BALTIMORE—Oriole right-hander Tyler Wells allowed five runs in two innings in his shortest start of the season.
Wells allowed five runs in the second inning and was removed after throwing 59 pitches in the Orioles’ second straight loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-3, before an announced crowd of 22,775 at Camden Yards on Tuesday night.
Despite the loss, the Orioles remain one game behind first-place Tampa Bay, which lost to Texas, 5-3.
The first five Los Angeles batters in the second reached and scored against Wells (7-5). Jason Heyward’s three-run home run and RBI singles by Freddie Freeman and Will Smith made it 5-0.
“He almost threw 60 pitches in two innings, 40 in that second, so for Wells’ sake where he is, we thought the right thing to do was to get him out of the game,” manager Brandon Hyde said.
It was Wells’ first start since July 8th.
“Definitely felt like I failed the team a little bit tonight,” Wells said. “I didn’t really set a good pace. Definitely that long inning in the second got to me. We’re just going to drop this one and move on to the next.
“I thought the first inning went pretty well and then the second inning happened.”
Cole Irvin replaced him in the third, and after four scoreless innings, he allowed two runs in a sloppy seventh inning before Cionel Pérez, who was just reactivated from the 15-day injured list, allowed two. Irvin walked two and Pérez walked three. The Orioles committed four errors, their most since June 15th, 2021.
“We just didn’t play our best baseball tonight,” Hyde said. “Too many walks on the mound, uncharacteristic defensively, some errors there and some missed plays. Cole probably could have gone further there if we made a couple of plays behind him, but we just didn’t play very well tonight.”
Los Angeles (55-39) was just 5-for-21 with runners in scoring position and left 15 runners on base.
“That’s a veteran club. They’ve got a veteran lineup,” Wells said. “They all know exactly what they’re going to do and I fell behind in the count. That’s on me. I walked two guys tonight, and that hurt me a lot. I think for a little bit there I wasn’t bothered too much by the walks because they weren’t impacting me. Especially after tonight, I’m going to focus on cutting those things down.”
After Ryan O’Hearn drew a 13-pitch walk against Michael Grove, he scored on Aaron Hicks’ double to center. Hicks moved to third on an error by centerfielder James Outman, but he didn’t score.
Grove (2-2) allowed one run in five-plus innings. He left with runners on first and second in the sixth, and the Orioles didn’t score with Yency Almonte on the mound.
The Orioles (57-37) scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth on run-scoring singles by O’Hearn and Hicks.
Notes: Cedric Mullins missed his third straight game with right quadriceps tightness. He left Saturday night’s game. “I felt as if I kept pushing, it was going to lead to more problems,” Mullins said. “Potentially season-type deals ending, so I think the smart move was to come out.” He hopes to play this week. “That’s the goal, depending on how I continue to progress. Plan to get back out running pretty soon, move around, hitting feels fine. No issues. Throwing I’m going to try today… Running’s the most important part.” … Luke Brockway, a 17-year-old student from Catonsville who suffers from a serious heart condition ,was featured with Hyde in the manager’s pregame press conference. Brockway, a student at Mount Saint Joseph High, brought the lineup card out to home plate as the “Make-A-Wish” Orioles Manager for a day. … Dean Kremer (10-4, 4.59) will face Julio Urías (7-5, 4.35) on Wednesday at 1:05 p.m.
Minor league update: Third baseman Coby Mayo hit his first Triple-A home run and drove in four runs as Norfolk beat Gwinnett, 12-1. Mayo hit a three-run homer.
First baseman Josh Lester hit his 15th home run and catcher Maverick Handley hit his second.
Drew Rom (7-5) allowed two hits in five scoreless innings.
Connor Gillispie (4-3) allowed one hit in six shutout innings as Double-A Bowie beat Harrisburg, 1-0. The Senators had just two hits.
Shortstop Jackson Holliday went 2-for-4, and is batting .500 in his four games at Double-A. Centerfielder Jud Fabian hit his fifth home run.
Centerfielder Dylan Beavers hit his ninth home run as High-A Aberdeen beat Bowling Green, 4-3.
Catcher Samuel Basallo hit his 12th home run and designated hitter Rolphy Cruz his first as Single-A Delmarva lost to Charleston, 9-5.
Question time: I’ll be answering Orioles questions this week. Please email them to: [email protected].