The Orioles were walking the walk Friday until Adley Rutschman got sick of the free bases.
Despite walking eight times in the first seven innings, the Orioles struggled to score against the Chicago White Sox, as Baltimore trailed by two runs with two outs in the seventh.
But just as he did Thursday with his first career walk-off home run, Rutschman delivered in a pivotal moment. With the bases loaded, the star catcher roped a bases-clearing double to left-center field to give the Orioles the lead en route to a 6-3 victory.
“Adley is Superman right now,” starting pitcher Tyler Wells said. “He’s done such a great job behind the plate, at the plate as a hitter. I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s done an incredible job.”
The Orioles (8-6) loaded the bases and scored a run earlier in the seventh with three walks and an infield single. Cedric Mullins’ bases-loaded walk was the Orioles’ first run of the night and their eighth free pass.
Rutschman came up against White Sox right-hander Reynaldo López and took the first two pitches for strikes. López then attempted to blow a fastball by Rutschman at 100.3 mph, but the switch-hitter kept his hands inside the low-middle heater and lined it 104.6 mph past center fielder Luis Robert Jr.
The double extended Rutschman’s hitting streak to eight games. He also walked in his first plate appearance to push his on-base streak to 11 games. The 25-year-old ended the night 1-for-2 with three walks and the three-run double. Rutschman has played in all 14 of Baltimore’s games this season, reaching base in 13 of them while slashing .377/.492/.642.
“I think, for us, we’re down but not out,” Rutschman said. “We did a lot of that last year. To be able to do it tonight speaks volumes to the guys we’ve got in this locker room, their character and the way they’re able to compete and not give up.”
The Orioles tacked on two more insurance runs in the eighth after smacking back-to-back-to-back doubles with two outs. Left fielder Austin Hays started the two-bag party with a 110.5 mph frozen rope — the hardest batted ball of his career — off the left-center field wall. Shortstop Jorge Mateo then hit a double down the left field line to score Hays, and newcomer Ryan O’Hearn, who joined the team Thursday and had three RBIs in his first game, doubled to bring home Mateo.
“Once we got into the pen, we had a really nice rally,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “A lot of guys off the bench contributed, O’Hearn huge double there to tack on, Mateo double, [Terrin] Vavra beating out that broken-bat infield single [in the seventh] was a massive play. And then Adley just doing what he’s been doing, just getting huge hits for us, hitting an 0-2 mistake and putting the ball in the gap.”
Wells continues solid start
Despite the Orioles’ nine walks, the first five innings of the game took just over an hour to complete, thanks to MLB’s new pitch clock and a pitchers’ duel between Chicago’s Mike Clevinger and Wells. The right-handers allowed just three hits and one run through five frames.
Clevinger pitched six shutout innings despite walking five and didn’t allow his first hit until the fourth when Ryan Mountcastle singled. Wells allowed a second-inning solo homer to Jake Burger, who crushed a first-pitch cutter from Wells over the left field fence, but he retired 15 of the first 17 batters he faced.
“Pitchers’ duels are always a good time, but at the same time, too, it was really the team that kept me in it,” Wells said. “With Ramón Urías with such a great glove at third base, Gunnar [Henderson] with a couple great plays, [Mullins] in the outfield. You got a lot of really good guys that kept us in the game for that long. I’ve got to give credit where credit’s due for those guys.”
Wells got into trouble in the sixth, though, by allowing four of the first five batters to reach base, including RBI singles by Andrew Benintendi and Eloy Jiménez. But right-hander Mike Baumann, who was transitioned from a starter into a reliever during spring training, bailed Wells out and stranded his two inherited runners.
Baumann walked the first batter he faced but then struck out Yasmani Grandal and Lenyn Sosa to end the threat and keep the Orioles’ deficit at three runs, eventually earning the win.
“We’re looking for guys to come out of the pen to get outs in big spots,” Hyde said. “Huge job by Mike to keep the runners stranded there.”
Wells ended his second start (third appearance) of the season allowing five hits, three runs and one walk in 5 1/3 innings with three strikeouts. The start was just the fourth time in 14 games an Orioles starter has recorded more than 15 outs; veteran Kyle Gibson and Wells have each done it twice.
“I thought Tyler Wells threw the ball outstanding,” Hyde said. “I thought he mixed extremely well, kept the ball off the barrel. Even that sixth, a couple soft hits there ended his night. But I thought he did a good job competing, and I thought he had really good stuff today.”
High-leverage Canó
Baumann wasn’t the only reliever to come through in the win. The bullpen’s newest addition, Yennier Canó, pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief in high leverage situations and gave the Orioles what they needed.
With Baltimore’s starters failing to get through five innings in each of the club’s past three games, Hyde’s bullpen was another short start or relief meltdown from being overworked again. The Orioles on Friday morning recalled Canó, who they acquired in the Jorge López trade last season, after putting left-hander Keegan Akin on paternity leave.
Canó struggled in his brief time in Baltimore last year, but he was lights-out Friday — getting a double play when he entered with runners on first and second in the seventh and then retiring the side in order in the eighth.
“That was awesome. The Canó show today,” Hyde said. “He’s got such a heavy, really good sinker. Last year, he struggled throwing strikes up here. He’s been throwing strikes in spring training and in Norfolk. That’s huge for us right now to have a guy that can get right-handers to put the ball on the ground the way he did.”
Closer Félix Bautista pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out three of the four batters he faced, to record his fourth save of the season. The outing was the first time Bautista has pitched on consecutive days this season.
Around the horn
- Kyle Bradish (bruised right foot) began his minor league rehabilitation assignment Friday in Double-A Bowie, allowing three hits and four runs (three earned) in five innings. He walked one and struck out five, allowing all four of his runs, including a three-run home run, in the fourth inning.
- Hyde did not say before Friday’s game who would start the Orioles’ two games in Washington against the Nationals next week. The Orioles on Friday morning announced that left-handed starter Cole Irvin had been optioned to Triple-A. Bradish is eligible to come off the injured list Wednesday, and Baltimore has days off Monday and Thursday.
Orioles at White Sox
Saturday, 2:10 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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