HOUSTON – When a pitcher is in a groove, you can look up at the box score in the middle innings and think to yourself, “Oh wow, he’s through four without allowing a hit.” Usually, it doesn't amount to much.
Tonight, many in Daikin Park may have shared that thought about Brandon Young.
The rookie looked sharp through three. Then, he was through four perfect innings. And then five.
Through six, things start to feel real. Through seven, folks at home change their evening plans to find a television.
Young recorded the first two outs of the eighth inning, but surrendered his first hit and baserunner of the game on a 56 mph single off the bat of, you guessed it, former Oriole Ramón Urías.
History may have just slipped through Young’s fingers, but a start of this caliber won’t be lost on the rookie.
The O's offense, though not the story of the night, really came to play, too. It was complete domination from start to finish for the Orioles, as they came away with a 7-0 victory over the Astros.
Entering the third, things looked like a soccer score at 0-0. Young’s fastball was working early and often, inducing four of his first six outs with his four-seamer. All four of those outs came on balls put in play, with just one reaching the 95 mph hard-hit threshold.
Fastball command and pitch efficiency are typically the biggest indicators for what kind of Young start it will be.
In the fourth, his offense got him some run support.
Right-handed sluggers typically enjoy playing in Houston, thanks to the short porch in left known as the Crawford Boxes. Coby Mayo introduced himself to them, launching a line drive to left that just snuck over the wall. When it found the crowd, it gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead.
One frame later, Baltimore had the chance to do even more damage.
With one out and the bases juiced, Gunnar Henderson stepped into the batter's box for a tough left-on-left matchup with Framber Valdez. Henderson worked a full count, and flared a fly ball into left field.
It was just deep enough to score Daniel Johnson from third. But as the ball kicked away from Astros catcher Yainer Diaz, Jackson Holliday aggressively pushed for home and came around to score, too. So, a sac fly that maybe had the distance to score one scored two. Just like that, it was 3-0 Orioles.
Young continued to cruise through five innings of work, and suddenly, the zero in the hit column began to become more apparent. That’s the kind of game whose description thou shall not utter.
The fastball was sharp, his splitter was working and there weren’t many non-competitive pitches. The rookie was on the attack and efficient in the process.
And then, he was through six innings. Round numbers filled every baserunner column.
Henderson gave him another run of support in the top of the seventh, but that wasn’t exactly the storyline.
In the seventh, Young got a groundout, a flyout and then found himself down 3-0 to Jesús Sanchez. A four-seam fastball found the zone, as did another. And after a foul ball, Young got Sanchez to ground out to Mayo, who connected with a sprinting Young to first on a play that surely had O’s fans holding their breath.
Through seven.
The Orioles offense tacked on some more runs in the eighth, highlighted by another knock from Jeremiah Jackson and a two-run homer from Dylan Carlson. The O’s bats were, of course, taking a back seat, but delivered seven runs on a dozen hits through eight innings.
To the bottom of the eighth we went. Young delivered a punchout to start the frame.
Then, a flyout saw Greg Allen and Johnson collide, but they held onto the ball.
Then, Urías stepped into the dish.
The former Oriole dribbled one in front of the plate, 56 mph off the bat. Young bare-handed it, flipped and fired to first, but it was offline. Urías advanced to second on what was ruled a hit and an error, and there it went. No no-hitter, no perfect game.
But still, an unbelievable night out of Young. He struck out Taylor Trammell to end the eighth.
Yaramil Hiraldo wrapped things up, and that was the ballgame.
It was a night Young won't forget, and it was almost even more.