Félix Bautista never blew a save in consecutive appearances in his seven months as the Orioles’ closer.
Craig Kimbrel has now done so in his first month filling in for the injured Bautista.
After a stellar start to his Orioles career, Kimbrel on Sunday blew his second save in three days against the Oakland Athletics in Baltimore’s 7-6 loss. Entering with a one-run lead, Kimbrel walked the leadoff batter and allowed a two-run home run to the second before being removed with what manager Brandon Hyde said after the game was upper-back tightness.
On Friday, the veteran right-hander allowed all five batters he faced to reach base, including three walks, to blow that save in an eventual extra-inning loss. Kimbrel, one of baseball’s most decorated closers with 424 career saves that rank him tied for sixth in MLB history, entered the weekend with only one run allowed in 11 innings. He exits it with three more runs allowed, four more walks and two more blown saves without retiring a single batter across his two outings.
The blown save spoiled another excellent day from the offense, as Baltimore clubbed three home runs for the second straight day to extend their MLB-best total to 44. But the bats couldn’t rally in the ninth, as Jorge Mateo, Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman were set down in order for the loss.
“I think we’ve been playing pretty good baseball,” Hyde said. “We just had a couple unfortunate endings here this series. We had a chance to win all three games and move on to tomorrow.”
It’s unclear how severe Kimbrel’s injury is. Hyde said he was being evaluated by the club’s medical staff. The Orioles did not make Kimbrel, who answered questions after Friday’s defeat, available to talk postgame.
After five straight balls to open the inning, Kimbrel awkwardly walked around the mound, causing Hyde, athletic trainer Brian Ebel and pitching coach Drew French to make a visit.
“The way he was walking around just didn’t look right,” Hyde said. “We wanted to make sure he’s OK.”
Hyde said Kimbrel indicated that he was OK and able to remain in the game after throwing a warmup pitch. In fact, Kimbrel’s average fastball velocity Sunday was 1.1 mph harder than his season average. He stayed in to face No. 9 hitter Kyle McCann, who deposited the ninth pitch of at-bat — all fastballs, and this one right down the middle — 388 feet into the right field bleachers.
“He threw a pitch and it looked good and felt right,” Hyde said. “Kind of just trust the player at that point when he said he’s good to go.”
Catcher Adley Rutschman expressed a similar sentiment as Hyde when asked if he noticed something was wrong with Kimbrel early in his outing.
“He obviously has a lot of experience, and I trust him,” Rutschman said. “I know that he knows his body better than anybody else.
“Craig is a phenomenal pitcher. He’s going to bounce back and we got no worries.”
Baltimore is 17-10 and one game back of the New York Yankees for first in the American League East. The Orioles welcome the Yankees to Camden Yards this week for their first series — a four-game set — against each other this season.
Home run parade
Baltimore’s long ball barrage continued during Sunday’s matinee as the latest proof that no area of the ballpark should be marked safe with the way the Orioles are hitting right now. Rutschman clobbered one into the bullpen. Ryan Mountcastle crushed his to straightaway center field. Ramón Urías went the other way to right-center field.
Rutschman and Mountcastle each homered in the third inning to give the Orioles a 5-4 lead after going back-to-back in Saturday’s win. Urías’ solo shot in the fourth was the pivotal run before Kimbrel’s blown save. Rutschman extended his nine-game hitting streak, during which he is hitting .390 with a 1.039 OPS.
Through the first month of the season, the Orioles lead the major leagues in home runs. No other team has more than 37. Baltimore’s total is the most in franchise history through 27 games, ahead of the 41 long balls the 2020 Orioles clubbed.
With one-sixth of the season complete, the Orioles are on pace to hit a franchise-record 264 home runs this season — ahead of the 257 they totaled in 1996. Eight Orioles have hit at least four home runs this season. Henderson, who homered Saturday, is among the league leaders with nine — on pace for 54 — while Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins each have six. Jordan Westburg has hit five, while Anthony Santander, Ryan O’Hearn, Rutschman and Mountcastle all have four.
The home run party repeatedly excited the crowd at Camden Yards. The announced attendance of 40,887 was the ballpark’s highest this season, excluding opening day. The last time that many fans flocked to Oriole Park on a Sunday was in April 2017 against the Yankees. Excluding the Yankees, the last time was in May 2016 versus the Athletics.
The long ball was crucial in putting the Orioles in position to win. Starting pitcher Albert Suárez came back down to earth, allowing four runs in four innings after consecutive scoreless starts to begin his Orioles career. He allowed seven hits and struck out six. With John Means and Kyle Bradish expected to return this week, Suárez will likely be moved to the bullpen if he remains on the roster.
“I wasn’t executing the way I’m supposed to,” he said. “Threw a lot of pitches. I think that’s what cost me not going longer into the game.”
Seth Brown gave Oakland (12-17) an early advantage with a solo shot in the second. Mullins tied the game in the bottom half with an RBI groundout. Cowser gave the Orioles a brief 2-1 lead with an RBI double to left-center field to bring Mullins home. Suárez surrendered the lead in the third on JJ Bleday’s RBI double and Brent Rooker’s two-run single. Former Oriole Tyler Nevin, who was designated for assignment at the end of spring training, hit a solo homer off Danny Coulombe in the seventh to cut the Athletics’ deficit in half.
Aside from the homer off Coulombe, the Orioles’ bullpen was sharp before Kimbrel entered. Keegan Akin, Coulombe, Jacob Webb and Yennier Cano combined to throw four innings and allow just one run.
The Orioles were 30-16 in one-run games last season, largely a credit to Bautista, who was an All-Star before undergoing Tommy John elbow reconstruction in October. They are 2-4 in such games this year.
“We trust our pitching staff,” Rutschman said. “There’s going to be ups and downs. I don’t think anyone is worried.”
Around the horn
- Sunday’s contest was outfield prospect Heston’ Kjerstad’s fifth back on the Orioles’ roster after being recalled Tuesday. He’s started only once and has just five plate appearances. Westburg received his second day off this season after starting the previous 16 games as he’s emerged as a valuable everyday player. Hyde, who doesn’t speak pregame on Sundays, said after the game that Westburg was unavailable — and couldn’t potentially pinch-hit for Mateo in the ninth — because of a “stomach bug.”
- Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer and Corbin Burnes will keep the rotation in order by starting the Orioles’ first three games against the Yankees this week at Camden Yards. Baltimore has yet to list Thursday’s starter for the series finale. Kyle Bradish, who is set to return soon from the injured list, and Cole Irvin, who hasn’t allowed a run in 12 1/3 innings, would both be rested enough to start that day.
- John Means needed to show in his final minor league rehabilitation start that he was ready to rejoin the Orioles’ rotation, and the veteran left-hander did just that. Means pitched seven shutout innings for Triple-A Norfolk, allowing just one hit, striking out eight, touching 93.3 mph on the radar gun and throwing 95 pitches. Means had struggled on his rehab assignment before Sunday as he ramped up after beginning his offseason throwing regimen a month late, but Sunday’s gem was an encouraging sign. He is expected to be activated off the injured list this week.
- Top prospect Jackson Holliday returned to game action for the Tides this weekend. He went 0-for-4 with a walk Saturday and 1-for-4 with a double Sunday.
- Catcher David Bañuelos, who was designated for assignment when Ryan McKenna rejoined the Orioles, cleared outright waivers Saturday and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.
Yankees at Orioles
Monday, 6:35 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
