Orioles’ sweepless streak ends, but Means’ elbow discomfort becomes the headline; Orioles trade Baumann to Mariners

Wednesday wasn’t a good day for the Orioles. They lost two games — one that was a continuation of Tuesday night’s contest suspended by rain. Their regular-season sweepless streak ended at 106, the third longest in baseball history and the most by an American League team. And, they might have lost starting pitcher John Means, who left the regularly scheduled game with left elbow discomfort, at least temporarily.

The streak was impressive, even if it lost some luster when the Orioles were swept last October by the Texas Rangers in the Division Series. It lasted just over two years, spanning the first two years of Adley Rutschman’s career, and demonstrated a resilience and consistency.

But the Orioles’ goal is to get back to the playoffs and make a deeper run. That’s why the news about Means was the most  important.

Means was removed after three innings on Wednesday. The 31-year-old left-hander has started just eight times since having Tommy John surgery in April 2022.

He didn’t pitch in last October’s Division Series because his elbow bothered him, and the Orioles delayed the start of his season by a month because they wanted to be cautious with him.

Manager Brandon Hyde said with a difficult schedule ahead and just two offdays between now and July 1^st, the Orioles were considering a six-man rotation. He said Means would undergo tests on the left elbow.

Cole Irvin, who moved into the bullpen temporarily, pitched in relief of Means and could replace him if the injury is serious enough to cause Means to miss a turn or more.

Means had been pitching well, with a 2.61 earned-run average in four starts, but his recurring issues with the elbow is a concern going forward.

After losing three to the Cardinals in a series in which the Orioles didn’t hit, and made errors on defense and on the basepaths, they’ll play four games against the team with the worst record in the American League, the Chicago White Sox.

Orioles trade Baumann to Seattle: The Orioles traded right-handed pitcher Mike Baumann and Triple-A Norfolk catcher Michael Pérez to the Seattle Mariners for catcher Blake Hunt. Baumann had been designated for assignment last Saturday when Grayson Rodriguez was reinstated from the 15-day injured list.

Baumann was 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA in 17 games for the Orioles this season, and in four seasons was 13-5 with a 4.45 ERA. In 2023, he was 10-1 with a 3.76 ERA.

Pérez, who has a .179 average in six seasons with Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and the New York Mets hit .221 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 21 games for Triple-A Norfolk.

Hunt was hitting .293 with four home runs and 20 RBIs in 23 games for Triple-A Tacoma. He was placed on the Orioles’ 40-man roster, which now has 39 players.

What does it mean? The Orioles found a good home for Baumann, who was out of options and was surely going to be claimed if placed on waivers. The Mariners are leading the AL West, and last Friday night, Baumann pitched a scoreless inning against them.

Hunt is an upgrade behind the plate and can be recalled if there’s a sudden need at catcher.

Who’ll stop the rain? Rain delayed Wednesday’s game for one hour, 24 minutes. Tuesday night’s game was suspended because of rain after a 91-minute delay and resumed on Wednesday.

The Orioles have had a series of lengthy delays this season, totaling 14 hours, 32 minutes. Five of their seven delays have come at home

On April 6^th, they had a five-hour delay before their game against Kansas City began. Last Saturday, fans had to wait two hours, 58 minutes for the start of play. In both of those instances, the Orioles rewarded fans with complimentary tickets to most Monday-Thursday games.

At the beginning of the season, they had cold and snowy weather in Pittsburgh, and they’re hoping for a weekend free of delays for their four-game series in Chicago.

What’s with the bats? Against the Cardinals, the Orioles had only 14 hits. They scored eight runs, and just two were earned. Hyde was disappointed with the plate discipline after they got just three hits in Monday night’s 6-3 loss, but the bad at-bats continued on Tuesday and Wednesday.

What’s with the umpires? Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar was ejected on Tuesday night for arguing with home plate umpire Charlie Ramos. His manager, Oliver Marmol, was ejected on Wednesday, also for arguing about the strike zone.

There were no arguments from the Orioles’ side during the series, although there was some head shaking.

What happened in the minor leagues? Leftfielder Heston Kjerstad and third baseman Nick Maton each drove in two runs as Norfolk beat Worcester 5-4. Second baseman Connor Norby had three hits including his ninth home run.

Third baseman Max Wagner and rightfielder Dylan Beavers homered in Double-A Bowie’s 9-3 loss to Richmond.

Jackson Baumeister, Deivy Cruz and Bradley Brehmer combined on a six-hit shutout as High-A Aberdeen beat Jersey Shore 2-0.

Eccel Correa allowed two hits in five scoreless innings as Single-A Delmarva beat Columbia 6-5. Catcher Aneudis Mordán homered twice and third baseman Anderson De Los Santos also homered.

Left-handed pitcher Trey McGough, a Mount St. Mary’s graduate, moved from Bowie to Norfolk. Left-handed pitcher Ronald Guzman, who was in spring training with the Orioles has joined Aberdeen from the Florida Complex League Orioles.

What’s next? The Orioles open a four-game series with the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Park on Thursday night. Grayson Rodriguez (4-1, 3.15) will face Mike Clevinger (0-2, 5.56) at 7:40.

Call for questions: Each weekday, I answer Orioles questions. Send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com