Outing in Houston provides Wright something to build on

HOUSTON - Orioles right-hander Mike Wright Jr. was making his first start for the club since June 17, 2016. Taking the mound with a career ERA of 6.32 in 21 previous major league starts, the expectations were not exactly high among some in Birdland as Wright prepared to face the defending World Series champs.

But when Mychal Givens replaced Wright to start the last of the sixth last night, Wright was in line to be the winning pitcher. The winner in a game where the other starter was Justin Verlander.

Wright provided himself something to build on over his five innings and 82 pitches. He allowed four hits and three runs - two on Carlos Correa's inside-the-park homer in the first - with one walk and six strikeouts, which tied his career high. He threw 37 fastballs and 29 cutters/sliders that averaged 87.8 mph.

"Obviously, facing tough competition with the pitcher against him and that team, I was proud of Mike. He gave us good chance," manager Buck Showalter said.

Wright had not pitched in a game since a spring outing March 22 versus Boston, when he allowed seven runs over 4 1/3 innings. He fared better against Houston, a team that has scored 33 runs over its last four games. And he was feeling strong later in his outing.

"I felt like I made a lot of good pitches and obviously one pitch in the first went and cost us two runs, but considering how long it's been I felt pretty good," Wright said. "I felt like my pitch count was actually a little higher than I thought it was. I still felt strong the whole way through, if not stronger at the end than I did at the beginning."

Wright is a candidate to be replaced in the starting rotation when Alex Cobb eventually joins the Orioles, but since he is out of options, the O's would like to find a way to keep Wright on the roster. Wright will need to pitch well enough to make that happen in whatever role he is given. Last night was a step in the right direction.

"There's no soft spots in their lineup, so when you get into a hitter's count, they can be pretty dangerous, but I felt like my cutter got me out of some of those situations," Wright said. "I was definitely excited about that. I threw some pretty decent changeups, but mainly I was just trying to let my defense work because they're so good. I was definitely just trying to throw strikes and be aggressive."

The Orioles won 3-2 on opening day, but have now lost four in a row. In those games, they've given up 11 homers and 29 runs.

The Orioles have lost eight in a row in Houston, where they are 1-11 since 2015. Dylan Bundy faces Dallas Keuchel today, trying to pitch the Orioles to a win to avoid a three-game sweep before they head to Yankee Stadium.

Seeing Rule 5 picks Pedro Araujo and Nestor Cortes Jr. give up five runs in the seventh last night was tough, but the Orioles have to try and regroup when they take the field this afternoon.

Adam Jones homered off Justin Verlander on Tuesday night. It was his fourth career homer off the 2011 AL Cy Young Winner. Jones is one of eight players to tag Verlander for four or more career homers. Carlos Santana has hit eight off Verlander, Jim Thome has seven, and Alex Rodriguez and José Abreu have five. Joining Jones with four homers off the right-hander are Jermaine Dye, Victor Martinez and Joe Mauer.

Jones' two-run shot in the sixth last night was the 250th of his Orioles career. That ranks fifth in club history.