BALTIMORE—The Orioles had almost no offense against the Cincinnati Reds, and while the Reds had only five hits, they managed to end the Orioles’ three-game winning streak.
Oriole starter Tyler Wells allowed two runs in six innings. One of them was the 19th home run he’s allowed, and the Orioles lost, 3-1, before an announced crowd of 14,057 at Camden Yards on Tuesday night.
For the second straight night, rain interrupted play. On Monday night, there were two delays totaling just under two hours, and a one hour, 43-minute delay occurred after the seventh inning.
The Orioles (48-30) were thwarted in their try for their fourth winning streak of four or more games.
Aaron Hicks walked against Reds rookie starter Andrew Abbott to lead off the second and moved to third on a single by Jordan Westburg. Hicks scored on Ryan McKenna’s sacrifice fly to right. That would be the Orioles’ only run.
Wells (6-4) retired the first nine batters, striking out five. TJ Friedl bunted for a base hit to start the fourth and scored on Matt McLain’s RBI double. McLain homered to start the sixth, his sixth.
“He obviously did a great job against me tonight,” Wells said. “That was a home run, so it wasn’t executed very well.”
Wells allowed two runs on four hits in six innings. In nine of Wells’ 15 starts, he’s allowed four or fewer hits. He’s allowed home runs in six of those games.
“I thought Tyler was really good once again,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Give them credit for getting a couple of runs off him. We had a tough time with Abbott. We knew it was going to be a tough one coming in, and he was really, really good. We had a tough time getting anything going against him.”
Abbott (4-0) allowed a run on two hits, both by Westburg, in six innings.
“He’s really aggressive, challenges us in the strike zone,” Hyde said. “His fastball has got a ton of life to it. It’s a really good arm. He knows how to pitch. We just didn’t square many balls up against him, and a tough time getting rallies going.”
In the bottom of the seventh, Lucas Sims escaped trouble when Cedric Mullins, who walked as a pinch-hitter to lead off, was out trying to steal second. It was the first assist of the game for Cincinnati (41-39)
Westburg walked and moved to second on Ryan O’Hearn’s grounder to short. Adam Frazier was hit by a pitch, and Austin Hays was called out on strikes to end the inning, and the rain delay began.
Friedl hit his fifth home run against Bryan Baker in the eighth for a 3-1 lead.
Buck Farmer allowed a two-out double to Gunnar Henderson, the third Orioles hit, before Hicks flied to center.
In the ninth, O’Hearn was hit by a pitch by Alexis Diaz with two outs, attempted to take second because of indifference, and then retreated to first. A wild throw by Diaz to second allowed O’Hearn to reach second.
“I haven’t talked to him. I think there was something about he was confused whether it was a foul ball or not,” Hyde said. “I’m not really sure, but we were waving for him to go back to the bag.”
Frazier walked, but Hays lined out to center, ending the game, and Diaz registered his 22nd save.
“We only gave up three runs on the night,” Hyde said. “We only had three hits. It’s tough to win a game with three hits.”
Notes: Kyle Gibson (8-5, 4.30) will face Luke Weaver (1-2, 6.86) on Wednesday night. … Hicks was called on a pitch clock violation to end the sixth, the third for the Orioles this season. … Second baseman Frederick Bencosme had three hits and drove in two runs as High-A Aberdeen beat Winston-Salem, 5-2. Daniel Lloyd (3-3) pitched five scoreless innings, allowing four hits. … Total delays this season are nine hours, 20 minutes.