Corbin Burnes turns in a stellar start just when the Orioles needed it

DETROIT–What happened? Corbin Burnes allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings as the Orioles rebounded from nearly being no-hit a night earlier in a 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.

Burnes allowed a one-out single to Colt Keith in the first, a walk to Jace Jung in the third before retiring 12 straight until Keith singled leading off the seventh.

Cedric Mullins’ third-inning RBI single drove in Gunnar Henderson, who’d doubled. James McCann had a sacrifice fly and Henderson hit his 37^th home run in a three-run seventh.

Seranthony Domínguez allowed the Tigers’ two runs in the ninth.

Manager Brandon Hyde was extremely pleased with Burnes’ start.

“Just had everything going,” Hyde said. “The cutter was excellent to both sides of the plate, great breaking balls, a lot of changeups to the left-handers that were at the knees and below, not a whole lot of hard contact. Best start of the year for him.”

The win, combined with the New York Yankees’ 7-1 loss to Boston, cut the Orioles’ deficit to two games in the American League East.

Reliever Jacob Webb could be activated on Sunday. He’s had four rehab outings as he recovers from right elbow inflammation.

How important was the win? After losing six of eight and consecutive series to Tampa Bay and Boston, the Orioles badly needed this win.

“This was a big win for us,” McCann said. “It’s no secret that the ball hasn’t been bouncing our way, that things haven’t gone our way but one thing about this clubhouse we’ve stayed close through it all.

“We are going to keep driving together. We understand that it’s a marathon of a season, we’re not going to let one month, two months define us. It’s one of the strengths of this team, we are going to keep fighting and keep doing everything we can to get better.”

McCann caught Burnes, who said the start wasn’t any more important because of Friday night.

“Every start for me is the same,” Burnes said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Opening Day, if it’s the end of the year, if it’s postseason, I go out and I treat every start the same. I prepare the same, and I’m going out and trying to execute as many pitches as I can. We had a great win tonight. It was good baseball. Hopefully, we can carry that into tomorrow.”

The Orioles have just 13 games left.

“I mean we’re down to what, the last two weeks of the season?” McCann said. “Obviously games feel bigger. That’s something I try and be around to talk to guys about. A lot of guys in April, it’s just April, it’s just April.’ Well those games mean something when you get to those last two weeks. A game is a game, yes it does feel bigger but at the same time we can’t let it feel that way to where it consumes us.”

How well did Burnes pitch? It was Burnes’ 21^st quality start but just his third in the last eight.

“That’s the best I’ve seen him in a long time,” McCann said. “He commanded the baseball extremely well to both sides of the plate. Had everything working from the get-go and the result showed.”

McCann thought he understood the game’s importance.

“That’s what your ace does, right?” McCann said. “That’s what your No. 1 does, stops the bleeding. He gave us a chance to win and thankfully our breakthrough in whatever inning it was gave us a little bit of a cushion. Burnes threw the ball extremely well today.”

Why did Hyde stick with Domínguez? Parker Meadows homered to lead off the ninth, and Domínguez allowed an RBI single to Spencer Torkelson with two outs. With runners on first and third and pinch-hitter Zack McKinstry up, Hyde decided to stick with Domínguez instead of going with Matt Bowman or left-handed Gregory Soto.

“They were going to hit [Justyn-Henry] Malloy if I did that,” Hyde said. “Then it’s Soto against three righties there at the end. If they had tied it, I was thinking some other things. But Seranthony had that ninth inning until he didn’t. I was either going to pick between Bowman or Soto there.”

Yennier Cano was not available because of arm soreness, but Hyde said he hoped he’d be available on Sunday.

Why did Hyde start Liván Soto? With Jackson Holliday struggling, Hyde started Soto at second for the second time this week.

Soto had his first two hits with the Orioles after he played little when was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on August 26^th.

Hyde was not playing a hunch that Soto would have a multi-hit game.

“I thought he was going to have three or four hits today,” Hyde joked. “I like his at-bats. It’s a simple swing, ball in the corner was a huge hit at the time. Played really good defense, made a couple of really nice plays.”

Soto has been a happy presence in the clubhouse despite his idleness.

“I’m just really grateful and thankful to be here, and still be here right now,” Soto said through a translator. “I’m just trying to take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.”

What’s the latest with Coby Mayo? Since he was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk for the second time on September 1^st, Mayo has played sporadically. Overall, he’s just 3-for-33 (.091).

On Friday night, he had an at-bat against Detroit’s Tyler Holton and was called out on strikes for the second out in the ninth inning.

“That was a good at-bat, competitive,” Mayo said. “I wanted to spark something for the team in the ninth inning there. Unfortunately, I didn’t get on base, but I thought it was signs of going in the right direction, for sure.”

Mayo has started just four games this month at third base. and he feels better than he did in his initial look at the major leagues in August when he was 1-for-17.

“I do feel more comfortable, obviously being up here a second time,” he said. “So, that’s good.”

Hyde thinks he’s better in September than he was in August.

“I think he’s steadily improving defensively,” he said. “The work that he’s getting in both at third and first up here pregame, that’s gotten better. To give a [33] at-bat sample is not really fair.

“That’s a tough spot I put him in {Friday] night. Coming in a 1-0 game against Holton, trying to break up a no-hitter. It’s not easy. It’s not an easy at-bat. It’s one of those things right now where we’re trying to get as many wins as possible and some of these guys whether they have experience or not are going to be called up to possibly be in big spots.”

Despite his lack of opportunities and his low average, Mayo is enjoying big league life.

“It’s intense. It’s fun. You’re on your toes,” he said. “You try to do whatever you can control with the team and not try to look at the outside and see what’s going on out there. What we can control is going out there and play our best baseball. I know the guys are working hard every day and are into doing that. It should be a fun last two weeks.”

What does it mean? Burnes pitched his best game of the season when the Orioles needed it most, and the team needs other players to raise the level of their game in the final two weeks of the season.

What’s the word? “If you go out and put pressure on yourself and you try to do too much, that’s when bad things happen.” Burnes on his start.

What’s the stat of the day? 1. That was Burnes’ first scoreless start of the season.

What’s going on in the minor leagues? Carlos Tavera pitched five hitless innings for Triple-A Norfolk in its 2-1 win over Durham in 11 innings.

Heston Kjerstad walked twice and had a hitless at-bat before he was removed from the game as Double-A Bowie’s 2-1 win over Erie. Kjerstad

What’s next? The Orioles and Tigers will play the final game of their three-game series. Cade Povich (2-8, 5.91) will face Keider Montero (5-6, 4.88). Game time is 12:10 p.m.

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com