The win wasn’t pretty, but the last swing sure was.
Adley Rutschman came up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with the chance to give the Orioles their ugliest win of the season — much better than the alternative.
On the second pitch from Oakland Athletics reliever Trevor May, Rutschman launched a center-cut fastball 405 feet to right-center field to deliver the Orioles their first walk-off win of the season, 8-7.
“Honestly, I just kind of blacked out,” Rutschman said of what he felt after he made contact. “It’s one of those moments where you hit it and you just kind of start running because you don’t know what’s going on.”
Rutschman had been 0-for-4 before the solo shot, which is the first walk-off homer of his major league career. The victory delivers Baltimore (7-6) the four-game series victory over the visiting Athletics.
The only other time Rutschman has won a game with a home run, he said, was an inside-the-park homer in April 2018 when he was a sophomore at Oregon State. But Thursday was the first time in the 25-year-old’s burgeoning career that he’s walked off a game with a blast over the fence.
“That’s the first one for me,” said Rutschman, the 2019 No. 1 overall draft pick and 2022 American League Rookie of the Year runner-up. “To be able to come out and win a series there, it feels awesome. Glad we were able to do it.”
In any other situation, Rutschman would have been greeted in the dugout with the “homer hose” — the Orioles’ new home run celebration. Instead, as the star catcher rounded third, his teammates gathered around home plate with two Gatorade coolers, giving him the bath — and hydration — he so clearly deserved.
“The Gatorade bath means we won, so it’s a good sign. But the homer hose is unbeatable,” Rutschman said when asked to compare the celebrations.
“We all knew that ball was leaving the park,” shortstop Jorge Mateo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones.
Irvin struggles again
Last week, the Orioles entered a game against the Texas Rangers needing a starting pitcher often dubbed an “innings eater” to, well, eat some innings. Kyle Gibson, who the team signed for $10 million in the offseason, did just that, allowing just two runs in seven innings in a 7-2 victory.
Manager Brandon Hyde needed the same thing Thursday from Cole Irvin, the other starting pitcher the Orioles acquired this offseason who also has the reputation for compiling innings. Baltimore’s starters haven’t been going deep in games, and Hyde’s bullpen was taxed.
Irvin couldn’t repeat Gibson’s feat, though. The left-hander pitched just four innings, allowing five hits and six runs while walking two and striking out four against his former team.
The Orioles in January traded infield prospect Darell Hernaiz to the Athletics for Irvin in a move to add a left-handed starter and fortify a starting rotation that lacked experience. But Irvin has not performed like the pitcher he was in Oakland the past two seasons. Through three starts, Irvin has pitched just 12 2/3 innings and walked eight batters while recording a 10.66 ERA. The 29-year-old has just as many outings under five innings this season (three) as he did in 30 starts with Oakland last year.
“I’m just shooting myself in the foot,” Irvin said. “Walks, hit by pitches, bad pitches in bad locations that I know not to go to. Again, it’s just small stuff that I really need to continue to clean up. I’m not happy with how these first three have gone.”
Athletics left fielder Brent Rooker continued to be a thorn in the Orioles’ side in the final contest of a four-game series. Rooker, who hit a three-run home run in Oakland’s 8-4 win Wednesday, drove in the Athletics’ first four runs with a sacrifice fly in the first and a three-run homer off a center-cut fastball from Irvin in the third.
The worst sequence for Irvin, however, came in the fourth. He issued back-to-back walks to the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters with two outs and then allowed a two-run single to Esteury Ruiz.
Austin Voth replaced Irvin in the fifth, allowing a leadoff home run to Rooker. But Voth, Bryan Baker, Danny Coulombe and closer Félix Bautista then pitched scoreless frames to make way for Rutschman’s walk-off.
Bats stay hot
Despite his tough afternoon, Irvin exited with a 7-6 lead. After going three-up, three-down in the first, the Orioles then had a stretch of 15 straight quality plate appearances, most of which came against Athletics starter Adam Oller.
In the span between the second and third innings, the Orioles were 8-for-11 with six singles, a double, a home run, a hit by pitch, a walk, two sacrifice flies, two lineouts and an RBI groundout.
Ryan O’Hearn, the newest Oriole, was the one who turned the faucet on — in more ways than one. The first baseman, who made his Orioles debut Thursday after having his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk, said before the game he needed a “briefing” on the club’s new water-themed celebrations. He roped a two-run single in the second to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead. Mateo added another run with a sacrifice fly.
Ryan Mountcastle led off the third with a home run to tie the game at 4 after Rooker’s three-run blast. The 416-foot homer to center field was Mountcastle’s fourth of the series and American League-leading sixth of the season.
Adam Frazier (single), O’Hearn (sacrifice fly) and Mateo (groundout) all drove in a run in the frame to give Baltimore a 7-4 lead.
The Orioles almost didn’t need Rutschman’s heroics after having runners on second and third with no outs in the eighth, but the offense squandered that opportunity. Mateo popped out, and after Mullins flied out, Athletics right fielder Ramón Laureano threw out Terrin Vavra at the plate.
When Rutschman came up to lead off the ninth, he said he was trying to “block out the noise” and stay “relaxed.” When he connected with the fastball, there was little doubt the game had just ended.
Hyde, meanwhile, was just looking for Rutschman to get on base.
“But I’ll take a homer,” Hyde quipped.
Around the horn
- Before the game, the Orioles designated catcher Anthony Bemboom for assignment and selected O’Hearn’s contract, bringing up the first baseman from Norfolk. O’Hearn was one of several left-handed hitters vying for a roster spot in spring training. The club broke camp with Kyle Stowers on its bench but sent the 25-year-old down last weekend to get more at-bats. Bemboom later cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A.
- Outfielder Anthony Santander wasn’t in the lineup for the second straight game Thursday because of back soreness. Hyde said the slugger is “feeling a lot better” and that he was an option to pinch hit Thursday.
- Reliever Mychal Givens threw a bullpen session Thursday and is “getting close” to beginning his minor league rehabilitation assignment, Hyde said. The veteran right-hander hasn’t pitched this season after injuring his left knee in spring training.
Orioles at White Sox
Friday, 7:10 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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