High-tension win for O’s
Gutiérrez homer leads to victory in tight game
Nearly a decade ago, the Orioles and Texas Rangers met in the American League’s first wild-card game, and Baltimore’s 3-2 victory had no impact on either’s hopes of a return to it. Both are at the bottom of their respective divisions, down to the final games in a long 2021 season.
Yet they treated the announced 10,645 fans at Oriole Park on Saturday night to a game that was tight throughout. It took until the seventh inning for either team to score, with Trey Mancini walking and hustling around to score from first on Pat Valaika’s double. Valaika soon came home on Kelvin Gutiérrez’s home run, his first with the Orioles (50-105) narrowly clearing the right-center wall.
The Rangers (56-99) answered on the first pitch of the eighth when Jose Trevino took rookie Brooks Kriske deep, spoiling Baltimore’s pursuit of its third shutout in a week. Right-hander Chris Ellis, who missed his previous start with arm fatigue, worked the first three innings in a scheduled short start. Marcos Diplán followed with two scoreless innings, allowing a pair of runners in each frame but no runs. Joey Krehbiel, who like Ellis joined the Orioles as a waiver claim from the Tampa Bay Rays, recorded the next five outs before Kriske — named after Orioles legend Brooks Robinson — finished the seventh.
After the home run, Kriske got the first two outs of the eighth before manager Brandon Hyde asked Dillon Tate for a four-out save. With closer Tyler Wells landing on the 10-day injured list Saturday and top setup man Cole Sulser unavailable after pitching the previous two days, Tate allowed a leadoff home run to Nathaniel Lowe in the ninth but managed to record the final three outs to seal the victory.
Wells makes strong rookie impression
The right shoulder inflammation that caused Wells to wince on his second pitch of Friday’s outing put him on the IL on Saturday. He ends his rookie season with a 4.11
ERA, a 0.912 WHIP and 65 strikeouts in 57 innings after having not pitched professionally over the previous two seasons because of Tommy John surgery and the coronavirus pandemic.
The Orioles took Wells from the Minnesota Twins with their second selection of last year’s Rule 5 draft, meaning he had to be on the major league roster all season to remain with the organization. He was used sparingly early on but soon became one of Hyde’s top relievers. In a 25-outing span from June 2 to Sept. 8, the 26-year-old had a 1.74 ERA and struck out 36 batters against two walks. He is only the second Orioles rookie since 2010 to record at least four saves.
Wells was a starter throughout his time in the Twins’ system, and Hyde said earlier this summer a return to that role remained a consideration. He said Saturday the team will do “whatever’s best for him,” but there’s no doubt about how well he adapted to the relief role.
“You saw that he had confidence,” Hyde said. “He wasn’t afraid of the big leagues, in that he was throwing a ton of strikes and I thought you saw his stuff improve over the course of the year. He wasn’t throwing 97 in spring training or the beginning part of this year, so he got stronger as the year went on, and the confidence continued to build when he recognized that his stuff plays here and so just great improvement over the course of the season, a great development story for us and excited about him going forward.”
Around the horn
The Orioles recalled right-hander Spenser Watkins to take Wells’ place on the roster.
Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann could be activated from the 60-day injured list during Baltimore’s series with the Boston Red Sox, Hyde said, and is a possibility to replace Keegan Akin, who is done for the season with a left adductor strain, in the rotation.
A night after homering to record the Orioles’ first 30-30 season, Cedric Mullins was given a night out of the lineup. He pinchhit in the seventh.