Povich struggles, Orioles fail to hit in key spots in 6-4 loss to Cardinals

BALTIMORE–What happened? Earlier on Wednesday, it seemed impossible that the Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals would be able to play later in the evening.

With both teams coveting a day off on Thursday, they decided to wait, and at 7:06, 31 minutes after the scheduled first pitch, the Orioles and Cardinals played in front of a modest crowd, generously announced at 14,491.

Cade Povich pitched three scoreless innings, then allowed five runs in the fourth and fifth as the Orioles couldn’t hold the lead and lost, 6-4, on Wednesday at Camden Yards.

The Orioles, who won three straight before losing their last two games, scored three runs in the bottom of the second. Ryan O’Hearn scored when Cedric Mullins bunted for a single and St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas threw wildly to first. Ramón Urías scored on Maverick Handley’s infield out, and Mullins on Jackson Holliday’s double.

Jordan Walker’s two-run double against Povich (1-4) in the fourth cut the Orioles lead to 3-2.

Dylan Carlson’s RBI single in the fourth made it 4-2, but in the fifth, Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn doubled, and Brendan Donovan’s two-run home run put the Cardinals ahead, 5-4.

Povich allowed five runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out nine.

“Stopped keeping the ball down,” Povich said. “I think the first three innings, I did a great job of that, mixing stuff, and then just too many pitches that were thigh high and easy for them to hit.”

Iván Herrera’s seventh-inning double to right scored Winn, who had four hits, and the Orioles trailed, 6-4.

After the Orioles had just one hit in six innings, Holliday led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson filed to center and Ryan Mountcastle singled to left before O’Hearn grounded to first.

They were just 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position after going 1-for-14 the night before.

“It’s kind of been the story for most of the year,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “I think the strength of that team is probably that bullpen, and I think that’s probably what beat us tonight.”

Rutschman was hitless in five at-bats as the designated hitter with three strikeouts. He missed two games after he was hit on the mask by a foul ball. Henderson also was 0-for-5.

What’s going on with Holliday? Holliday was 3-for-5 and is hitting .275.

“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I’d like to start swinging the bat a little bit better against left-handed relievers especially. But I feel good. I thought I hit the ball well, and just trying to continue to help the team win as much as possible.”

Holliday empathizes with the fans who braved the raw conditions.

“Obviously, I wouldn’t really want to come to a game either if it was raining all night,” he said. “So it’s definitely a little tougher playing with not a packed house, in the rain and against a good team. It wasn’t as bad as [Tuesday] night.”

What does it mean? The Orioles had plenty of scoring opportunities in losses on Tuesday and Wednesday, but failed to cash in.

“I thought we had a lot of really good at-bats,” Holliday said. “Just kind of in the middle of the game we slowed down a little bit. We’ve got to continue to work on that. It’s been kind of an issue. Obviously, scoring runs is very important. So, yeah, we’ll keep working on it.”

What’s the word? “I grew up in Nebraska. This was basically every day for me.”-Povich on pitching in raw conditions.

What’s the stat of the day? Maverick Handley snapped an 0-for-20 streak with a single in the fourth. He’s 2-for-28 (.071) in his major league career.

What’s going on in the minor leagues? Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg’s rehab assignment for Triple-A Norfolk was delayed for a second straight day as the Tides’ game with Lehigh Valley was rained out.

So were Double-A Chesapeake’s game with Binghamton and Single-A Delmarva’s game with Hickory.

Starter Blake Money allowed four runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings in High-A Aberdeen’s 6-4 loss to Brooklyn.

What’s next? After a day off on Thursday, the Orioles begin a three-game series with the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. Zach Eflin (3-2, 5.40) will face Sean Burke (3-5, 4.33) at 7:05 p.m.

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