When he performed for the Toronto Blue Jays, Kevin Pillar crushed Orioles pitchers greater than another staff he performed often.
New staff, identical story.
Pillar, now a part-time participant for Atlanta, pinch-hit towards Baltimore’s Danny Coulombe, one of many membership’s greatest relievers, within the eighth inning Saturday and gave Orioles followers déjà vu, blasting a two-run homer to propel the Braves to a 5-4 win.
“It sucks,” Coulombe mentioned. “Put the ball in the midst of the plate, and he put a very good swing on it. What are you able to do? That’s baseball.”
Pillar — who entered slashing .321/.353/.515 with an .868 OPS in 360 plate appearances towards the Orioles — accomplished the scoring in a back-and-forth sport that included a number of lead adjustments, as each groups got here again from down one to take one-run leads of their very own.
Adam Frazier hit a two-run single within the fourth inning to offer the Orioles an early 2-1 lead after the Braves took an early lead within the third. Atlanta (23-11) scored one run in each the fourth and fifth to take a 3-2 lead, however Anthony Santander’s RBI double within the sixth adopted by an RBI groundout from Frazier gave the Orioles a one-run benefit. The offense couldn’t come again a 3rd time, although, because the Orioles went down so as within the ninth.
Beginning pitcher Kyle Bradish bent however didn’t break, permitting three runs on 5 hits in 5 innings as he dueled towards Braves star Spencer Strider, however the identical couldn’t be mentioned for the Orioles’ bullpen. After Cionel Pérez retired 4 straight batters, Bryan Baker and Coulombe each struggled for the second straight outing.
The Orioles (22-11) will search for their eighth straight sequence victory Sunday. Regardless of the loss, the 22-11 begin is tied for the second greatest in membership historical past.
No Cano
The Orioles had a one-run lead within the eighth inning, and supervisor Brandon Hyde didn’t go to his ordinary setup man.
That’s as a result of Yennier Cano, who has emerged this season as one of many Orioles’ greatest bullpen arms, was unavailable to pitch due to workload administration, Hyde mentioned after the sport. Since he was promoted from Triple-A in mid-April, Cano has pitched greater than another Orioles reliever, totaling 14 scoreless innings in 11 appearances whereas permitting simply two hits.
The fitting-hander pitched 1 1/3 innings Sunday, one body Tuesday and two innings Thursday — his longest outing by size and pitches (32) this season.
“We have been staying away from Cano tonight simply due to his workload the final sequence and two innings a pair days in the past,” Hyde mentioned. “Sadly, that’s simply a part of the sport. Different guys need to pitch in these spots, and Danny’s finished an amazing job for us up to now this yr, and [he made] only one dangerous pitch.”
Within the seventh, Baker relieved Pérez after the left-hander’s greatest outing of the season and instantly allowed two straight runners earlier than inducing an inning-ending double play. Baker, who allowed three base runners and received only one out Thursday, then surrendered a leadoff double to Austin Riley.
After a lineout, Hyde referred to as on Coulombe, the veteran lefty who Baltimore traded for on the finish of spring coaching. Coulombe entered with a 2.38 ERA in 11 1/3 innings, however he additionally stumbled Thursday by permitting two runs in 2/3 of an inning. He missed his spot on his 1-0 fastball to Pillar, who deposited the center-cut heater 405 toes to left area. Pillar, 34, entered with a profession OPS of .704 — far worse than his .868 mark towards the Orioles, the very best of any staff he’s tallied greater than 100 plate appearances towards.
“Lifetime of a reliever, you’ve received to have a brief reminiscence,” Coulombe mentioned.
Hyde additionally didn’t flip to nearer Félix Bautista within the eighth as he did at occasions final season, citing the well being of the also-frequently used right-hander.
“We've got 5 months to go, so well being is essential, and never overusing guys is essential,” Hyde mentioned. “Proper now, I’d choose to not use Félix earlier than the ninth inning, and possibly as we go alongside, we'd change. Cano, he’s pitched a ton for us up to now. We've got different guys within the bullpen which were throwing the ball properly, they usually’re gonna get alternatives.”
Bradish battles
Bradish mentioned Saturday’s crowd at Truist Park — introduced attendance of 41,454 — was in all probability the most important he’s pitched in entrance of in his younger profession.
“The environment they've, I do know it’s a Saturday night time, however you don’t actually get that this early within the season,” Bradish mentioned.
Bradish went backwards and forwards with Strider, maybe one of the best strikeout beginning pitcher within the majors. Bradish pitched two scoreless to open the sport and allowed one run in every of his last three frames. He gave up a solo house run to Marcell Ozuna within the third, an RBI single to Eddie Rosario within the fourth and an RBI single to Ronald Acuña Jr. within the fifth.
Just a few of his innings may’ve turned bitter, however Bradish, who allowed 10 runs in his earlier two begins mixed, buckled down every time. The fitting-hander allowed 5 hits and three runs whereas strolling two and hanging out 4 in 5 innings.
“That was one thing that I’ve actually been engaged on mentally, getting these jams and with the ability to get out of them,” Bradish mentioned. “With the ability to restrict the injury, I used to be actually pleased with that.”
Strider, in the meantime, struck out 10 batters for the eighth time in his profession and prolonged his streak of eight-plus strikeout begins to 11. The Orioles labored a number of lengthy counts towards the hard-throwing righty to bounce him after 5 innings of two-run ball.
Who’s on first?
Ramón Urías, that’s who.
The Gold Glove-winning third baseman who additionally has expertise enjoying shortstop and second performed the primary sport of his profession at first base, and he made a formidable play to avoid wasting an error.
Bradish fielded a dribbler with two outs within the fourth, however his throw to first was barely off. Urías, who began 9 video games at first base within the minors, appeared like a pure as he got here off the bag and tagged Ozuna out. The slick play from Urías, who borrowed Ryan Mountcastle’s mitt to play the place, doubtlessly saved the Orioles a run or two.
“He performed very well over there,” Hyde mentioned. “Ramón performs with a ton of confidence defensively. His response final night time once I talked to him about it's what made it simple for me. He had no concern of going over there.”
Urías mentioned earlier than the sport that it was “sort of bizarre” when he was requested to maneuver over to first base to function Mountcastle’s backup for the night time, however he accepted the “problem” of fielding a place he hasn’t performed since 2019.
“Each time the staff wants one thing like this, I’m cool to do it,” he mentioned.
Orioles at Braves
Sunday, 11:35 a.m.
TV/Stream: Chs. 11, 4; Peacock
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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