LOS ANGELES-What happened? Dodger Stadium is the largest and arguably the loudest ballpark in the major leagues, and with the Orioles leading the Los Angeles Dodgers by a run, the sellout crowd of 52,382 was screaming as their team came up for the eighth and the ninth.
The Orioles’ bullpen, which is reimagined on a nightly basis, responded with scoreless innings in the final two innings and hung on for a 3-2 win on Tuesday night.
With the New York Yankees’ 4-2 loss to Washington, the Orioles (77-56) trail by one game in the American League East.
After Cole Irvin allowed two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings, Matt Bowman, Cionel Pérez, Yennier Cano and Seranthony Dominguez combined to hold Los Angeles (78-54) scoreless on just two hits in the final 4 2/3 innings.
Bowman (1-0), who joined the team last Thursday, retired each of the five batters he faced, and Pérez retired his four batters. He caught Shohei Ohtani looking for the first out of the eighth.
Cano gave up a single to Mookie Betts, who stole second, before striking Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith to end the eighth.
Dominguez gave up a single to Miguel Rojas and walked Gavin Lux with two outs in the ninth before Chris Taylor flied to left on his 32nd pitch of the inning, ending the game with Ohtani on deck.
“I thought Bowman honestly got the biggest outs of the game there, coming into that spot and getting the middle-of-the-order right-handed bats with traffic,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Just a heck of a job by him, and then the guys behind him.
“Cionel threw the ball great. Nice to see Cano really throw the ball well, and Seranthony dodged some trouble there in the ninth inning. Got really good stuff. That last ball, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be hit in the gap. At night, can never tell at Dodger Stadium, but nice job holding onto the win.”
After Dominguez allowed game-winning home runs twice last week to the New York Mets, he’s recorded three saves in the Orioles’ last four games. He has seven this season, six with the Orioles.
Ryan O’Hearn hit his 13th home run with one out in the second. The Dodgers tied it in the bottom of the second on Tommy Edman’s triple, which Colton Cowser had trouble fielding in left. Edman scored on Rojas’ fly ball to left.
Hernández’s RBI single off Irvin scored Ohtani in the third, giving the Dodgers the lead, 2-1.
Ramón Urías hit his 10th home run off former Oriole Jack Flaherty in the fifth to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead.
“I think we’re in a prime position to get hot,” Irvin said. “Got some good ballclubs that we’re facing here to end this month and we’re just trying to take care of business one day at a time. But we’ve seen it, being on the other end, this is a good time to get hot. So, I think we’re pretty excited about the group we have in here and what we can bring to the table every night.”
Flaherty (10-6) allowed three runs on six hits in six innings.
How did the bullpen look? The 33-year-old Bowman has retired each of the 12 batters he’s faced since joining the Orioles, and he helped the team out of a tough spot.
“And that’s really because of our offense. We’re not scoring a ton of runs right now,” Hyde said. “We faced some really good arms tonight and just had a tough time scoring runs. We get the lead and then Bowman, in an area we’ve struggled, kind of that middle part of the game, runners in scoring position, finding the right guy in that sixth, seventh inning where the game is kind of in balance. We’ve had a tough time cycling through guys and Bowman did a great job tonight.”
The Orioles might have another new reliever soon. According to a report from @SkorNorth, the team has an agreement with right-handed reliever Nick Anderson, who’s pitched for four major league teams, including Kansas City this season. He was most recently pitching in the Dodgers’ organization.
How important is Urías to the offense? Urías has five home runs and 15 RBIs this month. He’s homered in consecutive games.
“He’s been our offense the last couple weeks,” Hyde said. “Really good at-bats.”
Urías has been playing regularly since Jordan Westburg fractured his right hand when he was hit by a pitch on July 31st and while others have struggled, he’s been excellent.
“I feel amazing,” he said. “I feel good for helping the team. I think we all go through ups and downs during the season, because it’s so long. Just happy to have the win tonight.”
Can the offense turn around? The Orioles have scored three runs or fewer in six of their past 10 games and won for the second time in the past three games scoring just three.
O’Hearn homered for just the second time since July 3rd. His last home run came on July 20th.
Hyde keeps waiting for the offense to revive, and with O’Hearn’s home runs, and two long fly outs by Adley Rutschman, he’s expecting better things.
“Rutschman [had] the best at-bats he’s had in a while,” Hyde said. “Those are two massive guys for us offensively. We’re a different team when those guys are getting on base and swinging the bat for us.”
What does it mean? The Orioles were fortunate to beat the Dodgers with just three runs and need much better offense in the remaining games of the series.
What’s the word? “We’re not swinging the bat great right now and he’s carrying us a little bit offensively in some of these wins, and he’s playing with a lot of energy right now. He’s playing great.”-Hyde on Urías’ recent offense.
What’s the stat of the day? 9. Urías is the ninth Oriole with 10 or more home runs. Anthony Santander (38), Gunnar Henderson (33), Colton Cowser (19), Jordan Westburg and Rutschman (18), Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins and O’Hearn (13).
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Justin Armbruester (4-9) allowed one run on three hits in six innings as Triple-A Norfolk beat Jacksonville, 4-3. Shortstop Nick Maton drove in two runs and catcher Samuel Basallo, in his first Triple-A game, drove in a run with a groundout.
Shortstop Frederick Bencosme hit his eighth homer in Double-A Bowie’s 5-3 loss to Akron.
Levi Wells (0-7) allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits in three innings in High-A Aberdeen’s 9-5 loss to Wilmington.
Infielder Aron Estrada was removed from the IronBirds game because of left shoulder discomfort.
David Weatherly (2-3) allowed one unearned run on two hits with seven strikeouts in five innings as Single-A Delmarva beat Salem. Leftfielder Austin Overn hit a two-run home run, his first.
Catcher Ethan Anderson will be out of the Shorebirds’ lineup for a few days because of illness.
What’s next? Corbin Burnes (12-6, 3.28) will face Walker Buehler (1-4, 6.09) on Wednesday night at 10:10.
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