Morton strikes out 10 in 5 innings as Orioles defeat Angels, 2-0

BALTIMORE–What happened? Charlie Morton struck out 10 batters in five innings, and after a lengthy rain delay truncated Morton’s start, the Orioles defeated the Los Angeles Angels, 2-0, at Camden Yards before 20,204 on Friday night.

The 41-year-old Morton struck out three in the first, two in the second, three in the third, and one each in the fourth and fifth. Seven of his 10 strikeouts came on his curveball.

His only 1-2-3 inning came in the fifth inning.

Morton (3-7) threw 78 pitches and walked one. His 10 strikeouts equaled his season high set on April 3^rd. After beginning the season with seven straight losing decisions, Morton has won three straight.

“I think I had a good mix,” Morton said. “I think my stuff was pretty good and I was throwing strikes, locating pretty well. I don’t know. After two innings, I think I was pretty deep in my pitch count. I think I was somewhere around 40. But I settled in and [catcher Maverick Handley] hung with me. I think it was, all in all, I was making pretty good pitches.”

The game began after a delay of one hour, seven minutes and was interrupted in the bottom of the fifth for one hour, nine minutes.

Yennier Cano, Gregory Soto, Bryan Baker and Félix Bautista combined for four scoreless innings with two hits allowed. Bautista recorded his 13^th save with a spotless ninth.

It was the Orioles’ second shutout of the season.

Ryan O’Hearn led off the second with his 10^th home run off Jack Kochanowicz (3-8), On May 10^th, Kochanowicz allowed one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings in beating the Orioles.

Ramón Laureano led off the fifth with his eighth home run, and after Ramón Urías singled with one out, the rain returned.

Morton allowed five hits, all singles.

The Orioles (28-40) are 13-12 under interim manager Tony Mansolino.

How strong was the bullpen? “It’s kind of what we’ve been watching a little bit. It seems like night in, night out they’ve been really good,” Mansolino said.

“Baker’s really settled into that kind of eighth-inning spot. So as he’s available it’s kind of lining up that way. He’s pretty neutral, right and left out. Confidence is skyrocketing right now. It seems like the other guys kind of see that, they’re kind of settling into some of their spots and they’ve been throwing the ball really good here for a while.”

Handley has been impressed with what he’s seen from the bullpen.

“It feels like they’ve been doing that for a stretch now,” he said. “I’ve been thinking it for a while now. Our bullpen is nasty. All those guys are upper 90s with nasty stuff. Not to put pressure on them, but that’s what I expected from them, and it’s good to see them doing their job.”

What does it mean? Many times in games that feature a long rain delay, there’s sloppy play, but the Orioles looked sharp defensively and in the bullpen when play resumed.

What’s the stat of the day? Bautista threw his fastest pitch of the season, 99.2 mph.

What’s the word? “We think he’s getting closer, man. And there’s probably another gear in there. Don’t be shocked if we look up and it’s a couple ticks up from that here in July at some point.”-Mansolino on Bautista’s velocity.

What’s going on in the minor leagues? Shortstop Jeremiah Jackson and catcher Smauel Basallo each had three hits in Triple-A Norfolk’s 6-4 loss to Nashville.

Nestor German allowed just one hit in a game ended by rain after six innings as Double-A Chesapeake beat Harrisburg, 3-0. First baseman Adam Retzbach and catcher Silas Ardoin homered.

First baseman Anderson De Los Santos drove in three runs as High-A Aberdeen beat Jersey Shore, 10-7.

Designated hitter Raylin Ramos’ RBI single in the 10^th inning gave Single-A Delmarva a 4-3 win.

Double-A Chesapeake put right-handed pitchers Braxon Bragg, Trace Bright and Levi Wells on the 7-day injured list. Bragg and Bright have forearm injuries and Wells has a shoulder injury. Catcher Creed Willems is out of the lineup a day after he was hit in the head with a backswing.

What’s next? Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4, 3.23) will face Tyler Anderson (2-3, 3.99) on Saturday at 4:05 p.m.

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