BALTIMORE–What happened? Pete Alonso was sitting in front of his locker. He knew the question was coming.
The Orioles had little going offensively, and he had reached first, moving Adley Rutschman to second, with a bizarre infield hit in the eighth with his team trailing by a run. With Weston Wilson in position to tie the game with a base hit, Alonso took too big a lead and was picked off by Toronto Blue Jays catcher Brandon Valenzuela, ending the inning and the Orioles’ chance for a sixth win in seven games.
After beginning their season-long 10 game homestand with five wins in six games and fresh off a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays punctuated by an 11-2 win on Wednesday, the Oriole bats were quiet. After 26 runs in the Rays’ series, they scored only one on Thursday night in a frustrating 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays before 13,778 at Camden Yards.
“I over-anticipated contact in the zone,” Alonso said. “I kind of had a pretty big primary lead with two outs, so there’s multiple things I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to get to second if there was a ball hit to the infield, beat the throw. And then … if there’s a ball hit in the outfield, either in the gap or down the line, would give myself the best chance to score. So it was kind of, my momentum, I was anticipating contact, but, I mean, it was a hell of a throw, great tag, great play by them to take advantage of the situation.
“It’s really tough to kind of take ourselves out of the inning like that, from just playing too far over my skis,” Alonso said. “I feel awful.
The Orioles (26-31) got their only run in the fourth on Coby Mayo’s sixth home run. They missed out on a promising scoring chance in the first when Gunnar Henderson was on second and Taylor Ward was on third with none out.
Rutschman lined to short, and then Alonso struck out for the second out. Mayo also struck out.
Said Alonso: “And then also not good either, not executing [with] guys in scoring position, less than two outs in the first inning.”
Manager Craig Albernaz spoke with Alonso about his baserunning mistake.
“His mind was to beat the throw to second if there was a ground ball, but his primary lead was a little large, and he was kind of left in no man’s land.,” Albernaz said. “That situation, it can’t happen, you know. And he acknowledged it, and it’s something that we’ve got to be on top of and be conscious of, especially with the way Valenzuela can throw and likes the back pick.”
Andres Giménez homered against Oriole starter Chris Bassitt in third. Bassitt allowed one run on four hits in six innings.
Anthony Nunez came into a 1-1 tie in the eighth. George Springer led off the inning with a double and was bunted to third by Nathan Lukes. Albernaz decided to intentionally walk Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has only three home runs this season, and Nunez (2-2) followed by loading the bases with a walk to Daulton Varsho.
Kazuma Okamoto struck out, but Yohendrick Piñango walked to score Springer with the game-winning run.
In the bottom of the eighth, Ward led off with a walk against submarine pitcher Taylor Rogers. Henderson struck out. Rutschman hit into a force play, and Alonso reached on an infield single when the ball hit off Rogers and bounced high into the air. Louis Varland replaced Rogers, but it was Alonso who took the Orioles out of the inning.
“That’s always a tough thing when you’re in a tough spot where you lose a close game, like a 2-1 game,” Albernaz said. “Everything is heightened. Like we feel in the dugout, the players feel it. Like you know what it’s going to be. Same thing on their side as well.
“You’ve got to play clean, mistake-free baseball and you’ve got to make sure when there’s opportunities, you’ve got to cash them in because you don’t know when those opportunities are going to come again. I like our approaches, but also we just didn’t get the job done with runners in scoring position.”
Varland allowed a one-out single to Leody Taveras in the ninth before Colton Cowser, who won two games with walkoff home runs this week, hit into a force play and Jackson Holliday grounded to first to end the game.
What was wrong with Nunez? It’s showing more and more that the Orioles miss Ryan Helsley, their closer who’s on the injured list with right elbow inflammation. Nunez wasn’t sharp.
“I love it when he has a quicker slide step-ish to the plate,” Albernaz said. “He’s a little more efficient getting downhill and the bigger leg kick, looked like it was tough for him to kind of find the zone a little bit.
“They put some really good at-bats against him, and that’s their calling card. They create a lot of contact. They force pitches in the strike zone and they weren’t chasing like his changeup, especially to lefties, and it was a great pinch-hit at-bat to work the walk. Wasn’t as sharp with his command as he usually is.”
How did Weston do? Cameron Weston, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Norfolk before the game, pitched a scoreless ninth in his major league debut. He struck out Gimenez, walked Valenzuela and George Springer hit into a double play.
“It was interesting,” Weston said. “I just tried to keep it as simple as possible. Just keep it like any other game. I’m not trying to put too much pressure on myself. It was a lot of fun.”
Weston was an unlikely addition to the Orioles when Trey Gibson was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after allowing just one run in 5 2/3 innings against the Rays.
“Always a little bit surprised,” Weston said. “Just ended a game in Norfolk, and then you just get the call and all of a sudden you’re hurrying up to catch a flight and on the move after that.”
What does it mean? The Orioles needed productive at-bats, and they didn’t get many.
What’s the stat of the day? 0-for-5. The Orioles didn’t convert with runners in scoring position.
What’s the word? “Yeah, tough one, tough one. I mean, huge kudos to Bass and the bullpen for just, everyone pitched their hearts out today. So it’s just really, really frustrating not being able to get this done. There’s two moments where I could have definitely done better. And it was runners in scoring position, less than two outs, and that play late in the game there.”-Alonso’s self-criticism of his bad game.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Double-A Chesapeake hit four home runs in its 12-3 win over Erie. Aron Estrada, Tavian Josenberger, Fernando Peguero and Thomas Sosa homered. Joseph Dzierwa struck out nine in 4 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on four hits.
Vance Honeycutt struck out in each of his four at-bats as High-A Frederick lost to Jersey Shore, 11-2.
What’s next? Trevor Rogers (2-6, 6.96) will start for the Orioles on Friday night. The Blue Jays have yet to name their starter. Game time is 7:05.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]