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Some nights, the Orioles get ahead thanks to their high-powered sluggers who send the ball out of the park. Other times, it’s fundamental baseball that gets the job done.
On Tuesday, in their 4-2 win over the Yankees, it was the latter, combined with a seven-inning start from Dean Kremer and a “gutsy” bullpen performance from Keegan Akin and Jacob Webb, who got his first save of the season.
“We were limping into this series,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “To play the way we have the last two nights has been really nice.”
There were no home runs — a rarity for a team that leads the league in that category by a wide margin — but rather hustle plays, great defense and small ball.
The Orioles entered the bottom of the fourth in a 1-1 tie. They scored one run when Jorge Mateo doubled and James McCann drove him in. The other two runs in the fourth came thanks to that hustle. Colton Cowser hit a dribbler in the infield, then lunged himself toward first, throwing his arms out to call himself safe as his foot stepped on the bag a second ahead of Anthony Volpe’s throw.
That advanced McCann to third. Then, Gunnar Henderson hit a bouncer toward the hole. A diving Gleyber Torres fielded the ball, but Henderson, like Cowser, legged out a single. McCann scored, and Cowser advanced to second. Adley Rutschman drove Cowser in a batter later.
It wasn’t flashy, and likely won’t make highlight reels, but two runs are two runs. It’s something the Orioles continue to drill into their players, Hyde said, especially given their age.
“Baserunning is a huge part of our game,” Hyde said. “Those things get reviewed, and we’re pretty young. We’re still learning at the big league level. Our guys are very, very athletic.”
With that aspect of their game emerging, the Orioles are showing they can beat teams in multiple ways.
Cedric Mullins, who had what would have been his 100th career steal overturned on a challenge, already has a 30-30 season in his career. Henderson, who has six stolen bases and 10 homers on the season, could be next. Mateo, Cowser and Jordan Westburg have all shown top-tier sprint speed.
“I think that’s, to me, why we’re tough to play against, to pitch against, because we run the bases extremely well,” Hyde said. “We run the bases hard; we run the bases correct; we run the bases with some speed.”
None of that matters without solid starting pitching. On Tuesday, Kremer gave the Orioles seven innings for the second time this season. He gave up just two earned runs, both solo home runs. The second, from Juan Soto, traveled 447 feet for the first Eutaw Street homer of the season.
“For him to battle, compete, mix, he’s just really turning into a really good starting pitcher since the second half of last year,” Hyde said. “He knows how to pitch now four pitches for strikes. He has confidence in his sinker, gets the cutter in the right places, can dump curveballs in, and the split finger is getting better and better. So really impressed with how Dean is throwing the ball.”
Kremer’s outing saved the Orioles from having to dig deep into their bullpen, which is operating without Craig Kimbrel, who is day to day with upper back tightness. They went closer by committee again. Akin got the first two outs of the eighth, and Webb wrapped up the inning by striking Aaron Judge out on a changeup.
Webb stayed in for the ninth, striking out Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo to get his first save as an Oriole and the fourth of his career.
“That’s what you call gutsy out of the ’pen,” Hyde said. “That’s two guys to pitch the eighth and ninth inning who are totally fatigued and just totally stepped up, bulldog mentality. ... They both sucked it up knowing how short we were in the bullpen”
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Danielle Allentuck covers the Orioles for The Baltimore Banner. She previously reported on the Rockies for the Denver Gazette and general sports assignments for The New York Times as part of its fellowship program. A Maryland native, Danielle grew up in Montgomery County and graduated from Ithaca College.
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