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BALTIMORE—In this most challenging of Orioles seasons, the team was presented with a new challenge on Sunday. They wanted to avoid being part of history.
For eight innings, Ryne Stanek and Ryan Yarbrough completely throttled the Orioles, not allowing a baserunner. There was nothing close to a hit, and only two relatively hard-hit balls.
The Tampa Bay Rays were three outs away from the first combined perfect game in baseball history, and the Orioles couldn’t have that happen.
In their history, they’ve never been involved in a perfect game, and Hanser Alberto wanted that to continue.
Alberto led off the ninth and slapped a single to right-center field against Yarbrough, allowing the Orioles to avoid humiliation if not a 4-1 loss to the Rays.
“Finally, we get it,” Alberto said. “We were trying to get [it] the whole game, and he was pitching really good, a really good performance, pitching in and out. His offspeed was really good. Every inning, we go there and compete and try to get somebody on base. Finally, we did it in the ninth inning.”
Alberto said he started to think about the no-hitter after four innings.
“Every time we go four, five innings, then we start thinking that we have to do something,” Alberto said. “We don’t [want] history like that.”
Stevie Wilkerson followed Alberto with another single, and Chance Sisco struck out. Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash removed Yarbrough and Oliver Drake retired Jonathan Villar on a force out.
Anthony Santander singled to score Alberto. The Orioles had also avoided a shutout.
Emilio Pagan struck out Trey Mancini to end the game.
“You’re just hoping somebody gets a hit,” manager Brandon Hyde said.
“You’re sitting there watching and you’re hoping. I saw a little frustration from our guys today … later on in the game, which I think is OK. They were showing some emotion … they don’t want to be embarrassed.”
It was the 65th defeat, although not a history-making one.
“I mean, we lost the game,” Hyde said. “ I thought they did a really nice job. I thought Stanek was just dominating. I thought Yarbrough, that was the best I’ve ever seen him.
“I didn’t think our at-bats were real good, so that’s what I was thinking about for the majority of the game. They put a clinic on how to pitch inside and be able to use offspeed stuff to chase, and we just kept chasing the ball.
“I don’t know how many times we got jammed early in the count. But for me, that’s not competitive when that continues to happen. So then you’re just hoping we get a hit somewhere down the line, and Alberto got one through the shift.”
Eshelman pitches at home: Tom Eshelman was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to make his first start at home. He allowed four runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking one.
Austin Meadows and Michael Brosseau homered. Brosseau’s was a two-run shot. He has four home runs this season, all against the Orioles.
Eshelman allowed two runs on six hits in five innings in his major league debut on July 1 at Tampa Bay.
“I thought Tommy threw the ball great,” Hyde said “I was really impressed … a ton of strikeouts. He was ahead of 17 hitters, first-pitch strikes. So he did a really nice job. Pitched to the edges, changed speeds, kept them off balance. Just made a bad pitch to a guy that’s killing us right now. Brosseau and Gleyber Torres are O’s killers.”
Eshelman was rooting for the offense to come through.
“I’m not going to lie,” Eshelman said. “I’m really glad we broke it up.”
Bundy on health and trades: Pitcher Dylan Bundy got a cortisone shot on his right knee Saturday. Bundy is on the 10-day injured list with tendinitis and expects to miss one start. He’ll be eligible to pitch again on July 23 in Arizona.
“I’ve been dealing with it for over two months now,” Bundy said. He felt soreness in the knee while he warmed up for Friday’s game, in which he allowed seven runs on eight hits in the one inning he worked.
“This was the first time I actually felt it in a game, though,” Bundy said. “You don’t want to change the way you throw, the way you land or how you land or how you’re pitching on the mound. I thought it was best to get it taken care of now.”
Bundy’s locker was adjacent to Andrew Cashner’s. He wasn’t stunned that Cashner was traded Saturday to the Boston Red Sox for two 17-year-old international prospects as the Orioles strive to acquire more young talent in their rebuild.
“I think we all knew it was coming, but still it catches you by surprise,” Bundy said. “We wish the best for him and he’s going to have a good time over there.”
Bundy might hear his name mentioned between now and the July 31 trade deadline, even though he’s 4-11 with a 5.28 ERA.
“I try not to think about it,” Bundy said. “It seems like every year there are rumors out there. I’m sure it will, but I try not to pay too much attention to it and just go out there and do your job, and that’s pitching.”
Rotation woes: Without Cashner and Bundy, at least for the short term, Hyde will have to juggle the rotation again.
Asher Wojciechowski will start on Tuesday, and Aaron Brooks, who pitched a hitless 2 2/3 innings on Saturday, goes Wednesday against the Washington Nationals.
“I’ve never had to deal with this rotation stuff that we’ve had this year,” Hyde said. “That’s been challenging. You can’t win in this league if you can’t pitch. It’s hard to stay competitive if you’re not pitching. It’s hard to stay competitive if you’re down a bunch of runs early.
“That’s been challenging, to piece together a rotation instead of rolling out five guys and having a guy or two that’s a swing guy or a guy in Triple-A that you call up when necessary.”
The Orioles have used a club record 15 starters.
“We’ve had just a mixed bag of, ‘Who can do this now?’” Hyde said. “We’re not in an ideal spot, and hopefully these days we’ll look back on, and say, ‘Wow, how did we do it?’”
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Does anybody know how many times Gary Thorne mentioned the Perfect-O on air while it was going on?
Second question .. how many more games will we be forced to listen to Ben McDonald?
Did anybody else take an especially ironic-glee that the no-hitter was broken on a weak ground ball through the empty 4 hole while the shift was on?
Agree about Ben. Rough on the ears. His "corn pone" was ok in old westerns but not now.
1) It worked. He busted the superstition. :-)
2) I'm not a big fan of Bordick's "cheese" but, I may be changing my mind.
3) Indeed so! At the time, I was not a fan of Charlie Lau's spray the ball hitting school but, it's time to bring it back. George Brett would hit .400 against these shifts.
One of my own: Trey's slump is tough to watch. Tying run at the plate, 1st and 3rd, 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, did anybody else find themselves wishing Chris Davis were hitting instead of Trey Mancini for the first time in ages?
Ben Mcdonald May be a very nice guy but he belongs somewhere where no one has to listen to him talk. Don’t know who gave the OK to put him on air but it’s time to end the experiment. Give me Roberts, Bordick—-I don’t care. They all sound like gems in comparison.
Agree about that Mancini at back. He does show a lack of discipline at times. Davis.--that may be a stretch.
No!
I wonder what you're looking for in a Color Analyst for the Orioles..
Ben McDonald, in my opinion is a great Analyst and Announcer for the Orioles. They wait until this part of the season because he is the voice of SEC Baseball, where he is rightfully treasured. He does a great job and represents himself well as someone who played here and still loves the Orioles and Baltimore.
There are lots of things to complain about right now in Birdland, but picking on Ben shouldn't be on this List....jeeez.
I agree. i like Ben. Bordick and Dave Johnson are total blah.
I like Big Ben. Bigger question is why the Orioles are using beat writers as Play by Play and color guys on Orioles Radio Network. Cutting costs?
Listening to McDonald makes me feel like I should be giggin' frogs.
I hate that cash is gone but now is the time we go all in on the pups. Bring up our future and get their feet wet. Go orioles
Totally agree, bring the youngens up...go O’s...
Here’s my problem...we bring up young guys, they struggle, and this board lights up with GM’s who bash Elias for ruining the confidence of our minor league players. I’m not a GM, nor do I identify as one, AND I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Hence, I shall faithfully abide by the decisions made by the team.
Another example of the baseball execs of today knowing more than BB execs for 100 years. In the past teams often put a rookie in and let him pitch for a half season or more
before they sent him down, even if he struggled. Often they put kid pitchers in the bullpen as long men to learn until they were ready to start. Now they are afraid the "little petunias" will wilt if they don't have immediate success.
I am curious. Did you always faithfully "abide by the decisions made by" Dan and Buck?
This board will light up no matter what he does, the nature of the beast...go O’s...
What youngens? The cupboard's bare at least pitching wise. Hays,Stewart should be in the OF by 8/1. Mancini/Davis are in Mountcastle's way for now.
When bringing up young pitchers one thing to consider is if they are on the 40 man roster. If you bring them up before you have to and they struggle and you send them back that uses an option on them. So that reduces the time a pitcher has to develop. Miguel Castro for instance was pitching for the Blue Jays at 20. Now he is 24, out of options, and would have to pass through waivers for the Orioles to send him to the minors. As for bringing them up and having them pitch out of the bullpen before they are ready, you only have these guys for 6 years. You hope to maximize their production. Also you are trying to maximize their production when the team is competitive, not having an historically bad season-again
It was easier to believe in Buck as he won here & anywhere else he managed...go O’s...
Victortee, I absolutely went along with previous managers and GM’s...because again, they know more about running a MLB than me (and you).
The Orioles are about to give the expression"Dog Days" a whole new meaning. Yikes! For the very first time I can say I feel bad for Hyde. He has nothing.
Eshelman’s start was really pretty decent. If he can give us games like that every 5th day that’s a lot more than we’ve gotten from our 5th slot this year. I suppose he’ll get plenty of turns
A 6.34 ERA every fifth day is going to give the Orioles exactly what they've gotten out of that spot all year-nothing.
I was a little pissed when Thorne openly wished for the perfect game. I also think he does a terrible job in general. I wonder sometimes if he's even paying attention to the game.
Thorne is one of these announcers(a la Jon Miller,who I couldn't stand)that mistakenly think people tune in to listen to them be "clever".
Don't display your ignorance of baseball by saying you couldn't stand Jon Miller, by all accounts one of the best announcers in BB history.
Shame on you. Jon Miller is a god.
Jon Miller is in the Hall of Fame , so some people think highly of him.
Did somebody just trash Jon Miller? Um, OK... should we be thankful that "Chuck Thompson" character isn't on the air anymore too?
Jon Miller is a master and I still resent Angelos for driving him away.
Thorne seems to be a radio guy trying to do TV. His style just irritates me.
Back in the day S a kid listening to the orioles on radio, when they pulled no punches. But why do our pitchers have to wait fourteen years to make it to the majors. I saw a team forget which may Bring up a pitcher who started the year in single a
We have a generation of marshmallows...they are not tough enough to deal with some struggles...I’ve said it before, everybody gets participation trophies now, suck it up & listen to coaches & give 100%, that’s all we can ask, some days 100% isn’t enough, or you have a bad day, JC, it’s not the end of the world, some people are wondering where their next meal is coming from, this is a game their making INCREDIBLE money to play, their not preparing our next generation in the classroom or protecting our country, sorry, off the soapbox, go O’s...
Regardless that the Orioles are conducting tryouts at the Major League level this year, we are playing at a pace to win 48 games this year, one more than 2018. Progress; definitely not, but we don't have Machado, Jones, Schoop, and several other established players that accomplished the same exact results. It's like gardening: you have to pluck the weeds, before flowers will grow and look beautiful!.