Photo credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Brandon Hyde got his first look at the 2021 version of Shohei Ohtani, and while Hyde and the Orioles won’t have to face him on the mound, they’ll still have to see him bat and run, and that was enough for them.
On Friday night, Ohtani hit two home runs and scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the Los Angeles Angels ended the Orioles’ three-game winning streak, 8-7.
“He pretty much single-handedly beat us,” Hyde said. “He’s such a good player. I don’t know what to say. The hottest hitter on the planet right now.”
Earlier in the day, Ohtani was named the American League Player of the Month for June.
“It’s not just driving the ball for base hits,” Hyde said. “It’s deep home runs. You walk him, he’s going to steal second on you. It’s plus-plus speed, plus-plus power, and he’s locked in. It’s extremely challenging to face him. Best player on the planet.”
Paul Fry (2-3) walked Ohtani with one out in the ninth with the score tied at 7. After Anthony Rendon struck out, Ohtani stole second. Jared Walsh hit a 109-mph single to right, and Ohtani beat Ryan McKenna’s accurate throw home with the winning run.
Raisel Iglesias (5-3) pitched a hitless 1 2/3 innings for the win.
Trey Mancini, who will participate in the Home Run Derby on July 12, hit a 451-foot home run in the top of the first, his 15th of the year. Domingo Leyba hit his first major league home run in the second for a 2-0 Orioles lead.
Former Oriole José Iglesias hit his seventh home run of the season against Keegan Akin in the bottom of the second to tie the score at 2.
The Orioles (27-55) scored four runs in the third against Griffin Canning. Anthony Santander had a three-run double to right, and Pedro Severino had a run-scoring double to give them a 6-2 lead.
“We scored six runs in the first three innings,” Hyde said. “We swung the bat extremely well early. Iglesias, I’ve seen him for years, and it’s 98 with a nasty slider. Once he came in, that was going to be challenging. We took good at-bats for the majority of the game and scored seven runs. More times than not, you win.”
Ohtani hit his 29th home run to lead off the bottom of the third against Keegan Akin.
“It was tough, especially a guy of that caliber and the hot streak he’s on right now,” Akin said. “You’ve got to execute your pitches. The theme of the night, I didn’t execute my pitches when I needed to, and I left too many over the plate.”
Akin, a left-hander facing the left-handed hitting Ohtani, could only shake his head when the two-way marvel turned on Akin’s pitch for a homer.
“The guy’s a different breed, and he’s doing really well right now,” Akin said “It feels like whatever you throw him, you can’t get him out, really.”
Max Stassi’s RBI single cut the lead to 6-4 after three.
“Right now, I feel like I’m throwing too good of strikes or too good of pitches in counts where I shouldn’t be,” Akin said.
Akin allowed four runs on seven hits in three innings, walking one and striking out three. He threw 64 pitches.
“He had a tough time putting hitters away,” Hyde said. “A lot of good swings off him. We had a lead. He had a tough time keeping us there. Offspeed stuff is just extremely inconsistent. They were taking good swings on him for three innings.”
Dillon Tate allowed David Fletcher’s RBI single and Ohtani’s second home run of the game, his 30th, a two-run shot, and Los Angeles (40-41) led, 7-6.
Austin Hays’ double scored Cedric Mullins to tie the score at 7-7 in the sixth.
Tate was followed by Spenser Watkins, who pitched a scoreless inning in his major league debut. He’s the 45th player used by the Orioles this season.
Tanner Scott recorded two outs, and Tyler Wells pitched two spotless innings before Fry came in to face Ohtani.
Note: Jorge López (2-10, 5.92 ERA) will face former Oriole Alex Cobb (5-3, 5.09) on Saturday night at 10:07 p.m.
Minor Matters: Kyle Bradish allowed two runs on five hits in five innings as Triple-A Norfolk lost to Charlotte, 3-0.
Former Oriole Tim Beckham homered against Bradish (1-2).
The Tides had just three singles.
Mike Baumann pitched five strong innings, giving up a run on three hits in five innings as Double-A Bowie lost to Akron, 7-6, in 10 innings.
Baumann struck out six and walked one.
Adley Rutschman, who played first base, doubled twice and drove in three.
Connor Gillispie gave up five runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings as High-A Aberdeen lost to Brooklyn, 6-5
Third baseman Gunnar Henderson was hitless in four at-bats and is 1-for-27 (.037) since joining the IronBirds.
Designated hitter Rylan Bannon, who’s on a rehab assignment after missing time because of an oblique strain, was 0-for-4, striking out three times.
Shane Davis and Ryan Watson combined on a three-hitter as Low-A Delmarva beat Lynchburg, 8-0, for the Shorebirds’ eighth straight win.
Davis (4-1) allowed three hits in five innings, striking out four and walking one. Watson pitched four perfect innings, striking out one, for his first save.
First baseman TT Bowens had four hits, including his seventh home run. Centerfielder Cristopher Cespedes had three hits and drove in two runs
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Tate looked like he has (minus last two games), up & down, Fry, really seems to have struggled since the “New” sticky rules have been implemented, coincidence, hmmm, glad to see some offense when Mountcastle has an off night, really just a BAD pitching situation all around, can’t let Ohtani get in scoring position after you purposefully put him on...start a new streak ...go O’s...
Tyler Wells continues to impress. Multiple scoreless innings late in a close game. If he can consistently do that he will be a mainstay in the bullpen.
Put him on base if you can’t get him out
So much for Japanese being slap hitters. Is it possible that Trout is no longer the best player in baseball(Tatis Jr) but not even the best player on his own team? Tate other than falling victim to Ohtani's magic fell victim to Santander's subpar(ankle) play in RF. Really wish they could just DH him but as usual that position in the O's lineup is kinda tied up with a few other names. I can see Akin overheating and "losing it" on the mound(a la Bundy) some humid night in Baltiomore. This young man needs some conditioning. Looks like he has grip problems(constantly blowing on his fingers). He,at this point,is just another Kremer. Agree--Fry hasn't been the same since the new "rules". Ben took up Palmer's torch in stating that the O's pitchers have to find the guts/confidence to pitch inside. As Ben stated Ohtani's elbow was right over the plate.
If Akin thinks he is throwing to good of strikes then Holt and Hyde need to show him some video from last night he had no curve ball at all I don’t think he threw a strike with it . Iglasis home run was basically he took a 1-2 count tried 2 curve balls neither for strikes and had to throw a 3-2 fastball which as Ben McDonald said everybody knew what was coming . I’m telling you either some of these players have inflated egos because they made to the majors or they’re flat out stupid . The box score speaks for itself . Great you made it to the majors but if you can’t produce you won’t stay . He is a fastball pitcher with spotty command that also appears out of shape . But then again none of the pitchers run enough in today’s game they’re to busy lifting weight which is I believe the cause of a lot of injuries.
Tyler Wells is different so far he can for the most part spot his fastball to all 4 quadrants of the zone has a nice slider needs to work on the change and maybe a sinker but of all we’ve seen this year he seems to have a plan and he really wants it .
What will it take to have Hays play everyday? Him and Mullins can be a great tandem at the top of the order. Another loss due the mismanagement of the bullpen. Fry is killing his trade value. Hopefully teams over look it. And stop pitching to Othani.
Austin Hays came off the injured list June 11. Since then the Orioles have played 21 games. Hays has played in 20 of them, starting 17. 3 other times he came in as a defensive replacement. So he’s only missed one game since his return. Pretty much playing regularly
Yeah and the game he didn’t play Stewart and sucked. Hays came of the bench and Homered. With him this hot Stewart should not see the field.
Austin Hays has had 2 stints on the IL this year for his hamstring. It’s still not 100%. Giving him a day off every now and then increases the chances that he doesn’t re aggravate the injury. The Orioles are 27-55. Having Hays rest his hamstring isn’t going to affect the Orioles playoff hopes
No, Brandon. It was you that lost the game. Not walking Walsh with .153 hitter on deck.
Speaking of Ohtani: this is how bad major-league baseball is at marketing. Turn on any sports media and all you hear is, “ for the next three hours we’re gonna preview Game 39 of the NBA quarter- quarter- quarterfinals!! The Pistons third string point guard is having a social media beef with the bench coach of the Hornets! Stay tuned for 24 straight hours of Really Loud Hot Takes on this outrageous NBA controversy!!!”
Meanwhile Ohtani is doing things that nobody’s done since Babe Ruth and nobody in America outside of hardcore baseball fans has even heard of him.
Who are you talking about?
Totally agree 33rd. And if they tire of the NBA talk they jump right over to the NFL.
Spot on, 33rd.
It’s whats grabbing the attention of the social media driven sports fan at that moment. The drama driven public eats up this pabulum.
This is totally off topic but I’m gonna say something I NEVER thought I’d say. Most games I see are day games and lately I’ve been reading on this site how poor umpiring has been. Well, this past week in the parts of games I watched indeed it was horrible. So, I think maybe the time has come for MLB to consider the use of, what is it called, computer umpires. As I said, I never thought I’d say that but HP umpiring is as bad as I’ve ever seen it. As crazy as it sounds I’d really miss the interactions between hitters, pitchers and especially managers with HP umps but something has to be done. Aren’t there leagues trying it now? I wonder how it’s working out? I still think a good, consistent HP ump is best but there are just so few remaining. I think that’s the #1 reason hitting is down so much now. Players don’t know what to and what not to swing at anymore. As someone who still hasn’t fully embraced the DH this is a radical admission for me.
MLB's been around for over 120 years and NOW it's a problem?
Maybe just put the good ones behind the plate all the time
Shamus, Gary Thorne was a proponent of that for at least the last few years he was announcing O’s games. He would be incredulous at how bad some HP umps were. It’s something MLB needs to consider.
Orial, I can only speak for the 50 plus years I’ve been watching games, and yes, in my opinion, it is a bigger problem than I can ever recall. Hey, they’ve gone to instant replay in an effort to get other calls correct, maybe it’s time to improve the most important part of the game for umpires, calling balls and strikes. As stated, this is a complete 180 for me.
I’m open to robo umps in some yet to be determined format, but imagine the current umpires union actually admitting this was necessary.
Not only that, but then conceding to allow robo umps to be phased in, or beta tested in an actual game, minor league or big league.
Or even someone having the temerity to judge or help determine which umps are better at calling balls and strikes? I mean, how dare you?
We can’t even get rid of egregious examples like Angel Hernanadez!
I don’t pretend to know how it all works, but I smell lawyers…..
Totally agree, raised the same questions last week & was told the umpire union is one of the strongest, phasing out bad umps will never happen, MAYBE they’d allow help behind the plate but not cutting their numbers down, too many bad umps, or lol, maybe just the bad ones get punished by being assigned to O’s games...go O’s...
Totally agree dlg!!! Give the home plate umpire an ipad with the strike zone MLB uses and everyone can see at every home game and he can call balls and strikes. In or touching the box is a strike, anything else is a ball. Pretty simple and with no runners on base he doesn't even need to be directly behind the catcher at home plate! He could just stand further back behind home plate. This will cut down on umps getting hit on foul tips, the union should be all in for that! Cuts down on arguments and players and managers getting tossed and keeps the game moving along. Tennis has been using this same principle for years and things move along just great for them. So no umps lose jobs, not even the ones that need a road map to find the strike zone. This just makes the home plate umps job being the toughest to now being a lot simpler and more importantly, more consistent!
Are the umps ever compared to the games they call afterwards with the computer by the league? Or is that a union no no?
Yes, I believe so but not like you might have thought! They are ranked by the league on which have the called the fewest mistakes by instant replay. With the better ranked umps getting extra pay by calling the playoffs and World Series. But no one gets fired by the league, that's up to the union.
I also agree that the game would be better with robo umpiring behind the plate. I have never believed I would agree, but the umpiring is atrocious calling balls and strikes . Angel Hernandez and Joe West are two of the biggest culprits . I believe one of the lower minor leagues will implement computer assisted umpiring the second half of this season.
I disagree about robo umps. Adjusting to the home plate umpire's strike zone has always been part of the game. If the ump stinks, fire him.
It would just another change to the pasttime that makes it a lesser game. Smallish strike zones ... band box stadiums ... juiced balls ... none of these enhancements have added to the popularity of the game IMO.
And since they started using instant replay? Jesus...can it be any more boring? I don't think any Baltimore Oriole fan has the right to lament not seeing Early Weaver style tantrums any more, and at the same time support Instant replay or robo strike zones.
Keep the human element alive in baseball. That's my take on it.
Totally agree Boog, don’t want robo umps, agree that if they’re bad fire them, I was told that would never happen, too strong of a union, I’d rather keep it this way than having a computer dictate (spellcheck worked) the strike zone, the human element & adjusting to strike zones is part of the game, I would really like to see the strike zone called as it’s defined...go O’s...
Joe West has gotta be a least 60 yrs old.. I’m no spring chicken either but how do you allow the umps to be on the field that many years and no players are that old.
Shamus, umpires spend more time in the minors than players do. Umpiring in the majors is a job that few give up on before they're physically unable to do it. NFL and NBA officials are roughly the same age.
Umpiring isn't any worse now than it was in the past. It's that technology is so much better that missed calls are blatant.
Joe West is 68
And a terrible umpire! I recently watched parts of some more older games on YouTube and saw Earl Weaver got screwed constantly on close calls never going his teams way. And some were blatantly obvious and was the reason he argued so much and defended his team. I believe the umpires together construed to never giving Weaver any calls because he was showing them up and proving them wrong! And as a true Orioles fan, I hated that they were targeted by the umpires then and now and I'm sure Weaver was too back then. And any true Orioles fan that liked this happening to them is no true Orioles fan in my book!
Just two topics (as others have just about said it all) about last night...) 1) if you were to go back through my posts on this site and find my very first post on Akin you would read my warning about him and his inconsistency and that he hadn’t changed one iota since I first watched him pitch at Bowie. 2) Fry has reverted to the Fry of old and it’s been obvious that HE IS NOT A CLOSER!
Anything more would be totally redundant. It ain’t pretty but it’s all we got. Just saying...
I think the O's did pretty well last night. Our pitchers, besides Scott and Fry, are basically a bunch of rookies; career totals- Akin (66 innings pitched), Tate (71), Watkins (1), Scott (133), Wells (37) & Fry (148).
The O's are playing with backup infielders (and rookies at 1st and 3rd), Santander is playing hurt (who is still better than DJ).
Mountcastle is a rookie, Leyba - rookie, Urias - rookie, McKenna - rookie. Hays isn't far past being a rookie, and neither is Mullins.
We lost 8-7, and 3 of their runs came directly from the hottest hitter in baseball, who's taking even the most elite pitchers deep.
Ohtani should also get credit for the winning run also, he scored from 2nd on a single, beating out a perfect throw from RF.
Last week we were getting blown out by double digits, and now this was our 4th game in a row of being competitive. And these have been on the road, which should also get some recognition considering our recent losing streak during away games.
I can understand when armchair managers criticize blowouts and when fundamental plays are botched, but damn, these boys played their hearts out and should get some kudos when they do good.
I think the Angels post game celebration says a lot. They beat the 2nd worst team in MLB and they're jumping up and down like they won a playoff game.
That was a hard fought game, the O's deserve some credit.
Well said Eastern Sho Joe. On this site a couple weeks ago I said I had a feeling they were gonna go on a nice run and maybe even play .500 ball the next 20-30 games. Well, they immediately lost I think 7 of 8 or so before sweeping Houston. A game like last night is why I thought that. Even tho they lost the effort was there. The bats are heating up, they just need to get a little more length from the starting pitchers, which is what I thought was gonna happen. Plus Means will be back so-in to help. I’m still bullish on this team for the 2nd half of this season. After 81 games they were 27-54. I honestly believe they can finish with 65-67 wins and avoid the 100 loss season.
To BRR, if you read this I apologize it took me this long to see what you saw before season began when you stated you thought they could win 80. You and RobIsraOsfan I think I were the only people who thought they could win that many. As simple as this sounds they just need to learn how to win the tight games.
Thanks dlg. I think any predictions about the record for the remainder of the season is guess work at best.
I would be happy to see steady improvement, especially from those who will be around when we have the talent to make a run.
Taking good ABs, reduce errors, and, a big one - in my opinion - learning how to play at the MLB level without getting injured.
Many that are in the lineup are facing players that they watched on tv growing up. That's a mental obstacle in itself for young players, and our entire team is going through it at the same time.
If we can keep piecing together good games like our last 4 I think this season will be a success no matter what the record is at the end of the season.