason McCoy does is hit. Leads the league in hitting, gets a double in all star game and all Richie Martin does is not hit. I’m older then most people on this site but I remember the days when you promoted the players from the minors who were performing and demoted the guys on top who weren’t. This was before rule 5 and big guaranteed contracts. Davis would be siting on his lazy taking bus rides in Norfolk. Baseball was better then.
Has any team in recent years been as dependent on the waiver wire as today's O's? Farm system to the rescue? No. Norfolk is in last place, and their pitching staff seems to be as inept as that of the Orioles--probably because most of them were too ineffective to remain in the Bigs. Let's hope that other teams promote their minor league standouts and release fringe players to make room for them. This is arguably the Orioles' lifeline to improving the current roster. Team should be 'sellers' in trade talks, but they have precious few assets that pennant contenders would want. The majority of the current pitching staff couldn't be given away.
Red Sox just acquired Cashner for two minor league pitchers here we go
Why couldn’t it be Bundy lol
Players not pitchers