Orioles' bats boom again in 10-3 win over Mets; Valaika's heavy heart; Good night in minors - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff

Orioles’ bats boom again in 10-3 win over Mets; Valaika’s heavy heart; Good night in minors

BALTIMORE—In the Orioles’ 14-game losing streak, they scored two runs or fewer seven times. That seems so long ago.

Since that streak ended a week ago, the Orioles have won five of six and their quiet bats have begun to boom.

On Tuesday night, they had 16 hits, nine for extra bases, as they beat the New York Mets, 10-3, before an announced crowd of 9,431 at Oriole Park.

In their last two games, the Orioles have 28 runs and 37 hits.

Cedric Mullins continued his hot hitting with a pair of doubles and moved his average up to .325. Freddy Galvis had three hits. Maikel Franco, Trey Mancini, Anthony Santander, Pedro Severino and Pat Valaika each had two hits. One of Franco’s hits, a three-run homer, reached the second deck in left field — only the sixth time that has occurred at Oriole Park.

“I thought tonight we took really good at-bats,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “A lot of production from the bottom half of the order … just a balanced offensive attack tonight. A lot of deep counts, we weren’t chasing much.”

Starter Bruce Zimmermann, who pitched five innings, allowed a two-run home run to Pete Alonso, his eighth, with two outs in the first to give the Mets (29-24) a 2-0 lead.

The Orioles (22-38) scored three in the bottom of the second against David Peterson (1-5) on a two-run double by Valaika. Mullins’ double scored Valaika.

Valaika doubled in the third to score Galvis, and the Orioles led, 4-2.

Mullins led off the fourth with another double, this one against Robert Gsellman, and it was 5-2.

Franco launched his three-run home run in the fifth. It was his seventh of the season and put the Orioles ahead, 8-2.

Ryan Mountcastle, who edged out Mullins for American League Player of the Week on Monday, drove in Santander with a single in the sixth to make it 9-2.

Santander’s eighth-inning home run, his fourth, made it 10-2.

Zimmermann (4-3) allowed two runs on two hits, none after the first inning. He walked two and struck out seven. In his four wins, the Orioles have scored 38 runs.

“It’s great for a young pitcher like myself,” Zimmermann said. “I can pitch a little bit differently, a little more aggressive. It means a lot, and it gives me a lot of confidence.

“The way that they’ve hit lately is phenomenal and gives the pitching staff a lot of confidence and be aggressive and get strikes early. It has a snowball effect.”

Hunter Harvey pitched a scoreless sixth. Tyler Wells pitched two spotless innings. Travis Lakins allowed a two-out home run to Alonso in the ninth.

Notes: The other Orioles to hit a home run to the second deck in left field were Mark Reynolds (August 7, 2011) and Manny Machado (June 2, 2017). Alonso was the last to do it on September 2, 2020. … Matt Harvey (3-6, 6.62 ERA) will face Taijuan Walker (4-2, 2.17) on Wednesday night. They faced each other on May 12th when the Mets won, 7-1. … The Orioles, who defeated Cleveland 18-5 on Sunday, scored 10 or more runs in consecutive games for the first time since September 23-24, 2019..

Valaika’s heavy heart: Valaika returned after missing three games after the death of his father-in-law, Joaquin Vega.

“He was one of my biggest fans,” Valaika said. “He loved watching me play, more than anything. He really lived for it. I knew coming back that all he would want me to do is to play. That’s what he told me all the time.

“’Just go and play, play like in Little League, have fun.’ He always told me I’m living the dream. Sometimes, I take it for granted. He was definitely with me tonight.

“That game was for him, and the rest of the season, honestly, is going to be for him.”

Winning night in minors: Austin Hays homered in his first rehab game for Triple-A Norfolk. Hays, who’s on the 10-day injured list because of a strained left hamstring, went 1-for-3 and played seven innings in left field. Dean Kremer pitched 4 2/3 innings for the Tides, allowing three runs on one hit. He walked three and struck out seven as Norfolk beat the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 4-3. In his return to the Tides after missing nearly a month because of an oblique injury, second baseman Jahmai Jones was 1-for-3.

Grayson Rodriguez, who on Monday was named the top pitching prospect in the minor leagues by Baseball America, threw five shutout innings as Double-A Bowie beat Binghamton, 12-0. Rodriguez gave up two hits, walked two and struck out six. In two starts with the Baysox, he’s allowed one run on six hits in 10 innings.

Rightfielder Johnny Rizer went 4-for-5, including three doubles. In his first seven games with Bowie, Rizer is batting .485. Shortstop Cadyn Grenier had three hits and is hitting .293. The Baysox improved to 22-7, the best record in the minors.

High-A Aberdeen scored four runs in the seventh and five in the ninth in a 10-1 win over Bowling Green. Drew Rom pitched six innings, allowing one run on four hits, striking out seven without a walk. Rom is 3-0. Shortstop Jordan Westburg had two hits and two RBIs for the IronBirds, who are 20-9.

Noah Denoyer improved to 3-0 as he threw five scoreless innings and allowed just one hit as Low-A Delmarva beat Lynchburg, 3-0. Denoyer walked three and struck out five. The Shorebirds are 21-9.

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