TAMPA – It was an ominous night of baseball at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Under normal circumstances, the 4-1 Orioles win would’ve been the leading story. After last night’s loss, they turned things around to deliver an all-around win and secure a series split.
Instead, minds were and continue to be elsewhere.
In the seventh inning, a foul ball off the bat of Adley Rutschman took an unfortunate line to the Rays’ dugout. The hard-hit struck reliever Hunter Bigge, who, along with being hit, took a scary fall into the dugout. The game was stopped for a long stretch as medical personnel attended to Bigge. After some time, he was placed on a stretcher and gave a thumbs-up to the concerned crowd. He exited the field on a cart with medical staff attending to him.
It was the kind of moment that puts this baseball thing in perspective.
In the scope of this season, though, this game was an important one for the Orioles. So we’ll break down some baseball.
The list of tasks for Baltimore entering tonight was a daunting one.
It included, but was not limited to, needing to find a way to respond after last night’s tough loss with limited bullpen arms available against one of the best pitchers in the American League.
In quintessential Rays fashion, some small ball helped them get on the board first.
José Cabellero, the league’s stolen base leader, didn’t work very hard to avoid being hit by a Charlie Morton curveball in the third inning. He promptly stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on an RBI-single from Danny Jansen.
It gave the Rays an early 1-0 lead.
The Orioles, though, would respond in a very similar fashion against potential AL Cy Young candidate Drew Rasmussen.
With one away in the top of the fourth, Gunnar Henderson was hit by a pitch. Sound familiar? He advanced to second on a fielder’s choice, and a Ryan O’All-Star single brought him home to square the ballgame.
Against a tough pitcher like Rasmussen, you’ve got to find a way to scrape things together. Baltimore did exactly that.
Or, if you can’t put runs on the board, just work the pitch count.
The one caveat in Rasmussen’s outstanding season is that he has yet to record an out in the seventh inning of a game. And, until tonight, he had yet to throw over 87 pitches. The Orioles ran him off after 5 ⅓ innings of work and 92 pitches. It was still a solid outing, allowing just the one run, but getting him off the mound was a plus for Baltimore.
On the other side, Morton was even more effective. As mentioned, the O’s really needed a long start from the veteran right-hander with a taxed bullpen. Early on, he was showing that he could provide just that.
Morton cruised through his first five innings of work, tossing an efficient 62 pitches in the process. 45 of those pitches went for strikes, epitomizing a night in which he limited traffic and kept hitters off balance with excellent command of the zone.
In the sixth, Morton’s offense gave him some breathing room.
Colton Cowser, for the third night in a row, delivered a long ball. With two on, two outs and two strikes, Cowser launched a four-seam fastball that caught too much of the plate to right-center field for a three-run shot.
Oddly enough, all three of his home runs in this series have come with two strikes against him. Something about that approach.
At 84 pitches, and after an extended pause in the top of the seventh, Morton’s night concluded after six innings. It was exactly the kind of start the Orioles needed, giving the bullpen a shorter night to wrap up.
Seranthony Domínguez entered the game in the seventh and worked himself in and out of some trouble. With runners on second and third and only one away, the righty found a strikeout and a groundout to get out of the inning.
Gregory Soto entered the game in the eighth and faced some similar trouble, too. But, with a runner on third and one away, Soto delivered an inspired punchout. Two down. Bryan Baker jogged out from the 'pen to face Junior Caminero with runners on the corners and walked him on four pitches. With the bases juiced, Jake Mangum flew out to left without putting a run on the board. He was as animated as we've come to expect Baker to be.
In the top of the ninth, Cedric Mullins came feet away from giving the O's a 6-1 lead. Instead, it was a long out on the warning track. Félix Bautista was tasked with holding a three-run lead.
The big right-hander did just that, and the Orioles secured the series split, with a final score of 4-1.
This game meant a lot of important things for Baltimore. The win got them back to 10 games under .500 and gave them some positive momentum heading to New York. They didn't let last night's loss spill over into the final game of the series, a set that they split with one of the hottest teams in baseball.
It's a good feeling from a baseball perspective, underscored by a horrific accident that left all in the stadium shaken. Hopefully, the baseball aspect will feel better with some positive health updates for Bigge.