Mountcastle lifts O’s after half-game off
Sub launches 2-run homer; Angels superstars Ohtani, Trout kept at bay by pitchers
For the second straight game, Anthony Santander — who before this series had never played first base in the major leagues — started at first, while Ryan Mountcastle did not play in the field for the second day in a row.
Before the game, manager Brandon Hyde said he was simply giving the 6-foot3, power-hitting Mountcastle a rest. “I’m sure he’ll be in the game at some point,” Hyde said Tuesday afternoon.
Mountcastle not only got into the game
Tuesday night, he tallied six bases in his two plate appearances, including a 433-foot, two-run home run in the sixth inning that gave the Orioles a 7-3 lead, the game’s final score.
It was the second homer from a Ryan hitting in the No. 9 spot for Baltimore as lefty Ryan O’Hearn went deep in the second inning, his lone at bat. Once Angels righthander Chase Silseth was replaced by a lefty in the fourth, the right-handed Mountcastle entered the game and left his mark.
“Only one AB tonight, but I’ll take it and pass the baton over to Mounty,” O’Hearn said. “We got a lot of production out of the nine-hole tonight.”
O’Hearn’s blast was his first MLB home run in over a year. “That felt really good,” the first-year Oriole said. “Got the monkey off my back a little bit.”
Tuesday marked the first time since 1992 that the Orioles got homers from two players out of the No. 9 spot.
“Pretty fun to have production like that. [Mountcastle] and I were joking all night about, ‘[We’re] the best nine-hole duo in the league right now,’ ” O’Hearn said. “But the most important thing is we got the win. Dean [Kremer] pitched great, he battled, the bullpen pitched great and we scored enough runs to win the game.”
Kremer allowed a leadoff homer to Mickey Moniak, the first overall pick of the 2016 MLB draft, but settled down and retired nine straight batters at one point. He threw 95 pitches and allowed three runs on six hits in 5 innings.
“After that first inning, I thought the pitch mix was fantastic,” Hyde said.
In Monday’s series opener, the Angels overpowered the Orioles as Shohei Ohtani
reached base five times, but neither Ohtani nor Mike Trout got on base Tuesday. It was only the second time this season that neither star — who have combined to win four American League Most Valuable Player awards in their careers — reached safely in a game in which they both batted at least four times.
Asked what the key is to getting Ohtani out, Kremer joked: “That’s kind of a secret.”
“He’ll do damage on a pitch if you let him, so just trying to stay out of the middle,” he said.
Orioles starting pitchers have struggled going deep into games this year, but Kremer’s start was his sixth straight of at least five innings. Following Kremer, Bryan Baker pitched one-third of an inning, Cionel Perez threw two scoreless frames and Yennier Cano did not allow a run in the ninth. No Orioles pitcher issued a walk.
After trailing 1-0 early, the Orioles tied the game at 1 on O’Hearn’s solo shot. Then, in the fourth, Baltimore took the lead for good thanks to hits from Gunnar Henderson, Terrin Vavra, Jorge Mateo and Mountcastle before a three-run sixth gave Baltimore a 7-3 lead.
With the win in front of an announced crowd of 13,244, the Orioles improved to 27-15 and remain in the second place in the AL East; the Angels fell to 22-21.
Around the horn
Injured pitchers Dillon Tate (right elbow flexor strain) and Mychal Givens (left knee inflammation) both pitched for Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday with quite varied results. Tate allowed six hits and four runs in ⅓ of an inning while Givens pitched 1⅔ scoreless innings. Each pitched in relief of DL Hall, who threw 45 pitches in three innings, allowing two runs.