Wild pitch gives Orioles walk-off win and series sweep (updated)

The first inning didn’t hurt Grayson Rodriguez today. He punched back before it could leave marks.

A leadoff single by Akil Baddoo wasn’t a “here we go again” moment for the rookie. He struck out the next three batters for his only scoreless opening frame in four major league starts.

Rodriguez didn’t retire the side in order until the fifth, which included two of his six strikeouts. He managed to keep the Tigers scoreless while the Orioles tried to get their first base runner against Tigers left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez.

Ryan Mountcastle lined a two-out single into left-center field in the seventh to complete a tense eight-pitch at-bat against the former Orioles minor leaguer. There wouldn’t be an embarrassing entry into baseball’s history books.

There wouldn’t even be a shutout.

Pinch-hitter Anthony Santander lined a game-tying double down the left field line off Chasen Shreve with two outs in the eighth, with Jorge Mateo coming all the way around from first base. The game carried into extras, where Keegan Akin issued two intentional walks and left the bases loaded in the 10^th and Mason Englert threw a wild pitch to score automatic runner Adam Frazier in the bottom half and give the Orioles a 2-1 win and the sweep before an announced crowd of 36,975 at Camden Yards.

Pinch-hitter Terrin Vavra laid down a sacrifice bunt and Englert bounced a pitch with Mateo at the plate. Mateo waved Frazier home and the Orioles had another walk-off.

A normal finish just didn't seem to be in the cards today. Or in the series.

Frazier had a walk-off fielder's choice grounder Friday night, and he got doused again this afternoon after scampering home. The Orioles prevailed after collecting only three hits.

"It's fun," Frazier said. "I'd like to be involved in more. It means we're winning and doing something productive."

"He's a great baserunner," manager Brandon Hyde said, "and to be aggressive in that situation right there shows you he's got confidence on the bases. A veteran guy, knows what he's doing, total trust, and a great read right there."

The Orioles have produced three walk-off wins this season. They've swept back-to-back series for the first time since July 4-13, 2022.

They keep finding ways to get it done - traditional and unorthodox.

"Those kinds of wins at the end of the season, they add up," Frazier said. "That's how you make the playoffs. A lot of good teams can win a series, but to sweep a series is hard to do. You've got to do a lot of things right and have a couple things fall your way. We're just trying to take it one day at a time and that's really all you can do. And hopefully at the end, you've stacked a few extra ones like that."

Akin was pitching for the first time since April 12. He was on paternity leave and finally got into a game after returning to the club.

Way to be eased back into competition.

"I don't know if I'd call it eased, but it was good to finally get back out there after a few days," he said. "Probably not the most ideal situation, but it is what it is and have to deal with it."

His first win of the season is also his first as a father, and came against his hometown team.

"It feels good," he said. "I guess it makes it a little extra special. ... Eleven days off is not ideal, but it worked out."

"Keegan was pretty much it for us today," Hyde said. "Put him in a really tough spot there loading the bases, he's got to throw strikes, and he did. Really happy for him."

Austin Voth replaced Cionel Pérez with one out in the top of the eighth inning and runners on second and third base. Spencer Torkelson swung at the first pitch and flied to right, and Matt Vierling barely beat Ryan McKenna’s throw with a head-first slide.

Shreve entered in the bottom of the eighth and the Orioles had their second base runner after Mateo reached with one out on a broken-bat infield single – pieces of wood flying to the left side and the ball rolling to the right, where Shreve overran it. Gunnar Henderson struck out and Santander, batting .200 with a .602 OPS and six RBIs before today, lined a fastball inside third base.

Baddoo made a multi-hop throw back to the infield after retrieving the ball, and Mateo showed that his right hip was fine. He was flying, and third base coach Tony Mansolino wasn't going to ground him.

"It was a great send," Hyde said. "Mateo gets on you so fast as a third base coach because he's moving. Such an exciting player, so fun to watch him run the bases."

Eduardo Rodriguez kept making short work of the Orioles before they finally pressed him in the seventh.

"You give credit to him," Hyde said. "I thought he was on both corners, we didn't square many balls up against him. ... Not much hard contact and we had trouble with him."

How many games would the Orioles usually win with three hits?

"I think the math would say not many," Hyde said.

Jonathan Schoop came up with a nice backhand stop and throw from his knee to deny Henderson leading off the sixth, Rodriguez fielded McKenna’s bunt and threw him out and Cedric Mullins ran the count full and shattered his bat on a grounder to Schoop.

It was getting serious.

Austin Hays and Adley Rutschman struck out in the seventh before Mountcastle fell behind 1-2, fouled off four pitches and pulled a changeup into left-center.

No one has thrown a perfect game against the Orioles. Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen didn’t allow a base runner last August until Mateo’s leadoff double in the ninth at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles have been no-hit seven times in modern franchise history, the most recent by Hisashi Iwakuma on Aug. 12, 2015 in Seattle. The only Camden Yards no-hitter was produced by Boston’s Hideo Nomo on April 4, 2001.

"I really had no idea there was a perfect game or anything until I came out of the ballgame, then obviously you're rooting for your guys to get a hit," Grayson Rodriguez said. "He was throwing the ball pretty well today."

The bats were quiet for most of the afternoon, but the Orioles have allowed only three runs in their last 54 innings.

"It's pretty special," Rodriguez said. "I think we've got a lot of special pitchers in this clubhouse. I think some good things are just starting for us, so it's going to be exciting to see how we do as pitchers from here on out."

"I've always said pitching is kind of contagious," Akin said. "I feel like you see guys go out there and kind of set the standard, like Grayson did today. He didn't have his best stuff but he showed up and gave us five zeros, and the bullpen did the rest."

Rodriguez allowed five hits and walked three batters, running up his pitch count to 77 through the fourth and 92 in the game before Mike Baumann replaced him. His ERA was lowered from 6.91 to 5.12.

"I think there were definitely some things we could have done better," he said. "Obviously, the walks are kind of an issue, but really, just not having the greatest stuff today and the defense being there to back me up."

Asked this morning what next step he wanted from Rodriguez, Hyde said, “I’d love to see him build off those four shutout innings he threw after the first in Chicago.”

A first when Rodriguez surrendered two homers and four runs total before finding a groove.

“Hoping he turned the corner there,” Hyde said. “For me, that was a cool moment to watch a guy struggle early, terrible conditions, go down against Dylan Cease 4-0 and do what did, which was keep us in the game and our offense did the rest. He figured something out there. He didn’t have maybe his best stuff in the first inning but kind of got rolling there, utilizing his changeup, keeping his really good velocity throughout his outing. Love to see him do that again today.”

The six strikeouts came on three fastballs and one slider, cutter and changeup. The change was much more prominent in Chicago, with Rodriguez using it 27 times and striking out six batters, compared to the 17 thrown today.

Baumann retired the side in order in the sixth and Pérez stranded a Bryan Baker runner in the seventh. Vierling led off the eighth with a single, Kerry Carpenter singled on a smash that Mateo couldn’t backhand, and Zach McKinstry laid down a sacrifice bunt.

The matchup between Voth and Torkelson was set, and the fly ball finally put a run on the board. The lead dropped off in a flash.

The Orioles are 14-7 and own a six-game winning streak. They went 7-14 last April after the late start to the season, a product of baseball’s lockout and delayed spring training.

"Last year we won a lot out West (with Seattle), and it's kind of similar to there," Frazier said. "Everybody's together, everybody wants to win, everybody's rooting for each other. It's like a one through nine approach, not really relying on one person every night. One through nine you can impact a game, and the biggest thing is we're a team. It's a common goal every night between 26 guys. ... It's a group effort and that's how you win games.

"I feel like we're still learning how to win here. Everybody's still young, there hasn't been a lot of that the past few years. The second half of last year they started feeling that, and I think it's kind of carried over to this year."

Their surge to second place has been fueled by going 10-2 in their last 12 games against the Athletics, White Sox, Nationals and Tigers. They fly to Detroit Wednesday evening for a four-games series.

Hyde doesn’t break out the red marker and circle opponents that should be easier marks. Matchups that on paper should favor the Orioles.

“I do not,” he said this morning. “I don’t think that’s different in any sport. Football, basketball, baseball, there’s teams that their record is what it is, but you definitely can’t take teams lightly. Anybody can beat anybody on any single day.

“When you look at your schedule, you can forecast, well, this could be a tough stretch right here, these teams are playing really well. But if you look at teams like the Baltimore Orioles of last year, teams weren’t expecting us in the second half to be a tough series. There’s going to be teams like that again this year. I really play it game-to-game, series-to-series and worry about ourselves and not worry about anybody else and just do the best we can, try to win every game that we can.”

The Orioles get back into their division with a three-game series against the Red Sox beginning Monday night at Camden Yards. They’re a combined 2-4 against Boston and the Yankees.

Asked about the importance of stacking wins against the American League East, Hyde said, “I love to stack wins, whether it’s in the division or out of the division.”

“We have 140-something games to go, there’s so much baseball to be played, anything can happen,” he said. “Injuries happen, trade deadline happens. Teams could look totally different in the second half than they do the first half. You just try to win the games that are in front of you and see where you are in the end.”

The old schedule would have loaded up the Orioles early with AL East teams, stringing them together and threatening to break the bullpen, but division matchups are pared from 19 to 13 games. They don’t see the Rays until May 8 or the Blue Jays until May 19.

“I think everybody in our division is happy with the new schedule, and I think we feel like it’s more fair with the way the wild card is now that we don’t play each other as much,” Hyde said.

“I think the teams in our division are built-to-win teams with huge payrolls, starting pitching, back-end relievers that make a lot of money and superstar middle of the orders for the most part. That’s why it’s tough. But there’s other major league teams that are really good, also. You’re not going to take anybody lightly ever, and you just try to win every game you possibly can.”

Grayson Rodriguez allowed seven runs in the first inning before today. He struck out Riley Greene on a 97 mph fastball, Vierling on a slider and Carpenter on a 96.7 mph fastball. Twelve of his 18 pitches were strikes.

The pitch count grew to 40 in the second, but the Tigers wasted a leadoff double and two walks. Former Orioles infielders Tyler Nevin and Schoop grounded into a double play and lined out to center, respectively.  

The Tigers loaded the bases in the third and McKenna made a lunging catch in right field to rob Torkelson and leave Rodriguez at 61 pitches. Two singles with one out were followed by a fielder’s choice grounder and a walk before McKenna charged the line drive and gloved it.

Baddoo struck out on a cutter to end an eight-pitch at-bat and the fourth, stranding Schoop after his two-out single.

Two strikeouts and a fly ball in the fifth enabled Rodriguez to leave on a high note.

"I thought Grayson battled without his best stuff," Hyde said. "He had a tough time finding his off-speed stuff early. His fifth inning was his best inning by far from a stuff standpoint and a command standpoint. He competed and I thought we played really well defensively behind him."

* The Orioles honored future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera before the game, his last at Camden Yards. Hyde, bench coach Fredi González – his manager with the Marlins – and Santander waited for him in front of the mound and exchanged hugs. Hyde gave him a brick from the warehouse with an engraved plaque.

* Down on the farm, Cole Irvin made his second start for Triple-A Norfolk and was charged with five runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings.

Kyle Stowers, Josh Lester and Mark Kolozsvary hit home runs within the first four innings as Norfolk built a 15-0 lead. Lester’s eighth homer of the season was a grand slam.

Jordan Westburg had two hits, three walks and four RBIs.

Double-A Bowie’s Garrett Stallings allowed two runs and three hits in five innings. He surrendered two home runs, and his ERA is 2.40.

César Prieto had three more hits.

Max Wagner and Jud Fabian homered for high Single-A Aberdeen.