Leftovers for breakfast

BOSTON – The Orioles didn’t bring their smoke machines and disco lights to Fenway Park. The ballpark is so old, the equipment might have blown out the fuses or started a fire. But you could hear players through the walls celebrating after Monday night’s win.

Voices were loud. Veteran pitcher Trevor Rogers made a speech praising 21-year-old rookie catcher Samuel Basallo on his first major league game behind the plate. Basallo didn’t understand every word but appreciated the kindness, smiling through most of his postgame interview at his locker.

The words coming from the stereo last night were understood and not suited for a post-game television broadcast. The music had to be turned down, but you couldn’t kill the party.

This group is having fun again.

Coping with adversity is a big part of it, including the latest round of physical setbacks.

“The injury situation, the injury bug that we’ve had, it’s been pretty wild,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “At some point you feel like the baseball gods are gonna take their foot off our necks.”

And dig a heel into another body part.

Basallo was on the bench last night, drove in the go-ahead run in the 11^th with a pinch-hit squibbler in front of the plate, and should return to the lineup Thursday for the start of a four-game series against the Astros at Camden Yards. He might catch if Adley Rutschman remains unavailable due to the soreness in his right side that forced a lineup change yesterday. Dylan Beaver has started in left and right field since the Orioles selected his contract over the weekend.

The young guys seem to fit right in, as expected. Teammates had been waiting for them to arrive.

“You know, a lot of these guys played with them coming up through the minor leagues as well, so there’s that camaraderie there,” said pitcher Trevor Rogers. “They’re really hungry to be up here and just have success. The amount of success they’re having in just a couple days up here, and helping us win, and continue the stretch that we’re on, I’m very happy for both of them. And they’re just going to continue to help us, and I’m very excited about that.”

Mansolino agreed with a reporter’s observation that young players like Basallo and Beavers can inject life into a clubhouse. He talked about their big personalities. But he never thought the Orioles were running short on enthusiasm and energy.

“I don’t feel like that was quite the problem by any means,” he said. “I feel like we’ve had a lot of life in the clubhouse. We’ve got guys like Colton Cowser who’s been here all year who have plenty of life to them that they can add to the clubhouse. But for me, it’s just more getting nine competitive at-bats together. And when you have nine competitive at-bats, then you tend to win more games, and that in of itself injects life in the clubhouse.”

The Orioles appeared to be dead after blowing a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth, but they wiggled out of a few more jams and didn’t waste the 21-year-old’s 13-foot RBI roller.

“We kind of got him up right there to pinch hit and I'm paying attention to see, like, is he nervous?” Mansolino said. “This is a really big moment he's going up for and, for me, if he was nervous, he probably would have taken the first pitch, because that would have been abnormal. He swings the bat, and he came out of the gate swinging it.

“He was himself.”

The Orioles will take it every time.

Trivia: Only one Orioles player had recorded an RBI in his first three career games before Basallo did it. Name him. Answer below. And this is a test to see whether you read the final version of my game story.

* Ryan Mountcastle returned to his DH role last night after playing first base Monday and collecting three hits. His bat shattered on a groundout in the first inning and had a game-tying RBI single in the fifth.

Mountcastle is batting .308 with an .836 OPS in 10 games since his reinstatement from the injured list. The Orioles want to keep him busy but can’t promise everyday at-bats with Basallo and Coby Mayo on the roster.

This is an important stretch of games for Mountcastle with one more year of arbitration eligibility before free agency. He’s making $6.787 million this season and missed more than two months with a hamstring strain.

“Mounty’s a good player,” Mansolino said. “We’ve got to figure out how to do this, so I’m gonna manage the best I can. Obviously, there’s a lot of things that go into this. I still would like to win games. And I know that people on the outside look at that and say, ‘Well, you’ve got to develop the players.’ You can do both. There’s a lot of teams in the big leagues doing it. It’s the same thing that every minor league team should be doing is take whoever’s on the field and try to win the game.

“So with that being said, are we gonna sit Coby five straight days? No. Are we gonna let Coby sink? No, we’re not gonna do that, either. We’re gonna try to put him in the best position to succeed, and sometimes that’s not playing a game or two. Same with Sammy. And in doing so, it’s gonna open up some at-bats for Mounty and some of the other guys who have been here. But we’re gonna try to do right by everybody.”

* Mansolino didn’t know who would close last night if the Orioles had a save situation. Availability and matchups would be the usual factors. The media would have its answer shortly after the manager.

Yennier Cano has one save this season but also a 5.40 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in a team-leading 51 appearances. He allowed another run Monday night and escaped a bases-loaded jam last night in the 10^th inning.

Cano got the last three outs in the ninth in the series opener after inheriting a runner, but a walk and Jarren Duran double created another mess.

An automatic runner, hit batter and walk almost cost Cano last night, but Abraham Toro grounded into a double play

Cano was optioned earlier this season, and though he made it back to the majors, he can’t get back to his previous All-Star form. Check his splits for one explanation. Left-handers were hitting .333 with a .985 OPS before yesterday and right-handers are hitting .235 with a .598 OPS. He did, however, win the matchup with the switch-hitting Toro.

“I know we’ve seen a lot of ups and downs with Yenny,” Mansolino said. “Obviously, we trust him. We put him in that situation last night. Also, a five-run game, but it was the ninth inning and the ninth inning’s a little bit different. But to me it’s still the left-handed hitter thing. The three outs he got, right-handed hitters, right? If you just get it down to the left-handed hitting thing and get that figured out, I think we got the guy that we want.

“We’re working hard on it. We’ve met with him. He's working on it, Frenchy (Drew French) is working on it. We’ve just got to get the mix right and figure out how to solve the left-handed hitter thing. And the whole league knows that.”

* Orioles starters have posted a 2.97 ERA in their last 30 games beginning July 19, lowest in the majors. 

Over his last five outings, Tomoyuki Sugano is 3-0 with a 1.90 ERA after a four-start stretch when he registered an 8.84 ERA.

Answer: Rhyne Hughes in 2010.