Sweep is complete; win streak reaches 6
Before the Orioles resumed their suspended game against the Washington Nationals, manager Brandon Hyde played coy when it came to how he would manage his bullpen.
He only offered that it wouldn’t be one of the three pitchers he had already removed from the game when its first five innings had been played Sunday in Washington.
In the end, Hyde made no move at all, allowing left-hander Paul Fry to continue an outing that began five days prior and help the Orioles finish a 6-2 victory that extended their winning streak to six games and completed a sweep over the reigning World Series champions that they had waited nearly a week to make official.
Although they finished it in their home ballpark, the Orioles (11-7) completed their first undefeated road trip of at least six games since July 1987. They began the day with a three-run lead in the sixth inning after the contest was suspended Sunday when the Nationals’ grounds crew struggled to get the tarp on the field during a sudden rainstorm.
“It was definitely strange having to wait five days for that one, but that was kind of comical watching the grounds crew fail,” catcher Bryan Holaday said. “You don’t want to laugh at other people’s mistakes and stuff like that, but that was pretty funny to watch. But I’m glad we were able to get it in and seal the deal.”
When the game resumed in Baltimore ahead of a scheduled three-game series at Camden Yards, the Orioles quickly extended their lead when Pat Valaika, who was up to bat with two runners on when the rain hit in Washington, advanced Dwight Smith Jr. to third base with a deep fly ball to center before Holaday’s cued infield single to second brought him home.
The run was charged to Nationals left-hander Sam Freeman, who was placed on the injured list Thursday but walked Smith to open the sixth Sunday.
Piecing it together
In one outing, Fry pitched on two days in two ballparks.
All Hyde said about his pitching plans ahead of the game’s resumption was that Asher Wojciechowski, Travis Lakins Sr. and Shawn Armstrong wouldn’t pitch, with the three right-handers having already pitched and been removed from the game before the delay.
The game was suspended with Fry as the Orioles’ active pitcher after he got the last out of the fifth, and despite him having pitched an inning Thursday in Philadelphia, Hyde turned to him again to start the sixth. Fry worked a perfect frame to finish off an appearance that lasted four batters and five days.
Hyde said he kept Fry in because he wanted to avoid unnecessarily using another reliever with another game scheduled for Friday.
“Never a real comfortable feeling going in,” Hyde said. “Obviously, I’d rather have a 5-2 lead than be down 5-2, but the bullpen guys have pitched quite a bit lately, and I was hoping that we could extend the lead to get a couple other guys out there that haven’t pitched as much. We tried to win this game and worry about other things later.
“Happy with the win. That’s a sweep. Feel good about that. Now, we’re going to turn the page and start a new series.”
Miguel Castro got the first two outs of the seventh before issuing consecutive walks, but Tanner Scott struck out pinch hitter Wilmer Difo to strand both runners before pitching around a leadoff walk in the eighth. Mychal Givens ended the series one week after it started with a scoreless ninth as the Orioles used most of their
back-end relievers with the exception of Cole Sulser, who warmed after Givens allowed a hit and walk with two outs.
How they got here
Wojciehowski started on short rest Sunday as the Orioles tried to keep their rotation in line despite the absence of left-hander John Means after the death of his father Alan. Wojciehowski worked 3 2⁄
3 scoreless innings, with Lakins stranding two to end the fourth and keep the game scoreless.
Offensively, the Orioles worked quickly against Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg, the reigning World Series MVP who was making his season debut after dealing with a nerve issue in his pitching hand, but with little results.
But they broke out in the fifth, with consecutive run-scoring hits from Holaday, Hanser Alberto and Anthony Santander putting five runs on the board and spoiling Strasburg’s debut.
The Nationals got two runs back when Armstrong allowed a two-run home run to Starlin Castro in the fifth, but it wasn’t enough for them to avoid a loss for Strasburg. But he had a quick bounce-back opportunity: He was the scheduled starter for the series opener at Camden Yards that was originally slated for 45 minutes after the resumed game’s conclusion, but it was delayed because of rain.
The Orioles’ ground crew seamlessly got the tarp on the field.
The Nationals’ Castro broke his wrist in the game.