One bad pitch from Dominguez costs Orioles in 9th-inning loss to Mets

BALTIMORE- What happened? Seranthony Dominguez had pitched well for the Orioles in his first 10 games since his trade from the Philadelphia Phillies. Manager Brandon Hyde had confidence that Dominguez, who had an 0.87 ERA against the New York Mets in 20 games with the Phillies, could continue his excellent work and get Monday night’s game to extra innings.

With one out, Francisco Alvarez homered on a 3-0 count, and the Orioles lost to the Mets, 4-3, and dropped ½ game behind the New York Yankees in the American League East.

“It’s part of the game. No one wants to feel that, but it’s part of the game,” Dominguez said. “ “I made a couple mistakes, got behind in the count. I tried to get back in the count by just [forcing Alvarez to] make a good swing to put the ball in play.”

Trevor Rogers allowed three runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings in his fourth start with the Orioles. Colin Selby, in his first appearance for the Orioles, retired all four batters he faced, striking out three, and Keegan Akin struck out five of the six batters he saw.

Ramón Urias hit his eighth home run against New York starter David Peterson. The Orioles’ other two runs came when Urías doubled and moved to third on an errant pickoff throw by Peterson and scored on an infield out, and a balk by Peterson that brought Ryan Mountcastle home.

What was wrong with Dominguez? Dominguez has been in key spots recently because Craig Kimbrel hasn’t been pitching well, and the home run didn’t seem to shake Hyde’s confidence in him.

“We had a few guys down today who pitched a lot the last couple days,” Hyde said. “Seranthony’s been really good for us. I was really impressed with Selby. We got a good look at Selby and he threw the ball great, and Akin went right through them there for six big outs for us.”

Hyde knew that once Dominguez fell behind, it could be trouble.

“I think 3-0, fell behind 3-0 and Alvarez obviously looking heater and just beat him tonight,” he said.

How did Rogers pitch? In his four starts with the Orioles, Rogers has a 7.11 ERA, but he thinks he’s better than that.

“I thought my stuff was really good today,” Rogers said. “It’s just the results aren’t there. I really like where I’m at. I know the numbers don’t say that, but I really like where I’m headed.”

Rogers felt certain aspects of his game were better in his fourth start. He did allow a two-run home run in the first to J.D. Martinez.

“I think my fastball command and my use of my fastball in good spots was really good,” he said. “Changeup was probably the best since I got traded over here, really good sliders. Just need to do a better job of getting them in the zone early.

“I think they did a good job of just seeing it out of hand. They knew it wasn’t going to be a strike. So, definitely can improve on that and really just working out of certain situations. I made one bad pitch tonight and it cost me. So, really got to improve on keeping my team in the game in the first inning. I haven’t been doing a good job of that.”

Hyde wasn’t displeased from what he saw from Rogers.

“I thought he was OK,” he said. “He gave up a few runs, he got into the fifth inning. It’s tough. It’s nine righties against him, so not an easy matchup. But he kept us in the game in the middle part of the game.”

The Orioles weren’t pleased with home plate umpire John Tumpane’s calls.

“Definitely thought he missed some on both sides,” Rogers said. “It was just one of those days. But you’re just going to have to battle the strike zone a little bit and just use more plate and just, hope he made the right call.”

What’s wrong with the Orioles’ offense? Since scoring 10 runs on 17 hits in a 12-10 loss on Friday night, the Orioles have struggled against Boston starters Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford, getting four hits over 12 innings, and with Peterson.

“I think that was just a really good starter out there today,” Hyde said. “David Peterson’s been pitching outstanding this year and gave us a lot of trouble. He’s got really good command from the left side and multiple pitches he throws for strikes, and we didn’t hit very many balls hard against him.

“Yeah, losses hurt. We’re having a sprint at this point and we’re trying to win as many games as we can.”

Urías has been playing more regularly with the injuries to Jorge Mateo and Jordan Westburg

“Feeling good … seeing the ball well,” he said. “I think the consistent playing time has been better for me, helped me a lot making an adjustment. Looking forward to keep doing it.”

Urías expects to face more tough starters in the final six weeks of the seasons.

“For sure. We know it’s going to be a tough last two months of the season,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep believing in ourselves and keep fighting and stay positive.”

What does it mean? The Orioles have just 14 hits in the last three games, and ironically won the game when they had just three. They’ll have to hit more consistently than they have over the last three games.

“We had a tough time with their starter offensively and they kind of gave us a couple runs,” Hyde said. “Urías with a big homer for us. Just not enough.”

What’s the word? “We are fighting for first place and that was my mistake.”-Dominguez on the loss.

What’s the stat of the day? 3. Dominguez has allowed three runs as an Oriole, all home runs.

What’s going on in the minor leagues? Double-A Bowie outfielder Dylan Beavers was named the Eastern League’s Player of the Week. Single-A outfielder Jake Cunningham was named the South Atlantic League’s Player of the Week.

What’s next? Dean Kremer (5-9, 4.48) will face Jose Quintana (6-8, 4.26) on Tuesday night at 7:10.

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com