Proving Star status
Means dominates again before Orioles strike for 6 runs in 9th to defeat Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Since permanently joining the Orioles’ rotation in late April, left-hander John Means has pitched like an All-Star. On Wednesday, with that title formally bestowed upon him, he lived up to it.
And in the top of the ninth inning at Tropicana Field, his teammates looked the part, too. After another dominant outing from Means, the Orioles struck for six runs in the top of the ninth against Tampa Bay Rays closer Jose Alvarado in a 9-6 victory to salvage the finale of the three-game set.
Means matched his career high with seven innings, allowing two earned runs, striking out five and walking none. Named Sunday as the Orioles’ representative in next week’s All-Star Game in Cleveland, Means, a 26-year-old rookie, concluded his first half with a 2.50 ERA, the second lowest among American League pitchers with at least 80 innings pitched.
He was left with a no-decision, exiting in a 3-3 tie. Mychal Givens pitched a scoreless eighth, diving to tag Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier to keep him from scoring the go-ahead run and enduring an injury scare on the play. Richard Bleier replaced him for the ninth, allowing three runs before Shawn Armstrong entered to get the final out.
The Orioles scored their first run of the ninth without a hit, as pinch-hitter Anthony Santander walked, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, went to third on a wild pitch and beat out a throw home on Pedro Severino’s grounder to shortstop with the infield in.
Jonathan Villar followed with an RBI triple, then came home when catcher Mike Zunino couldn’t hold onto another throw from short. Catcher Chance Sisco’s infield single preceded Renato Núñez’s three-run home run to break it open, his team-leading 19th.
Entering play with the third-worst batting average in baseball on pitches 95 mph and over at .210, the Orioles’ went 3-for-6 against Alvarado’s heat in the ninth. Their six runs in the inning were a third of the 18 they had scored in the ninth in their first 85 games combined.
As well as the game ended for the Orioles, it began strongly, too. Means retired the first seven Rays before Joey Wendle’s clean single up the middle disrupted his perfect start. After Guillermo Heredia followed with a bloop single, Travis d’Arnaud hit a grounder to third baseman Rio Ruiz. Ruiz’s first instinct was to head toward third base for a forceout, but he decided to instead throw across his body toward second base. The ball took a bounce second baseman Hanser Alberto couldn’t corral, and Wendle trotted home. Means retired the next two batters to keep the Orioles down only one.
They did not trail long. In the top of the fourth, Alberto reached with a one-out bunt single, then Chris Davis singled up the middle. Ruiz more than made up for his error with a three-run home run, his first homer since May 16.
The Rays got a run back on Mike Brosseau’s first major-league home run, as he took a Means changeup away and managed to send it over the left-field fence. They nearly tied it in the fifth, when Heredia doubled and a Villar error put runners on the corners. When Tommy Pham took off for second, Sisco faked a throw to second, prompting Heredia to break for home. After a brief pickle, Means tagged him out a few feet from home.
The lead couldn’t hold in the sixth, an inning that proved problematic for the Orioles throughout the series. Yandy Diaz doubled off Means and scored on Avisail Garcia’s single. Garcia was caught at second as the Orioles executed a cutoff play that has been rare for them in a season of fundamental struggles, then Means retired the final five Rays he faced.
Means ended his first half by pitching at least five innings in 13 straight starts. In his past 10 starts, he has a 2.37 ERA, allowing no more than two earned runs in any of those outings.