CHICAGO – Tony Mansolino was the Orioles third base coach and infield instructor last summer, not their interim manager, when Kyle Bradish tossed seven hitless innings in the White Sox’s home ballpark. The details are a bit fuzzy.
Rain delayed the start of the game for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Bradish matched his career high with 11 strikeouts and came out after 103 pitches. The first batter to face reliever Danny Coulombe ruined the drama by homering.
“How do I not remember this?” Mansolino asked this afternoon during his dugout media session.
“I hope he does it again tonight.”
Bradish walked the leadoff hitter, struck out the next two and surrendered back-to-back singles to give the White Sox an early lead. He wouldn’t chase history. The goal was much more simple. Just do the job well enough to give his team a chance to win.
Exceptions have the power to cloud judgements and cast doubts about a specific trend.
What the Orioles are getting from their bullpen this month is crystal clear.
Yennier Cano blew the save Tuesday night when Tommy Pham homered in the top of the ninth inning, but another look reveals that he strung together six scoreless appearances in a row.
Lean in and you’ll also see that Rico Garcia retired the side in order in the eighth and Dietrich Enns earned the win with two hitless innings beyond regulation, twice stranding the automatic runner before Samuel Basallo’s walk-off fly ball down the left field line.
Actually, on the left field line.
The celebration tonight carried up the right field line, as opposed to center field Saturday after Emmanuel Rivera's two-run single. Samuel Basallo was chased like a thief, maybe because the Orioles stole another win.
Basallo dumped a single down the opposite line, hitting chalk with a fly ball that scored Gunnar Henderson in the 11th inning for a 3-2 victory over the Pirates at Camden Yards, the Orioles' third walk-off in four games.
Dietrich Enns tossed two scoreless innings past regulation and Basallo singled off Dauri Moreta before an announced crowd of 15,488. Ryan Mountcastle singled and Colton Cowser was given an intentional walk to set up Basallo, who had to wait through a crew chief review.
Tommy Pham attempted to make a sliding catch, the ball might have nicked his glove and umpire Manny Gonzalez ruled it foul. Crew chief Alan Porter announced the decision.
“Have not seen it that way where umpires pretty much had to place the runners there to finish the game off," said interim manager Tony Mansolino. "It was one of those deals where if they didn’t call it fair, I was probably going to throw a fit.”
The Orioles are tampering with their roster again, with two more players coming in and two more going out.
Roansy Contreras was activated from the taxi squad and had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk, and he’ll work in bulk relief tonight, his first major league appearance since Sept. 29, 2024 with the Angels. He posted a 3.73 ERA in 28 appearances (14 starts) with Norfolk.
Infielder Emmanuel Rivera also had his contract selected.
To create room, the Orioles optioned Yaramil Hiraldo, who was charged with three runs last night in 1 1/3 innings and has a 5.65 ERA in 12 games, and they designated infielder Vimael Machín for assignment. They also transferred pitcher Brandon Young (hamstring) to the 60-day injured list, which ends his season.
Contreras will be the 64th player used by the Orioles this season, two more than the franchise record set in 2021.
Tomoyuki Sugano didn’t allow a run today while he was on the mound and the Orioles kept manufacturing them.
They were able to control everything except the weather.
Sugano shut out the Mariners over 5 1/3 innings before a series of storms forced a stoppage that lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes in the Orioles’ 5-3 victory before an announced crowd of 14,083 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles are 55-66 overall and 7-14 in rubber games. They went 5-1 against the Mariners and are 13-5 since the beginning of 2023.
The 5-0 lead in the fifth inning represented the most runs scored since Aug. 6 in Philadelphia. They came on a wild pitch, double steal, single, double and sacrifice fly.
The first phone call came around 2 p.m. The Tigers informed pitcher Dietrich Enns that he was designated for assignment. The left-hander had lost his major league job.
The second call arrived about 3 ½ hours later with the deadline approaching. The Orioles had traded for Enns, consummating the deal under the wire. He was losing significant ground in the standings, going from first place to last, but he avoided a demotion to the minors.
“I probably took just a couple hours to process all of that stuff, I’m guessing,” he said yesterday morning. “I wasn’t sure if I was gonna stick around with Detroit or not, but it was a blessing to be able to get traded over here and have an opportunity here.”
That was merely the first part. Enns had to take advantage of it.
The first outing was rough, with Enns allowing a run and five hits in 1 2/3 innings against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He was scoreless in his next three appearances covering 3 2/3 innings, with two hits, no walks and nine strikeouts.
PHILADELPHIA – Keegan Akin is living, breathing baseball proof that you’re never too old to learn.
Akin turned 30 this year, and the second-round draft choice in 2016 is the longest-tenured Oriole after Ryan Mountcastle. He debuted in the 2020 COVID season, experienced his ups and downs and really became established last season with 66 appearances and a 3.32 ERA and 0.941 WHIP. He blended with his teammates, able to fill multiple roles as an extra left-hander in the bullpen. Nothing flashy, just a grinder who became more trustworthy in spots that weren’t filled by his higher-profile teammates.
That’s the way he liked it.
That isn’t how he’s operating past the trade deadline.
The Orioles became sellers and the bullpen was the hot spot, with Bryan Baker, Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge traded in that order for four minor leaguers and a competitive balance pick. Akin couldn’t see clearly until the dust settled.
PHILADELPHIA – The visiting clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park isn’t a good location for trying to identify new players.
Lockers don’t come with names, just uniform numbers that aren’t much use without a program or freakish memory skills. And the Orioles’ roster has undergone a startling makeover.
A player sat on a couch yesterday wearing a thick white headband and looking at his phone. The face was unrecognizable to anyone who missed the introductions in Chicago.
The stranger turned out to be first baseman Ryan Noda, who had a pinch-hit single Sunday. The Orioles claimed him on waivers from the White Sox over the weekend.
A pitcher sat at his locker who also hadn’t been in the organization the last time that the Orioles were home. A reporter on the beat discreetly held up his phone to reveal the player page belonging to left-hander Dietrich Enns, who was acquired from the Tigers at the trade deadline for cash considerations. Enns allowed a run and five hits Sunday in 1 2/3 innings.
The Orioles filled the last opening on their 26-man roster this morning by activating left-hander Dietrich Enns. He’s in the bullpen for this afternoon’s game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Enns is wearing No. 71.
Today’s lineup has the same nine players but the order and positions are altered.
Jeremiah Jackson, who collected his first major league hit yesterday, is the right fielder instead of designated hitter, a role filled today by Tyler O’Neill. Mayo is batting sixth instead of seventh.
Dylan Carlson remains in center field, with Colton Cowser in left.
The Orioles had six openings on their 26-man roster after today’s flurry of trades at the deadline. They narrowed it to five with one last transaction.
Left-hander Dietrich Enns was acquired from the Tigers for cash considerations, another move that apparently came just under the wire.
Enns, 34, made seven appearances with the Tigers this season, including a pair of starts, and allowed 11 earned runs and 12 total with 23 hits, four walks and 15 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings. The two starts came on June 26 and July 3, his first appearances with Detroit, and he had mixed results – five scoreless innings with one hit allowed against the Athletics and seven earned runs (eight total) and eight hits in four innings in D.C.
Four of his five relief appearances were scoreless. The exception came on July 24 against the Blue Jays, with four runs allowed in 1 1/3.
Enns made 14 starts with Triple-A Toledo this year and registered a 2.89 ERA in 62 1/3 innings. He walked 15 batters, struck out 71 and surrendered only four home runs.