Harvey, Orioles struggle in loss to Red Sox; Mattson makes debut; Lowther will get start Saturday - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff

Harvey, Orioles struggle in loss to Red Sox; Mattson makes debut; Lowther will get start Saturday

See how BaltimoreBaseball.com can grow your business.

BALTIMORE—The good feelings from John Means’ no-hitter on Wednesday didn’t last long for the Orioles on a rainy Friday night.

After starter Matt Harvey retired the Boston Red Sox in order in the top of the first, the Orioles had a chance to give him a lead in the bottom of the inning. Cedric Mullins walked, Austin Hays blooped a single to center, and Trey Mancini hit a line drive to right. However, Mancini’s shot was caught by rightfielder Hunter Renfroe, and Mullins, who misread the play and took off for third, was doubled up at second. End of rally.

Then, with one out out in the top of the second, Boston’s Rafael Devers got jammed and dumped a double into left field. It would be that kind of night for Harvey and the Orioles.

Harvey grappled through three innings and allowed four unearned runs in the fourth as the Orioles lost to Red Sox, 6-2, before 7,724 at Oriole Park.

The Orioles (15-17) failed in their seventh attempt to get to the .500 mark.

Harvey (3-2) allowed two hits and hit a batter in the first three innings. In the fourth, Devers grounded to first baseman Pat Valaika, who threw to Harvey, covering first. Harvey couldn’t handle the throw and was charged with an error. Devers stole third and scored on Renfroe’s single.

Bobby Dalbec, who singled in the third, snapping an 0-for-27 slide, hit a three-run home run to left for a 4-0 lead.

“We’d been playing really clean baseball,” Hyde said. “We played well on the road trip [in Oakland and Seattle]. Tonight wasn’t our best night on the bases or defensively, and it hurt us. It cost us.

“We didn’t exactly help him out defensively,” Hyde said of Harvey. “We need to start playing better defense behind Matt because Matt’s doing a nice job. We just didn’t play a really clean baseball game. We didn’t score many runs for him, and we didn’t play our best defense.”

Harvey left after four innings, his shortest start of the season. Because of the four unearned runs, his ERA dropped from 4.06 to 3.60.

“I just really didn’t have it tonight,” Harvey said. “I was just all over the place, really. Physically, I didn’t feel that great, and I wasn’t able to get it done.

“I didn’t feel good mechanically. I didn’t feel good physically. I didn’t feel that I was strong out there. It was a rough day. Chalk it up, move on and get ready for my next one.”

Harvey’s next start is likely to come Wednesday when the Orioles face his old team, the New York Mets at Citi Field.

Former Oriole Eduardo Rodriguez (5-0) gave up one run on seven hits in five innings for Boston (20-13).

Mullins doubled with one out in the fifth. Hays walked, and Mancini’s base hit scored Mullins.

Ryan Mountcastle led off the bottom of the sixth against Hirokazu Sawamurawith with his second home run, his first since the Orioles’ home opener on April 8th.

Mountcastle and Hays had their first three-hit games of the season. Hays singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh against Garrett Whitlock, and Mancini hit into a double play to end the inning.

Christian Vazquez’s RBI double scored Devers in the eighth against Dillon Tate, and the Orioles were down, 5-2.

Mountcastle and Freddy Galvis singled with two outs in the eighth, but DJ Stewart popped to short for the third out.

The Orioles were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base. They’re 4-11 at home.

“We had a lot of baserunners,” Hyde said. “We didn’t get the big hit.”

Isaac Mattson made his major league debut in the ninth, allowing a run on Marwin Gonzalez’s RBI double. He was sent to Triple-A Norfolk after the game to make room for Zac Lowther, who will be recalled to make Saturday’s start against Boston’s Garrett Richards.

Notes: A ceremony to honor Means for his no-hitter will be held before Saturday night’s game. It was supposed to be held before Friday night’s game but was postponed because of the inclement weather. … The game began after a delay of one hour, 38 minutes. It was the Orioles’ first rain delay. They’ve been postponed three times.

RAVENS NEWS from BaltimoreSports.com

40 Comments

40 Comments

You must be logged in to post a comment Login or Register Here

Leave a Reply

To Top