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The best of Kyle Bradish isn’t displayed in each start since his return from elbow surgery and the 60-day injured list. There’s room to grow, which excites a club that’s been limited financially in its freedom to reach for an ace.
Bradish is here and he’s pitching like one again, carrying a one-hit shutout into the sixth this afternoon before the Orioles' 10th-inning meltdown in a 7-1 loss to the Yankees before an announced crowd of 31,974 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles (73-83) dropped three of four games in the series, their chances at a split disappearing with a Keegan Akin fastball to Ben Rice that carried into the right-center field seats for a grand slam. Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered onto the flag court with one out.
Kade Strowd walked Aaron Judge to begin the top of the 10th and Akin entered the game. Cody Bellinger singled to load the bases and Rice unloaded, hitting his second career slam and giving him four hits and five RBIs. Orioles fans were heading for the exits before Chisholm batted. They missed Yaramil Hiraldo allowing a run and the Orioles leaving the bases loaded.
Samuel Basallo interrupted a magnificent pitching duel with a leadoff home run against rookie Cam Schlittler in the bottom of the fifth to break a scoreless tie. Both teams had one hit going into the inning.
Bradish was in control until he walked Trent Grisham and hit Judge with one out in the sixth. Bellinger lined to shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who almost started a double play, but Rice singled to tie the game.
The Yankees were held to one run and two hits through six innings, walking twice and striking out nine times. Bradish lowered his ERA to 2.25 in five starts.
"That's probably the best we've seen him so far, even better than that first outing coming off the IL," said interim manager Tony Mansolino. "The ball was coming out hot, looked good. The fastball was good. The breaking stuff was sharp. Was really good against a really good lineup."
Is Bradish all the way back? Mansolino didn’t intend to issue any warnings to opposing teams earlier today, but his pregame comments could be taken that way.
“There’s two more gears,” Mansolino said. “If there’s five gears, he’s probably still stuck in third in some ways. He’s gonna elevate his game immensely here going into the offseason, into next year, and I think that’s super normal for rehab Tommy John guys, right? It does take some time. There’s no doubt.
“I think the biggest thing that he’s missing right now, two things: a little bit of extra gear on that heater at times that we’ve seen in the past, and then also just the control and command and being able to work ahead in the count the way that he would like to. But I think you’re probably not going to see the A version of Kyle 'til, probably, my guess is mid-May to early June next year. There’s still quite a few starts he’s gonna make before he gets going. But feather in his cap. Even though he’s probably not the A version of himself, he is really, really good.”
Bradish agreed with Mansolino's assessment.
“I think there’s definitely still some things we’re ironing out, but it’s part of it. Got one more start left and take in the offseason and come in next season, hopefully, being back to who I am," he said.
“Just losing command sometimes. I think that’s probably the biggest one is just making sure everything’s kind of dialed in from pitch one to pitch 90.”
The Orioles were held to one run last night and labored today against Schlittler, who allowed one run and three hits with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Schlittler retired 12 of the first 13 batters, with Jeremiah Jackson intruding with a two-out double in the second. He struck out the side in the first and fanned five of seven.
Basallo barreled a first-pitch curveball and sent it 420 feet to the flag court for his fourth major league home run. Colton Cowser walked with one out but Schlittler stranded him.
Rice singled off Bradish to open the second and Ryan McMahon walked with one out in the third. That was it for baserunners until the sixth. Bradish used filthy stuff, especially his slider, to produce clean innings.
The sixth inning began with Bradish at 62 pitches. He got a called third strike on McMahon with a 95.5 mph sinker but found trouble. Dylan Carlson charged Rice’s liner in left field, reached down and had to play the short hop.
Carlson ran down Jasson Domínguez’s fly ball in deep left-center with the count full again, and Bradish made his usual stroll back to the dugout. The inning cost him 29 pitches.
"I think just part of this process is getting the arm moving in between innings," he said. "The later I go in games, it’s a little tougher to kind of maintain that velocity, but I think today was a step in the right direction. That last inning was still some fives and sixes."
Dietrich Enns struck out Grisham after an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton to strand two runners in the seventh.
Luke Weaver inherited two runners from Fernando Cruz with two outs in the seventh and walked Carlson, but Jackson Holliday bounced out. Rico Garcia left the bases loaded in the eighth after retiring the first two batters.
Devin Williams struck out the side in the eighth and Strowd did the same in the ninth. Cowser drew a walk against David Bednar and stole second base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Mayo struck out.
Strowd returned, left and took the loss from the dugout. Akin yielded home runs to two left-handed hitters in the same game for the first time in his career and multiple homers in the same game for the second time in relief.
This is the sixth time that the Orioles allowed six or more runs in a single extra inning, per STATS. They surrendered nine in the 13th inning against the Angels on Aug. 16, 2009.
Mansolino defended his decision to remove Strowd, who has a 1.80 ERA.
"I think through that whole game, out of all the things that we did, I'm not so sure I'd probably focus on that one, to be honest with you," he said. "Just because you took Kade Strowd and put him in the highest-leverage situation of his career in the ninth inning right there in a tie game, and he gets through it. And then we asked him to go back out and face Aaron Judge in that spot. I don't think you take a young kid and throw him to the wolves in that situation. And then on top of that, our guy Keegan Akin, who has closed games for us for a while, he's left-handed. I know Bellinger handles lefties well, but it's also our guy in that spot.
"You don't want to overexpose Kade, it's not the right thing to do. Hindsight is 20/20. And, again, throughout the game, out of all the moves we made in that game, I wouldn't focus on that."
* Adley Rutschman had a single and double today at Triple-A Norfolk as he nears his return from the injured list.
