The Orioles needed a gutsy performance from Grayson Rodriguez.
Following a tiring, extra-inning loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, Baltimore could’ve used a boost and some energy from its young starting pitcher. After fellow starter Kyle Bradish was placed on the injured list with a sprained elbow ligament, the ballclub required reassurance that its rotation could withstand yet another injury. And with a worn-down bullpen, the Orioles needed the right-hander to eat innings against one of baseball’s best lineups.
Rodriguez achieved all that and more Saturday, firing seven innings of two-run ball to lead Baltimore past Philadelphia, 6-2, in front of another sold-out crowd at Camden Yards. After allowing a run in each of the game’s first two innings, he grinded through the next five — striking out six, stranding five runners and strutting off Oriole Park’s mound to a standing ovation.
“I think this team’s special in a way that we’re always going to pick each other up,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve always got each other’s back. The cool thing about this club is so many of us played together in the minor leagues. We’ve known each other for so long. It’s almost like a family. I think a lot of other teams don’t have that, and I think that’s our strongest asset here.”
Anthony Santander led the offense and continued his scorching-hot June by driving in four of Baltimore’s six runs. After smacking a game-tying homer Friday, he did the same Saturday with a solo shot in the fourth. Santander later provided welcomed insurance with a two-run blast in the eighth — his 17th long ball of the season and eighth this month.
Santander, who also drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, has often started seasons slowly before heating up in June. This year, hit hit .211 with a mediocre .712 OPS through May, but in 15 games this month, the veteran switch-hitter is batting .298 with an 1.113 OPS.
“It’s something that, I don’t know what’s happening, but it feels great when it’s happening,” Santander said of his heater at the plate. “I’m from Venezuela, so there it’s always 90-95 [degrees]. I wish it could be hot the whole year, but it isn’t.”
With Bradish on the shelf, Rodriguez is again the Orioles’ No. 2 starter behind ace Corbin Burnes. The sophomore fireballer is more than capable to reassume the role.
Saturday marked his first time completing seven innings this season and third in his nascent career. He induced an inning-ending groundout of leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber on his 99th pitch. The only runs scored off him came on Alec Bohm’s RBI double in the first and Edmundo Sosa’s solo shot in the second.
Rodriguez, who leads the Orioles with eight wins, lowered his ERA to 3.20. That drops to 2.72 taking in only his six starts since returning from the IL one month ago.
“I didn’t know how we were going to respond, honestly,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Watching what happened with Kyle last night, obviously people are down thinking about him and hoping for the best. Grayson Rodriguez today, that was an amazing performance. Just continues to do what he’s done the last few starts, not walking people, fastball command. … That’s a great lineup over there that he held in check for seven innings. Awesome job.”
Right-hander Bryan Baker, who was recalled from Triple-A earlier this week, was thrown into a high-leverage situation in the eighth, tasked with holding a one-run lead against the heart of the Phillies’ lineup. He handled the pressure with aplomb, retiring Nick Castellanos, Bryce Harper and Bohm in order.
“We’re staying away from a few guys today,” Hyde said of his depleted relief corps. “To go in there and a one-run game and do what he did against the meat of the order, really impressive. I’m happy for him, happy for us.”
Closer Craig Kimbrel entered to boos from the large contingent of Phillies fans after his struggles in the postseason for Philadelphia last year. He responded in kind with a scoreless ninth to slam the door.
Baltimore is 46-24 and avoided a third straight loss with the triumph. The Orioles, who are 17-7 following losses this year, are 2 1/2 games back of the American League East-leading New York Yankees (50-23).
"It's a big loss."
On Kyle Bradish landing on the IL with a sprained UCL, what this could mean for his season and what the Orioles' rotation picture looks like moving forward: https://t.co/LnhDkhU8Xd
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) June 15, 2024
The two runs scored off Rodriguez came on hanging sliders. Bohm, who hit the go-ahead double in the 11th inning Friday, pounded one to score Bryce Harper, and Sosa cleared the out-of-town scoreboard to put the National League-leading Phillies (47-24) up 2-0 in the second.
Rodriguez (8-2) didn’t let the slow start hinder him, retiring the next 10 batters and 12 of the next 13 before running into trouble in the sixth. Bohm singled with two outs and Bryson Stott doubled to bring Sosa back to the plate, but Rodriguez sat him down with a sharp slider on the eighth pitch of the at-bat.
“That’s something I struggled with last year, especially in the first half,” the 24-year-old said. “I think this year I’ve done a little bit better job not letting things snowball.”
He stranded another runner in scoring position in the seventh, retiring the final two batters of the frame to stamp an exclamation point on his evening. Rodriguez, aided by web gems from center fielder Cedric Mullins and third baseman Ramón Urías, scattered seven hits and one walk, while striking out seven.
“This is a fun development story up here, seeing him making huge strides and kind of figuring things out,” Hyde said. “He’s getting a little bit better every start. He’s not going to be like this every start, but he understands now. He’s really starting to understand how to pitch. He’s just come a long way.”
The Orioles cut their deficit in half when Urías doubled to lead off the third against Phillies starter Taijuan Walker, advanced to third on Gunnar Henderson’s infield single and scored on Adley Rutschman’s sacrifice fly. Santander then took over to reestablish himself as one of Baltimore’s best sluggers with the seventh multi-homer game of the Orioles’ season and the 14th of his eight-year career.
The slugger suddenly has hit as many home runs this season — 17 — as New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto and Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani. The group is tied for sixth in MLB. Santander is only four behind Henderson, who smacked an RBI single in the eighth, for the team lead.
A free agent this offseason, Santander is on pace to blast a career-high 39 long balls this year.
“He’s more on time with the fastball,” Hyde said. “He’s kind of buying some off-speed stuff in the middle of the plate, and he’s not missing.”
In Orioles vs. Phillies series at Camden Yards, the fan competition in the stands might be fiercer
The battle between Phillies fans and Orioles fans carried over from Friday’s classic, giving the interleague contest a playoff feel with an announced 44,555 in attendance. Each big moment, from Bohm’s double to Santander’s homers to Rodriguez’s strikeouts to Kimbrel’s final out, was met with cheers rarely heard for a regular season game at Oriole Park.
“It felt like a playoff game,” Rodriguez said. “It was a pretty hostile environment. Having a lot of the Phillies fans there, that helped me a lot. Obviously, you want to see the stadium packed out in orange, but there was some animosity in there, and man, it made pitching fun today.”
