Aug 2, 2021; Bronx, New York, USA; Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Jorge Lopez (48) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
NEW YORK—It was the strangest pitching line of the season. In six innings, Jorge López allowed one run on one hit, yet he walked five and hit a batter.
Most important, López got his first win since June 6th, breaking a streak of nine winless starts as the Orioles backed him with four solo home runs on their way to a 7-1 win over the New York Yankees before 28,879 at Yankee Stadium Monday night.
“Just really proud of him. The guy’s been dealing with a ton,” manager Brandon Hyde said.
The stadium was abuzz before the game because it was the first home game for new Yankees Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo, obtained at the trade deadline in the hopes they’d jumpstart the team.
The Yankees also picked up a new starting pitcher, Andrew Heaney from the Los Angeles Angels, and he served up the four homers.
Cedric Mullins smacked his 18th and Austin Hays immediately followed with his 11th in the third. It was the fourth time the Orioles hit back-to-back home runs this year, the second time by Mullins and Hays.
Ryan Mountcastle led off the fourth with his 18th home run. Two batters later, Ramón Urías hit his fifth to give the Orioles (38-67) a 4-0 lead.
“That was our most complete game of the year,” Hyde said. He acknowledged that there were too many walks but cited the baserunning, the defense and the situational hitting. And the gritty pitching of Lopez, in particular. “It was nice to have a little bit of a lead for him to attack the strike zone … We just did a lot of good things tonight.”
López (3-12) hit Rizzo with a pitch with one out in the first and balked him to second. With two outs, he walked Gallo, but Giancarlo Stanton grounded to third to end the inning.
In the second, López walked Gary Sánchez with one out, and Brett Gardner with two outs. A groundout by DJ LeMahieu ended the inning.
López recorded two 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth. But in the fifth, he walked Torres and Gardner. Both moved up a base on LeMahieu’s fly to center, and Torres scored on Rizzo’s foul fly to left that Hays caught up against the wall. Lopez lost his shutout before issuing his first hit.
In the sixth, the Orioles took a 6-1 lead as Joely Rodriguez, who came along with Gallo from Texas, gave up a single to Anthony Santander, whom he balked to second. Urías walked, and both runners moved up on a wild pitch.
Pedro Severino and Maikel Franco delivered sacrifice flies, and the Orioles had a five-run lead.
López pitched at least six innings for the fourth time this year and for just the second time since June 6th.
“Everyone is aware of the struggles that he’s had,” Mullins said of Lopez. “Going into some of the later innings, the fourth, fifth. He’s always had command of all of his pitches. Today he was able to keep command to all his pitches and keep damage to a minimum.”
Gallo doubled to lead off the sixth for the Yankees’ first hit. López retired the next three batters to end his night.
“It was good progress,” López said. “I was aggressive. I just never gave up today. The guys played great defense.”
Torres singled against César Valdez to start the seventh. Gardner walked, and LeMahieu hit into a double play. Paul Fry struck out Rizzo looking to end the seventh.
Yankee Stadium has not been a friendly place for the Orioles in recent years. Their win on April 7th snapped a club record 12 straight losses. Now, they’ve won two straight.
“it just feels different because we got a big-time start, and we scored some runs early,” Hyde said.
He appreciates that it’s a difficult environment for his young team.
“This is a major payroll team with superstars and guys that make a ton of dough for a reason,” Hyde said. “It’s a tough place to play. We played super scrappy tonight.”
Mountcastle and Santander singled to begin the eighth against Albert Abreu. It was Mountcastle’s third hit. He scored from third when Urías grounded into a double play.
In the bottom of the eighth, play was interrupted for several minutes when a cat rain on the field and perched near the Orioles’ bullpen. After security guards ran onto the field, the cat attempted to climb into the Orioles’ bullpen, but couldn’t scramble up the glass. Eventually, the cat found an open door and went into the stands. Fans chanted MVP as it eluded guards who were clearly overmatched.
“I was wondering what everyone was waiting for,” Hyde said. “A pitcher sitting on the mound with Aaron Judge at the plate…The cat showed some good quickness and agility and vertical.”
Notes: Alexander Wells (1-1, 5.28 ERA) will pitch for the Orioles on Tuesday night. Gerrit Cole was supposed to pitch for the Yankees, but he tested positive for Covid-19, manager Aaron Boone announced after the game. … Mullins had two stolen bases. He has 20 steals to go with his 18 home runs.
Call for questions: I’ll be answering your Orioles questions later this week. Please leave them in the comment box or email them to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.
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I would really like to see Mountcastle be ROY, maybe has a shot if he keeps playing like yesterday. Mullins unbelievable year continues. Hays seems to be playing well. Os showing glimpses of what could be, and may be coming in the next year or two. It would be awesome to see Baumann make his debut by the end of the season too. Fun to see Cowser get in the action in his first game. That’s promising!
Good to see Lopez get over that mental hurdle of the fifth inning. Hays once again showed why he should play everyday. I’d love to know mountcastle numbers when Tony bats behind him. Seems like since Tony been back from COVID he’s been hot again. Maybe there’s something to it. Valdez sure knows how to make a game interesting.
Rich, are there waiver wife deals allowed this year as in previous years?
Waiver wire deals are a thing of the past, Phil.
Once again, it's Hyde who panics in the fifth inning, not Lopez. The pitcher has never turned to the dugout pleading
to be removed; the manager has come out of the dugout to yank him. It seems Lopez has to be pitching a no-hitter
to be left in. For Hyde this is an improvement from his first year, when he pulled a guy pitching a no-hitter late in the game.
Mountcastle is probably the O's best young player. Last night, he was a triple short of the cycle; not that rare, but worth noting.
I agree about Hyde pulling Lopez. But it’s not just Lopez he does it with. He does with everyone which to me goes back to the fact he has no feel for in game situations.
Waiver wife? Sounds promising.
Hyde panicked? Lopez pitched 6 innings, threw 106 pitches walked 5 and hit a batter. I think Hyde pulled Lopez at the right time.
Thank you, cedar, for your question. First, I have no problem with Lopez coming out after the sixth inning. He had the opportunity to complete a "quality start" and left the game with a good chance at a win and no chance for a loss on his record. I don't want to be too cute, but I did not write that "Hyde panicked." I wrote that he "panics." using the present tense in the sense of an habitual action, such as "He walks to work." If I were referring to Monday night, I would have used the past tense, as you did. My comment was in the context of an ongoing discussion in which many maintain that, as a rule, Lopez cannot get through the fifth inning while I contend that if he is always removed before the end of the fifth inning, we will never find out. In some recent outings, he has been taken out in the fifth inning either with a lead or a one-run deficit, depriving him of the opportunity for a win. I know panic is a strong word, but those who disagree with me also use strong language against Lopez, implying that he's a quitter or, more recently, that he has a problem in his head. I have nothing special against Hyde, but when he enters the discussion putting the onus on Lopez when, in fact, he, and only he, is making the decision to remove the pitcher, I see a need to say that the player is not getting a fair shake. The man pulling the strings can't blame the puppet.
Go O’s. Keep putting it to the overpaid team in the Bronx loaded with big oafs.
I'd prefer a rule 5 wife......try her out and send her back if it doesn't work.
Yes the most complete game and best game of the year. Lopez showed moments of shakiness but overcame them. When he let out that big sigh of relief and smiled to Severino after closing out the 6th you could see his confidence jump by leaps and bounds. Listened to Paul O'Neill(Yankee broadcast) keep harping on Lopez' 2-12 record. Lopez has shown the ability to succeed but obviously not to outsiders(O'Neill). When this team eventually increases it's collective OBP 4 dingers will add up to 6-7 runs instead of 4. In other words--a lotta solo HRs. That game was so perfect that even Valdez was able to pitch out of his jam. Great game. Keep it up boys.
Great game to watch last night. Good alert hustle on the base paths, too.
Amazing what can happen when your starter is keeping the opponent from scoring, and can go 6+ innings while our guys bang out some hits.
High entertainment with the crazy kitty in the 8th inning. I was cracking up.
Though rare, it is aways refreshing to watch the gazillionaire players on the Yankees lose.
It's amazing how a few decently pitched games can drastically alter the perception of the team. Not being down by double digits midway through a game is a good thing. Now the continuation of this all depends on whether Harvey has really found something, Means can stay healthy and Lopez continues to improve. Wells and Watkins need to be serviceable until such time, and possibly beyond such time as a few of our younger pitchers are able to contribute be it experience or injury .... referring to Bauman, Tyler Wells and Lowther. I've given up on Akins, but still have hope that Kremer can find his way.
I love our lineup even though catcher and the left hand side of the infield still needs to be addressed. We all know help is on the way in those spots. Frankly, I'm hot sure how many other teams outfields I'd trade for Hays, Mullins and Santander.
I said it before the season, this team should have been a lot closer to .500 this year than they will be. I also put the stipulation that Management had to allow for that. I'm not sure they have. But then again, I'm not sure they haven't. Akins and Kremer have been huge let downs.
WHATEVER ....It's good to see the ball club playing so well .. it's good to see a few well pitched games ... and it's good to see the boys smiling and yucking it up in the dugout. Maybe the football season can wait a few more weeks ....
“This is a major payroll team with superstars” so how does a underpayroll team with no superstars compete not just one game but a whole season? “Our most complete game of the season” more complete then Means no hitter.
Answer is we don’t compete with a team like that over a whole season. We high five over David and Goliath moments like these, and wait until we are more competitive.
The obvious question is how long will that wait be?
We held the man with the giant head hitless!
I finally caught the replay of the cat on the field incident at Yankee stadium last night and all I can say is I’m a Kevin Brown fan FOR LIFE now!
What names could be called up for the expanded roster? Are there any quality prospects that will likely get a cup of coffee? Getting a glimpse into the future would be nice.