Two more Orioles went on the injured list in the past two days. Interim manager Tony Mansolino and his staff are basing lineup decisions on availability as much as data and hunches.
Positions and batting orders are shuffled like a deck of cards. Left-right matchups aren’t given the usual consideration.
Jackson Holliday seems immune to much of it. He’s the leadoff hitter most of the time, with Gunnar Henderson moving down to third. That’s one of the easier calls to make.
Holliday hit his first career leadoff home run this afternoon, lining a fastball from White Sox starter Davis Martin deep onto the flag court. Coby Mayo collected his first major league RBI and caused benches and bullpens to empty, Jorge Mateo smacked his first home run of the season, and the Orioles won 4-2 before an announced crowd of 23,470 at sunny Camden Yards.
The Orioles (21-36) have won back-to-back games for the fourth time this season and claimed their fourth series. They’ll go for their first sweep since the final three games of the 2024 season in Minnesota.
Holliday saw a fastball, changeup and cutter from right-hander Martin in his at-bat. The ball left his bat at 108.8 mph for his seventh home run, and the fourth leadoff shot by the Orioles this year. It marked the fourth-highest exit velocity of his career.
Mateo started again in center field, where he’s had a few adventures, and fouled off four pitches in the fifth before launching a cutter to right-center after Dylan Carlson doubled. He began the day with a .196 average and one RBI.
Mansolino went with the right-right matchup with all of the Orioles’ starting outfielders on the injured list and Ryan O’Hearn needed at first base after Ryan Mountcastle strained his right hamstring.
Perhaps the splits came into play. Left-handers were batting .211/.286/.368 against Martin this season and right-handers were batting .297/.333/.455. But the bench consisted of backup catcher Maverick Handley, infielder Emmanuel Rivera, utility player Cooper Hummel and outfielder Jordyn Adams, who had his contract selected today.
Mayo, another right-handed hitter getting the start, lined a two-out single into left field in the fourth to score O’Hearn for a 2-0 lead, his first RBI in 61 plate appearances. Mayo got caught in a rundown, bumped into second baseman Lenyn Sosa and fell on the infield grass. The contact was light, and Sosa walked up to Mayo - who remained in a sitting position - with arms spread and began jawing at him.
Mayo stood and gave Sosa a light shove as he began walking to the dugout, Sosa did the same to Mayo’s back, and the field became a sea of orange and black jerseys. No punches were thrown and order was restored quickly.
Dean Kremer did some scattering again with hits, allowing six in six innings, but he held the White Sox to one run on Andrew Benintendi’s RBI single in the fifth. He tossed 5 1/3 scoreless with seven hits in his last start in Boston. Traffic doesn’t rattle him.
Kremer threw a season-high 102 pitches, struck out seven and left to a standing ovation. His ERA is down to 4.70.
The White Sox wasted a walk in the first inning, singles in the second and third, and two singles in the fourth. Josh Rojas walked with two outs in the sixth and was stranded.
Yennier Cano surrendered a run in the seventh to reduce the lead to 4-2. Seranthony Domínguez stranded Keegan Akin’s runner and one of his own in the eighth, and Félix Bautista earned his 10th save after throwing 29 pitches yesterday and walking two batters today. He struck out three and threw 23 pitches.
The Grayson Rodriguez bobblehead distributed served as a reminder of the team’s poor health. He’s one of 12 players on the injured list. Cedric Mullins was the 11th yesterday and Mountcastle made it a dozen this morning. Adams was a defensive replacement in center field in the ninth, the 46th player used this season.
Mateo and Heston Kjerstad raced into right-center in the eighth inning and slammed arms reaching for the ball. Kjerstad made the catch and Mateo took the brunt of it on his surgically-repaired elbow. Assistant athletic trainer Mark Shires checked on him, and he stayed in the game and drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth. But it was the latest scare.
The Orioles must play through the adversity. They don’t have a choice. And the last-place White Sox are making it a little easier this weekend.