CHICAGO — Even on days he’s not in the lineup, Adley Rutschman is finding ways to win games for the Orioles.
Rutschman entered Friday night’s game as a pinch hitter with the score tied at 4 and came through with a two-run single to help lift the Orioles to a 6-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. Corbin Burnes delivered his sixth straight quality start — an outing of at least six innings with three earned runs or fewer — and Colton Cowser, who also entered the game as a pinch hitter before taking over in center field, made a leaping catch to rob a home run over the wall for the final out.
“That’s not an easy spot to hit,” manager Brandon Hyde said of Rutschman’s single after the game. Reliever Michael Kopech was throwing “100-101 [mph] in the rain, and to be able to get on time and be on top of a fastball like that shows you how special of a player he is.”
Burnes and White Sox starter Chris Flexen traded zeros over the first two innings before Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg hit back-to-back doubles with two outs in the third to take an early 1-0 lead. The Orioles stretched that lead to 4-0 in the fifth when Henderson came back up and crushed a 411-foot, two-run homer to left-center — his 17th of the year to tie the MLB lead — and Ryan Mountcastle followed with an RBI double three batters later.
The White Sox found some life offensively in the bottom half of the frame, scoring three runs against Burnes. First baseman Andrew Vaughn, who was called for interference on the final out of the Orioles’ 8-6 win Thursday night, hit an RBI double off the wall in left field to put two runners in scoring position. Paul DeJong came through with two outs, hitting a ground ball up the middle to bring both home.
“We did a good job of limiting hard contact and making pitches when we needed to,” Burnes said. “Unfortunately, in the fifth inning we just kind of got a little too predictable and a couple of knocks led to the runs there.”
That was all Chicago would manage against Burnes as the right-hander worked around a throwing error by catcher James McCann to post a scoreless sixth inning. Burnes pounded the zone all evening, throwing 64 of his 92 pitches (69.6%) for strikes and walking only two with six strikeouts to become the first Orioles pitcher with six quality starts in a row since Alex Cobb in 2018.
“That’s what I’m always trying to do when I’m out there,” Burnes said of staying within the strike zone as often as he did. “Just try to get ahead and execute as many pitches as they can. We knew these guys were going to try to swing early and get some early contact to try to get away from the strikeout and that’s what they did.”
Hyde decided not to send his ace back out for the seventh after he grinded through his last two innings, instead handing the ball to Yennier Cano. The right-hander has struggled of late, allowing three earned runs and letting several inherited runners score over his previous four innings.
Those struggles continued Friday when Vaughn hit his second extra-base hit of the day for a game-tying solo home run. Cano, even amid his recent struggles, had allowed only one home run over his previous 12 appearances and three all season.
However, the tie game wouldn’t last long as Ryan O’Hearn led off the eighth with a double and Anthony Santander followed with a walk two batters later. Hyde pinch hit Cowser for Austin Hays to face right-hander John Brebbia with one out, but after a seven-pitch battle he hit a line drive straight at center fielder Tommy Pham. The White Sox brought in their right-hander Kopech and Hyde countered with Rutschman to hit for Cedric Mullins.
Rutschman worked the count full before lining a 99 mph fastball on the outer half to left field. Andrew Benintendi tried to make a sliding catch to rob Rutschman of a hit, but the ball bounced just under his outstretched glove. Both runners were moving with two outs, which allowed Santander to score all the way from first.
“There’s a lot of different aspects to it,” Rutschman said of coming off the bench as a pinch hitter. “You’re not playing in the game. You get that adrenaline rush when you step in there for the first time, a big situation usually, so trying to ease your mind a little bit and prepare as much as you can in the cage so you’re as relaxed as possible going in there.”
Danny Coulombe pitched a scoreless eighth inning for his 10th hold of the season and Craig Kimbrel notched his 11th save with some help from Cowser, who stayed in the game as a defensive replacement in center field and robbed Pham to end the game.
A moment for Colton Cowser. pic.twitter.com/PnPZEuMQus
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 25, 2024
The Orioles (31-18) have taken the first two games of the series in Chicago. The start of Friday’s game was delayed 41 minutes because of the impending threat of a storm, but the rain didn’t arrive until the sixth inning and the teams played through it the rest of the contest.
The Orioles will look to stay hot — and dry — Saturday when they go for the series victory. Albert Suárez will make his fourth start of the season after Baltimore placed Dean Kremer on the 15-day injured list with a triceps strain Friday afternoon.
Orioles at White Sox
Saturday, 2:10 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
