BALTIMORE- What happened? The Orioles played one of their most complete games of the season, getting strong pitching, enough hitting and flawless fielding in their 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.
Dean Kremer pitched six strong innings for his first win since July 3rd. Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run home run, and Coby Mayo got his first major league hit.
“It felt like a normal baseball game,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We haven’t played many of them, I felt like, where we pitched really well, we were solid defensively, and we got Gunnar with a huge hit early and then a nice little rally there late in the game.
“We haven’t played many clean games, and so it was great to get the pitching performance that we did out of Dean. His best performance of the year for me going six innings and only allowing that one run. And it was great to see our bullpen guys come in and have clean innings and do a really good job. That was more of what I’d like to see.”
Henderson hit his 30th home run of the season, just his second since the All-Star Game, and his first at home since July 14th.
“It’s been tough, yeah,” Henderson said. “I felt like I was making a lot of right moves to put myself in a good position to succeed. Just had a weird little run there, but like I said, I’m starting to feel good in the box and starting to get going.”
How relieved is Mayo? After 16 hitless at-bats, Mayo singled in the fifth inning.
“A sigh of relief, for sure,” Mayo said. “I was never too stressed about the hit. But then, it gets to you a little bit and you want it. You want it so bad, because you’re so competitive.
“And then, you get that first hit. I think, honestly, it came with that first play in the first inning. A backhand tough play, and just to get that out, it gave me a little bit of confidence in that moment and that kind of set me up for the whole game.”
Mayo struck out 10 times in his first 16 at-bats, and he hopes that now the hits will come more easily.
“I don’t think anyone in here was too stressed about what was going on,” he said. “I think they trust me, and this coaching staff and this organization as a whole has done a great job throughout the minor leagues of preparing us for this moment. Struggling comes with every level. If you don’t struggle at first, you’re going to struggle at some point. Hopefully, this is the right step forward and this can keep going.”
Kremer was thrilled for him as well.
“He can breathe now,” he said. “Everybody’s happy for him. We all congratulated him after the game. He can breathe now and I’m sure things will start rolling for him pretty soon.”
Hyde knows the pressure Mayo was feeling.
“Anytime a young player gets their first hit, you can see their relief in his face there at first base,” he said.
How did Kremer pitch? In his last six starts, Kremer had five losses and one no-decision. Against the Nationals, Kremer allowed one run on five hits in six innings, walking two and striking out three.
He thought it was one of his best outings of the season.
“Numbers-wise, I’d agree with you,” he said. “Sometimes the line doesn’t always go that way. In terms of feeling-wise, I feel like I’ve thrown well a handful of times. Things just haven’t gone my way, but tonight was all-inclusive. Team effort was a lot like last year where it was timely hitting, good defense and everything under the sun. The bullpen came in and closed it out.”
Hyde has noted Kremer’s using his split-finger fastball more effectively.
“He’s getting more and more confident with that split, his split he can throw to righties and lefties,” Hyde said. “It’s amazing ’cause he picked that up in the offseason and it’s already becoming a pitch that he has a ton of confidence with. And I feel like he’s throwing it more and more, with a good cutter, and he can step on 95 when he wants to, too. He mixed pitches really well and did a great job.”
How did the bullpen do? Yennier Cano, Cionel Pérez and Seranthony Dominguez pitched three hitless innings and Dominguez picked up his third save, his second with the Orioles.
As Craig Kimbrel has struggled in recent weeks, Dominguez, who was acquired from Philadelphia on July 26th, has taken over as closer.
“He’s been pitching the end of the game here for a couple weeks,” Hyde said. “Hopefully, we can get Craig going. But he’s been doing a really good job for us since we got him at the deadline.”
Hyde was able to use his three strongest and most effective relievers for an inning each.
“Cano there, they got two out of three righties, and him having a clean inning, which allowed Pérez then to have a clean inning,” Hyde said.
“That’s been a little bit of the issue, honestly, is we’re not having clean innings out of the bullpen or with the starter, bringing in somebody with traffic.
“We’re pretty one-sided, so Cano is better versus righties, Pérez is better versus left, and so when they can line change on you or you don’t have clean innings, it becomes way more challenging. So when those guys go out and get the three guys out that they should, then it allows us to line up a lot better.”
Are there any injury updates? Félix Bautista, who has been ruled out for this season after last October’s Tommy John surgery, threw a bullpen session at Oriole Park on Wednesday, his first one since surgery.
Right-hander Jacob Webb, who’s on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, should begin playing catch this weekend and then begin a progression, Hyde said.
“He’s not going to be with us in the next week or so. It’s going to be a little bit of time,” he said.
Danny Coulombe, who’s on the 60-day injured list after surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow, has begun throwing lightly. Coulombe, who’s also in Baltimore, is projected to return in late September
What does it mean? The Orioles need to play more complete games like this one. They played many in the first 2 1/2 months of the season and not many since.
What’s the word? “They’re going to keep throwing those pitches until you prove you can hit them.”-Mayo on facing major league pitching.
What’s the stat of the day? 3. The Orioles’ farm system is no longer the top one in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. They’ve now slipped to third behind Tampa Bay and Minnesota. It’s the first time they’ve not occupied the top spot since the preseason 2021 rankings.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Double-A Bowie catcher Samuel Basallo, MLB Pipeline’s 11th overall prospect, left the Baysox’s game at Altoona after he was hit by a pitch in the left forearm.
Rightfielder Reed Trimble drove in three runs as the Baysox beat the Curve, 6-1. Bowie placed right-hander Kyle Brnovich on the 7-day injured list.
Cole Irvin (0-1) allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings in Triple-A Norfolk’s 13-3 loss to Gwinnett. Nick Vespi gave up six runs on three hits and three walks in an eight-run eighth. He retired just one batter. Leftfielder Nick Maton hit a two-run home run.
High-A Aberdeen was held to three hits in a 4-0 loss to Greenville. The IronBirds activated right-hander Preston Johnson from the injured list, and he pitched a spotless inning.
Designated hitter Colin Tuft had three hits and drove in two runs in Single-A Delmarva’s 6-3 loss to Carolina.
What’s next? The Orioles open a four-game series with the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. Zach Eflin (8-7, 3.83) will face Nick Pivetta (6-7, 4.44). Game time is 6:35 p.m.
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