BALTIMORE–What happened? Kyle Bradish wasn’t sharp, pitching only four innings for the second straight start. The Orioles’ offense scored seven runs as they won the final two games of their four-game series with the Seattle Mariners, 7-5, before 15,776 at Camden Yards on Thursday night.
Leadoff batter Cole Young hit an 0-2 pitch from Bradish for his fourth home run.
Bryan Woo retired the first six batters he faced. The seventh, Colton Cowser, hit his seventh home run in the third.
Jackson Holliday, who singled with one out, scored on a wild pitch, and in his first game back after missing three with a left hamstring injury, Adley Rutschman hit a two-run double, giving the Orioles (33-37) a 4-0 lead.
Pete Alonso followed with his 15th home run, a two-run blast, and the Orioles had a six-run inning. Alonso’s home run traveled 439 feet and landed in the back of the first deck in left field.
“That one felt good,” Alonso said. “That one felt really good. I thought I had a chance to get up there. But again, I was just really happy I was able to come through right there, especially to cap off that big inning. That inning was the big blow from us. It felt really good to come through right there.”
Bradish gave up four runs in the fourth on back-to-back homers by Luke Raley, a two-run home run, and Dominic Canzone. The two left-handed hitters both homered on breaking balls. Julio Rodríguez’s RBI single cut the Orioles lead to 6-5.
Tyler Wells (1-1) replaced Bradish in the fifth. Bradish allowed five runs on seven hits and a career-high three home runs.
Wells pitched three hitless innings, a season high, walking one.
Rutschman’s RBI single in the fifth extended the Orioles’ lead to 7-5.
Woo (5-5) equaled his career high, allowing seven runs on seven hits in five innings.
“Bryan Woo is a really tough pitcher,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “This whole starting rotation for Seattle is really impressive and Woo is a tough, tough guy to get up there and do some damage on, and our guys did a good job of, especially in that inning where we put up six, of getting a pitch to hit and putting a good swing on it.
“Cowser getting it going and obviously Pete with the big blow, Adley with a double. It was really impressive to watch our offensive performance.”
Rico Garcia allowed two hits in the eighth before Grant Wolfram recorded the third out. Andrew Kittredge pitched a scoreless ninth, working around an error at third by Blaze Alexander, for his first save.
Samuel Basallo started at catcher for the first time since Sunday and was hitless in four at-bats.
Rain began falling in the fifth inning, but the game continued, and the rain ended by the seventh. Though the Orioles have had two rainouts, they haven’t had a rain delay this season.
How is Rutschman feeling? Rutschman hadn’t played since Sunday when his hamstring began bothering him.
“It’s just an interesting injury, just trying to manage everything, see how it feels, check off all the boxes,” Rutschman. “So I think Sunday and just trying to manage it since then.”
After one stint on the injured list with an ankle injury and two oblique injuries that limited him to 90 games last year, he’s happy to be back.
“I made it through today,” Rutschman said. “I’m really happy, just because you never know with injuries how they’re gonna formulate over days and stuff. So really happy to be in there today.”
Last year, Rutschman joked about how prevalent injuries were among Oriole catchers, with the team using seven. He hadn’t thought about that after the Orioles used Sam Huff to catch the previous three games.
“I mean, no, but now that you bring it up. I mean it’s definitely a goal, especially for me to be on the field as much as possible, just given last year, so trying to manage everything as good as possible,” Rutschman said.
Rutschman knows Basallo is also important to the team.
“He’s a very smart player, but just kind of understands how injuries are, they’re tough, and you obviously don’t want them to bigger,” Rutschman said. “He’s smart with stuff, and smarter than his age [21].”
How important is Rutschman to the Orioles? “Extremely important,” Albernaz said. “I mean, there’s a long list of guys that are important, but Adley is up there for sure. Just what he does behind the plate, but also at the plate. Just his at-bat quality kind of stabilized the middle of the lineup, hitting behind Gunnar [Henderson] and in front of Pete from both sides of the plate.”
Alonso also knows how important Rutschman is.
“Obviously, he’s just such a stellar hitter,” he said. “He’s not afraid to take guys out in the deep water and deep counts. Just such professional at-bats every single time he steps in the box.
“He defends the standard really well of just what professionalism is at the plate. He’s swinging a hell of a bat right now, and also too, I can’t tell you how important he is for the work he does behind the dish calling games, receiving, trying to steal strikes, holding guys on. He’s one of the big pillars that we have here, and I mean, dude’s a stud.”
How important was Wells’ performance? “That was huge, definitely picked me up,” Bradish said. “Cover three really good innings right there, it was big time.”
Wells hadn’t pitched three innings in relief since working five at Texas on April 3rd, 2023.
“I mean, with the weather coming in, I was honestly really happy about it,” Wells said. “Make sure that we didn’t waste anyone else in the bullpen for a possible short outing. Really happy with the results, really happy with the confidence that Alby had in me to go out there for that third, and overall I can’t complain about it at all. Super happy with the outing.”
What does it mean? The Orioles have scored seven runs in each of their past two games, and with Bradish’s bad fourth inning, they needed a strong offensive output.
What’s the stat of the day? 1. That was Kittredge’s first save as an Oriole. He has 22 in his career.
What’s the word? “That was really impressive. I wasn’t sure where that was going to land. But, yeah, he has real pop. When he gets it, he gets it, and it was a great swing, especially being ready for the first pitch. It was a first-pitch slider, a sweeper, with a runner in scoring position, so it was an outstanding at-bat.”-Albernaz on Alonso’s home run
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Luis De Léon pitched five hitless innings, striking out seven, in Double-A Chesapeake’s 4-0 win over Altoona. The Baysox allowed four hits. Aron Estrada homered.
Elis Cuevas hit a two-run home run as High-A Frederick beat Brooklyn, 3-2. Outfielder Vance Honeycutt was removed from the game because of left quadriceps tightness.
Edwin Amparo hit a two-run home run in Single-A Delmarva’s 9-8 loss to Columbia.
Right-handed pitcher Keeler Morfe had arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs in his right elbow by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas. The Orioles say the procedure was successful.
What’s next? The Orioles will open a three-game series with the San Diego Padres on Friday night at 7:05. Shane Baz (3-6, 4.09) will start against Griffin Canning (0-4, 6.34).
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