DETROIT—Many fans derided the Orioles’ four-game series with the Detroit Tigers, the teams with the two worst records in baseball. Some felt the Orioles, who beat the Tigers 6-2 on Friday night, would be better off losing the series and perhaps getting the first draft choice for the second straight year.
“As a player, of course, you don’t ever think about that,” said Trey Mancini, who hit his 31st home run and drove in three runs.
“I don’t fault anybody for thinking that. I get it. I understand what they’re saying. No, we definitely want to win these games. We don’t want to have the first pick for the second year in a row. I can tell you as players, that’s certainly not something to be proud of. We’re going out there wanting to win every game still.”
The Orioles won their 48th game, one more than they did last year when they went 47-115. With their 48-99 record, they lead Detroit (43-103) by 4 ½ games for the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft.
The Orioles had lost 10 of their previous 12.
Aaron Brooks pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, walking two. In Brooks’ last start on September 7, he gave up seven runs, six earned, in 2 2/3 innings.
“It was a great game,” Mancini said. “We played some really good defense out there and had some timely hitting. Brooksy did such a good job out there. He didn’t necessarily have his best stuff, but he grinded through and gave us a great performance and put us in a position to win the game.”
Along with Gabriel Ynoa, who starts Saturday, and Asher Wojciechowski, Sunday’s starter, Brooks is trying to use his remaining starts to secure a place on the 40-man roster over the winter.
“Just show that I can take the ball every five days and give our team a chance to win,” Brooks said.
Jonathan Villar led off the game with a roller that stayed fair for an infield hit. He stole second, moved to third on an infield out and scored on Mancini’s single against Jordan Zimmermann.
The Orioles added three in the fifth on a double by Stevie Wilkerson, DJ Stewart’s second home run, which hit the right-field foul pole, a single by Chance Sisco, a double by Villar, and an infield out by Mason Williams that scored Sisco.
Wilkerson ended the bottom of the fourth by throwing Jordy Mercer out from shallow right when he tried to score on Travis Demeritte’s single.
Brooks left six runners on in the first five innings. Miguel Cabrera flied to deep center, leaving two on to end the fifth.
“He was throwing strikes,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Had his slider going a little bit. Working ahead in the count. Staying aggressive. He’s had a tough time in the first as we’ve talked about his last couple starts and got through it tonight and did a nice job after.”
Christin Stewart doubled to start the sixth. He moved to third on Daniel Lugo’s infield out and scored on Mercer’s single. Shawn Armstrong replaced Brooks and gave up Willi Castro’s RBI single, and the Orioles led, 4-2, after six.
“As a starter, you always want to go out there and put up as many zeroes as you can, especially early for the momentum side of things,” Brooks said.
“It was a little frustrating to get a couple of early outs and then kind of lose a little bit of mechanics, which I felt I was struggling the whole game to get my feet underneath me.”
Mancini’s line-drive home run to right-center with Williams on base against Jose Cisneros to start the seventh put the Orioles ahead, 6-2.
Paul Fry, a Detroit-area native, pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, and Hunter Harvey worked a spotless inning in his first outing since September 2. He threw 11 pitches in the 98-99 mph range. Harvey had been out with biceps soreness.
“I talked to him some this week, and it didn’t sound like anything serious but, obviously, we want to be cautious with Hunter,” Mancini said. “I can’t say enough about him with how he’s done since he’s gotten called up. He’s just electric out there. He’s got such good stuff, so it was real nice to see him pitch and play behind him.”
Mychal Givens worked a scoreless ninth. Overall, the bullpen worked 3 2/3 innings without allowing a run and giving up just two hits.
“It’s been a lot better, a lot better,” Hyde said. “Guys have kind of settled in. When we’re aggressive and working ahead in the count, we do a nice job. It’s when we fall behind and center-cut things in bad spots that we run into trouble. But for the most part our guys have done a nice job working ahead in the count and staying on the attack.”
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I like the outfield of Santlander , Hays and Williams in CF and DJ if he doesn’t get knocked on the head with any more fly balls for 2020. Mountcastle can come up early and DH and play some leftflied. Mancini glued to first base. Please Davis you are getting a award for your charitable work with is so wonderful of you. Do the biggest charity and have some pride and when Elias gives you the award announce your retirement. You have enough money to live comfortably the rest of your life.
Agtee,can see an OF of Santander,Hays,Williams,Stewart. #2 in the draft looks like the pick. As solid as Villar has been offensively he seems to add a degree of mental confusion to the team. That is the approach they have to correct going forward---fundamentals,mental mistakes. Elias said he'll concentrate on beefiing up the pitching. We'll see.
Lost 10 of the last 12 & things are going much better, heads in the sand...go O’s in the battle of the bottom...I think Mancini ought to talk more, winning & the last two weeks are important, very important...
Just win baby!
Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun the bullpen “has been the best in baseball for more than three weeks.“ Anyone know if this is true or know of any stats to support this claim? It sounds questionable to me.
First, ditch The Sun. Garbage now. Second, from MASN before last night's game: Orioles relievers lead the majors with a 2.87 ERA in 75 1/3 innings since Aug. 20. They’ve recorded 73 strikeouts with 25 walks for a 2.92 K/BB ratio that’s the fourth-best mark in the American League during that span.
Thanks Biff. I get the Washington Post which gets its Orioles news from the Sun. I’ve noticed several inaccuracies in the reporting this season.
So then the Sun’s reporting was true.
Apparently so. That bullpen factoid really surprised me.
Did anyone besides me watch MASN's "Mid Atlantic Sports Report" last night. Phil Wood went to great lengths criticizing Dylan Bundy for not covering home plate after Severino missed catching the third strike on Russell Martin that allowed 2 runners to score. I know Phil is a walking encyclopedia of baseball history but I can give Dylan a pass on this one albeit a short pass.
First, the dink and dunk singles that the Dodgers got in that inning, then the error on Rio Ruiz's ground out, then the missed check swing third strike and finally the passed ball. Oh, by the way, since there were 2 outs and a full count, the runners were moving on the pitch so it would have been a close play at the plate to get the runner who started at second on the pitch.
Totally agree. If he's gonna bash bash Ruiz for opening the food gates,bash Severino for committing the passed ball. Bundy pitched his guts out. Yes he had a mental lapse but how many(mental lapses)have we seen overall this year?
The difference between Ruiz,Severino, and Bundy is that the first 2 were physical mistakes. Those happen all the time. There was no excuse for Bundy not to cover home plate on that pitch. The foul tip claim was bogus. If it was a foul tip, Severino wouldn’t have run to the backstop to retrieve the ball. What frustrates Hyde as well as all managers are mental mistakes. In that situation, Bundy let his frustration get the better of him. And he knows it, and hopefully won’t do it again
Sorry, Clay, but I have to demur. I don't exonerate Bundy although I doubt that anyone prepared him mentally or physically for a situation where the catcher misses a perfect third strike, the bases are loaded, and there are two out. Obviously, there is no chance to get the first runner unless the catcher somehow gets a perfect rebound. That the second runner scored was a bold bit of improvisation that worked out, partly because the plate was not covered, although I haven't checked the tape to see exactly where Severino was with the ball as the run scored. He is not always the quickest at chasing passed balls, despite all his experience with them. It was a freak play in a very specific situation, and I give credit to the Dodgers for their quick wits and quicker feet. And given the game situation and the relative strength of the teams, I think they would have sent the second runner even if Bundy were covering home; it would have taken a fast and accurate throw from Severino and a perfect tag by Bundy. Also, I'm not so forgiving of physical mistakes, especially on simple plays practiced.thousands of times. In most cases they involve the mental mestake of inattention.
I’m with Clay on this one. You can’t justify Bundy’s mental error by citing poor play by others. Umpire would’ve signaled foul tip if that was the call.
Good to see them get beyond last year's win total. Many were predicting a worse record this year.
Measurable improvement. Let's see how many more they can get. I like Mancini's saying they're trying
to win , despite the front office's denials.