Oriole bats quiet again in loss to Nationals; Mancini ends hitless streak; Baumann's no-hitter for Bowie - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff

Oriole bats quiet again in loss to Nationals; Mancini ends hitless streak; Baumann’s no-hitter for Bowie

BALTIMORE—The Orioles have scored two runs and had seven hits in their past two games. That’s not going to produce many wins.

On Sunday, they didn’t have a single baserunner through eight innings. They managed three hits in the ninth and lost, 4-1.

After an off-day, the bats were quiet again Tuesday night against the Washington Nationals. They had just four hits, two from Hanser Alberto, in an 8-1 loss that got uglier as they game went on. It was 2-1 after five innings.

Austin Voth won his first major league game, allowing the four hits in six innings. Tanner Rainey and Javy Guerra didn’t give up a hit in the last three innings.

Trey Mancini broke an 0-for-24 slump with a dribbler over first base that went for a double in the third.

“It felt pretty good,” Mancini said. “I definitely didn’t feel like myself still up there tonight, but found a hole there on a nice little dribbler. Yeah, it’s definitely a weight off the shoulders, so hopefully I’ll start getting back to where I was a couple weeks ago.”

On July 3, when he had his last hit, Mancini was hitting .300; he’s down to .282.

Mancini isn’t the only Oriole who’s struggling. Dwight Smith Jr. was hitless in four at-bats and is in an 0-for-30 skid. His average has fallen to .230.

Chris Davis is hitless in 13 at-bats, and Richie Martin, who didn’t play, is 0-for-21.

“It’s tough,” Mancini said. “Especially tough that a lot of us are kind of going through it at the same time because obviously the offense won’t have the input that we want.

“A lot of times when it’s one or two guys maybe struggling the rest of the guys pick them up, but there’s quite a few of us who are going through little funks right now and that’s unfortunately what happens in baseball and hopefully we can all break out of it pretty soon here.”

As Davis did when he broke his 0-for-33 skid to start the season, Mancini asked for the slump-breaking ball.

“I have it in my locker,” Mancini said. “So definitely going to keep that. I honestly don’t even know where my first hit is from 2016, but I’m going to make sure I keep track of this one.”

Manager Brandon Hyde, who said the team didn’t have competitive at-bats in Sunday’s loss, said the team’s effort was better.

“We didn’t swing the bat really well,” Hyde said. “I thought we competed. I thought Voth threw a nice game. We had some opportunities. I don’t know if we’re trying too hard. Obviously, we have a few guys that are kind of in a funk right now and are pressing a little bit. Not one of our better nights, offensively.”

Wojociechowski’s night: Starter Asher Wojciechowski allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter.

Matt Adams and Juan Soto homered. Adams’ home run landed on Eutaw Street.

It was Wojciechowski’s third start for the Orioles.

“Just kind of getting in a rhythm of things,” Wojciechowski said. “Still throwing too many pitches. Just the first three innings, I was at almost 70 pitches, that’s just too many. So, I need to be able to execute quicker. Try to get quicker outs, but, yeah, I feel good right now.

“I feel good in my delivery. Like the way the ball is coming out. Been able to spin some good breaking balls. I need to get my changeup gong to where I can throw it consistently and it can be a good pitch. I really haven’t had it. My other pitches have been good, my fastball has been playing up. Just going to continue to go out and compete and give my all.”

Shawn Armstrong, Miguel Castro, Jimmy Yacabonis and Tayler Scott were each scored upon in relief of Wojciechowski.

He said he tagged it: Alberto went back to first base after his home run because he wanted to make sure he tagged it.

“I really didn’t miss because I felt that I touched it, but I just wanted to be sure,” Alberto said. “I didn’t want to lose the home run because of that replay. I wanted to be 100 percent sure that I touched it and kept running. It was good, tie the game early in the game.”

Alberto made a baserunning mistake on his other hit, hesitating before he broke for second and getting thrown out easily.

Running on Sisco: Trea Turner, Brian Dozier and Adam Eaton stole bases with Chance Sisco was behind the plate. Sisco has thrown out just three of 19 (16 percent) of runners trying to steal.

Dozier and Eaton scored.

Baumann throws no-hitter: Bowie’s Michael Baumann threw a no-hitter against Harrisburg. Baumann struck out 10 and walked two in the 6-0 win. His ERA is 0.33 in five starts.

Other minor matters: Norfolk Infielder Jace Peterson, who spent most of last season with the Orioles, was granted his release a day after he opted out of his contract. Peterson was named the International League Batter of the Week on Monday … Ryan Ripken, son of Cal Ripken Jr., was promoted from High-A Frederick to Bowie.

RAVENS NEWS from BaltimoreSports.com

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