Jul 20, 2021; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher John Means (47) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
In his first start since injuring his left shoulder on June 5th, John Means allowed five runs in five innings in the Orioles’ 9-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.
It ended the Orioles’ fifth three-game winning streak of the season.
Means (4-3) gave up five runs on seven hits, striking out two and threw 78 pitches.
“I thought I was attacking, and so were they,” Means said. “I had too many fat pitches today.”
In three rehab starts after a strained left shoulder put him on the injured list, Means had a 5.63 ERA.
“I just thought it was one of those outings after coming off rehab where I wasn’t as sharp as I would like,” Means said. “I thought my pitch count was good. I thought I was definitely pounding the zone and I could have easily gone back out there, but I get it. It was my first outing coming back … I understand that, but I thought I could have finished a little stronger than I did.”
Tampa Bay (56-39) scored two runs off Means in the first inning on an RBI single by Vidal Bruján and a sacrifice fly by Wander Franco.
A second-inning RBI single by Pedro Severino against Shane McClanahan (4-3) cut the lead to 2-1.
Randy Arozarena hit his 11th homer of the year in the third, and Francisco Mejia had a two-run homer, his fourth, in the fourth and Tampa Bay led, 5-1.
Arozarena is batting .438 with five home runs and 14 RBIs in seven games against the Orioles this season.
“I just thought he was rusty early,” manager Brandon Hyde said of Means. “He got better as the game went on. I thought his stuff improved.”
Hyde said he was going to be cautious with Means after the injury.
“We got him through five. We probably could have kept him going,” Hyde said. “When he feels good, that’s a positive. Now, we’ll continue to stretch him out.
“Tonight, I was definitely not going to stretch him. I’m going to see how he feels the rest of the way.”
McLanahan gave up one run on four hits in five innings, striking out seven and walking one.
César Valdez pitched two spotless innings for the Orioles (31-63) in the sixth and seventh.
The Orioles scored two runs in the eighth as the Rays committed two of their four errors. Ryan Mountcastle was credited with a sacrifice fly on right fielder’s Brandon Lowe’s error that allowed Austin Hays to score. A double by Anthony Santander made it 5-3. Hays reached on a throwing error by Franco at third base to begin the inning.
A wild pitch by J.P. Feyereisen moved Santander to third. Ramón Urias walked, but Severino and DJ Stewart were called out on strikes by Pete Fairbanks.
The Orioles failed to capitalize on the other two Tampa Bay errors by first baseman Ji-Man Choi in the third and Bruján at second in the fourth.
“They definitely gave us some opportunities,” Hyde said. “We had a shot there in the eighth. We had the tying run on with one out, and two shots at it. They have really good bullpen arms … They bring in a bunch of dudes that have high-octane fastballs and good secondary stuff.”
The Orioles were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
“We made it tight in the eighth inning there. We just didn’t get that big hit there with runners on first and third.”
Shaun Anderson, in his third appearance with the Orioles, allowed four runs, one unearned, in the eighth inning as Tampa Bay increased its lead to 9-3.
The Orioles have lost 13 of their last 15 to the Rays.
Notes: Keegan Akin (0-5, 8.19 ERA) will face starts Michael Wacha (2-2, 5.14) on Wednesday. The game will begin at 12:10 p.m. … The Orioles signed outfielder Donta’ Williams, their fourth-round draft choice. … The game was seen exclusively on YouTube, and it was broadcast by an all-female crew featuring Orioles broadcaster Melanie Newman.
Minor league update: Cody Sedlock (2-2) allowed six runs in four innings as Double-A Bowie lost to Hartford, 6-3.
First baseman Toby Welk and leftfielder Johnny Rizer each had home runs for the Baysox.
Connor Gillispie (4-6), Xavier Moore and Garrett Farmer each allowed five runs in High-A Aberdeen’s 19-1 loss to Hudson Valley.
The IronBirds had just two hits — a fifth-inning RBI single by shortstop Jacob Westburg and a single by centerfielder Hudson Haskin in his first game since his promotion from Delmarva.
Brandon Young (3-1) allowed seven runs, five unearned, on six hits in 1 2/3 innings as Low-A Delmarva lost to Lynchburg, 10-3.
Triple-A Norfolk’s game at Gwinnett was postponed.
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Bringing in Anderson in in a tight game? Screams TANK!!! No doubt about it!
A little touch of irony here--O's on a run of good Mo-Jo(3 straight wins) but who comes along and snaps it?--John Means. Who woulda thunk? Let's just hope it's rust. Btw how was his spin rate? Hmmm. Yes this Shaun Anderson has quickly established himself as useless. 4 straight games without a HR. Small ball is nice but I wouldn't overly suggest it in today's day and age. I sure hope of the group of Rutschman,Westburg,Henderson,Kjerstad,Cowser,Mundy that we have a couple of 30 hr guys. They're gonna need it. Seeing that we have a couple of first name basis posters Rich I'll throw my name out there--you can call me Al. Akin today. Ouch!!
As a happy and contented cord cutter of two years, last night was my first Orioles TV game since then (YouTube). I attend 10-12 games per year, and occasionally listen on the radio, but my MASN/Comcast days are over. What impressed me was that with the center field camera, you really notice how many pitches that Orioles batters swing that are out of the zone. Again, I haven’t watched a game on TV since 2018. I believe they are near the top in strikeouts, which are so prevalent throughout the game. The approach to “work the count” seems like it’s from another era.
Of course Stewart struck out in a key situation. Why his he still on the team? Another bone headed in game situation decision by Hyde. Why bring Anderson in in a tight game? Scott could’ve been used. You would think that a guy that came up under Joe Maddon would have a better feel for managing but evidently not. Shoutout to Dan Duquette for drafting an NBA champion. Another dumb decision he made while in charge of baseball operations.
Orioles20, at the time the Orioles drafted Pat Connaughton, he wasn’t considered an NBA prospect. It was only when he went back to Notre Dame for his senior season that he made himself into NBA material.
So why did they let him go back to for his senior season knowing this possibility?
Pat Connaughton isn't the first multi-sport athlete, drafted in more than one sport, to choose 1 sport over another.
Before the O's drafted him, and BEFORE he received his signing bonus (450,000) from them, he made it perfectly clear to the O's that Basketball, not Baseball, was his preferred sport, and he had every intention of making a go at the NBA.
He's done well in Basketball, and I applaud his efforts.
So then why draft him?
Well this is only conjecture, but I think the O's believed at the time that Pat wasn't NBA material, that he'd eventually fail and return to Baseball. So far, this hasn't happened.
That was their deal. He said he'd sign with them if they let him return to school. Because he wasn't a huge prospect at the time, they thought he'd rather play minor league ball than in Europe or the G League, but he had a much bigger senior season than anyone thought he would.
Great point Orioles20 regarding Maddon’s influence on Hyde. I’ve noted before that Hyde must have learned how to handle millennials from Maddon because Maddon had to familiarize himself with the younger player’s mindset in order to relate to them and (supposedly) manage them effectively in this new zeitgeist.
Also look at the job that Davey Martinez with the Nats. Another Joe Maddon understudy. I’m not just talking about his ability to communicate with the young guys. Obviously that’s a strength of his but in game situations are not. Maddon and Martinez won World Series being able to manage a bullpen.
I F: "Zeitgeist" is a bit too recondite for my tastes.
Getting an RBI sac fly on an outfield error makes my list of unusual scoring plays. Nothing wrong with it,
just unusual, keeping baseball the interesting game it is.
It’s making sure Mountcastle was NOT charged with a time at bat on a ball that Hays would have scored on had it been caught. I don’t remember seeing that before, Will.
I thought it was so that he would not be charged for a time at bat. Am I wrong?
You are right. I neglected to put the word "not" in my answer to you. I have changed that.
If it was a sac fly how’d he get charged with an at bat?...go O’s...
If it was an error, he would have been charged with a time at bat without the sacrifice fly.
Another reclamation fail for Elias. Anderson is a carbon copy of Armstrong… useless. I can just imagine what the players are thinking when they see him warming up… Just saying…
NEWS FLASH !!! 10:30am Wednesday… Akin and Santander to the 10 day injured list. Alex Wells and McKenna recalled.
Undoes isn’t get to see the game, but sounds like Means pitched about the same as in his rehab starts in the minors...oh well...go O’s...
Unfortunately didn’t...go O’s...
Hey, should we be concerned about Means FB velocity- only one pitch at 94 and another at 93 and rest mostly at 92 or lower. Before IL 95-96. We have to see if his next start he shakes off the rust and has better command of his pitches and FB velocity increases with movement.