PITTSBURGH — The Orioles’ slumping offense managed just two runs Sunday, and that total appeared to be enough to eke out a win over the Pirates.
But setup man Yennier Cano, who was tasked with closing Sunday with Craig Kimbrel unavailable, allowed two runs in the ninth to blow the save as the Orioles lost, 3-2, to the Pirates. The walk-off loss was the second straight for Baltimore after losing in such fashion in 11 innings Saturday.
Cano loaded the bases without recording an out and nearly escaped the jam, but a one-out ground ball by Edward Olivares brought home the tying and winning runs. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson nearly turned a web gem double play to win the game, diving near second base to snag the grounder and tag the bag. But his throw to first was wide and got past first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, allowing Connor Joe to score the winning run.
“You can’t blame Gunnar,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Not many people get to that ball — a chopper over the middle. Tough play, makes a great play. Just kind of rushed, tried to hurry the throw a little bit.”
Cano was an All-Star last season as one of baseball’s best relievers, but he’s struggled in save situations. The sinkerballer saved eight games last year but blew six others. Since the start of last season, he’s allowed two or more runs just four times — each occurring in the ninth with the Orioles winning.
The Orioles nearly won despite their lackluster offense because starter Dean Kremer twirled seven masterful innings of one-run ball as his defense backed him up with several highlight plays. It was the best start by a member of Baltimore’s rotation since ace Corbin Burnes’ 11-strikeout opening day.
The only run Kremer allowed scored because of his own error in the fourth inning. Other than that flub, the 28-year-old right-hander was nearly flawless, surrendering just five hits and no walks with six strikeouts.
Baltimore (5-4) had won two of three games in each of its first two series before taking just one from the Pirates this weekend. After scoring 24 runs in their first two games, the Orioles have tallied just 23 runs in seven games since — an average of 3.2 per game. But the pitching staff has mostly been strong this season, holding opponents to five or fewer runs in all nine games.
“We had six hits and I think four last night. Tough to win that way,” Hyde said. “We’re not making it easy on ourselves offensively right now.”
In Saturday’s loss, the Orioles went 4-for-37 and 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Facing a left-hander again Sunday, manager Brandon Hyde sent out the same exact batting order — the first time he’s done so since June 2023 — to bounce back.
The offense continued to flounder in the early innings, managing just one hit off Marco Gonzales with several soft outs. But Baltimore’s bats briefly woke up in the fourth with several hard-hit balls to take a 2-0 lead. Adley Rutschman, hitting right-handed, roped a 104.3 mph single and raced around the bases to score on Mountcastle’s second double of the day, this one a 112.1 missile to left-center field. Mountcastle then scored on a 106.5 mph single by Santander.
But the lineup stalled after the string of hard hits, ending the afternoon with only six knocks and no walks. They didn’t have the opportunity to struggle again with runners in scoring position because they so infrequently went past first base.
Gonzales and the Pirates’ bullpen combined to retire 13 of the final 14 Orioles they faced. Mountcastle was the offense’s main bright spot with a 3-for-4 day, while Mateo’s fifth-inning double was Baltimore’s only extra-base hit not recorded by Mountcastle.
“We’re not creating any sort of traffic right now,” Hyde said. “We’re not taking walks. We’re getting out early in the count quite a bit. You don’t want to discredit the other team’s pitchers, but we’ve got to do a better job of putting pressure on them and getting on base.”
The Pirates (8-2) nearly took a 1-0 lead in the third on a scorching double off the wall by leadoff hitter Oneil Cruz, whose 11th-inning single Saturday walked it off for Pittsburgh. But Cedric Mullins perfectly played the carom off the wall and fired the ball to Jorge Mateo, who nabbed Jared Triolo at home plate as catcher James McCann quickly applied the tag.
Kremer’s errant throw in the fifth sent Olivares, who reached on a one-out single, to third, allowing him to score on Henry Davis’ sacrifice fly and cut the Orioles’ advantage in half.
In the sixth, both of Kremer’s middle infielders flashed the leather to rob base hits. Henderson made a diving play to his left to steal a hit from Bryan Reynolds, and Mateo ranged to the shortstop side of second base, snagged a hard grounder from Ke’Bryan Hayes and fired a strike to Mountcastle at first for the out.
“We have one of the better defenses in the league, and I’m not afraid to throw it down the middle and let them work,” Kremer said.
Kremer became the second Orioles starter to pitch into the seventh after Grayson Rodriguez did so Friday and the first to finish it. The fifth-year starter pounded the zone with his five-pitch mix to keep Pittsburgh’s hitters off-balance, throwing 69 of his 91 pitches for strikes. Through two starts, Kremer owns a 2.19 ERA and 0.73 WHIP in 12 1/3 innings.
Left-hander Keegan Akin followed Kremer with a scoreless eighth before giving way to Cano in the ninth. The Cuba native allowed singles to Hayes and Jack Suwinski to lead off the ninth and walked Joe to load the bases. He nearly got easy double plays on dribblers in front of home plate, but each went foul. Rowdy Tellez hit a soft grounder to Mountcastle, who fired home for the force out. Hayes was originally called safe, but the call was quickly overturned after Hyde’s challenge.
“A couple balls elevated early with the first couple guys,” Hyde said of Cano. “We were so close there. We had so many little tappers because he has so much sink on his fastball and changeups. Besides the first two guys, it was typical Cano.”
But the defense couldn’t bail out Cano and the offense again after Henderson’s near-game-winning double play went sideways with his inaccurate throw. Henderson could’ve held the throw to avoid the miscue, as it’s unclear if an accurate one would’ve been in time to get Olivares out, and allowed Pittsburgh to tie the game. But that type of decision isn’t how the aggressive 22-year-old is wired.
“I usually make that play 99 times out of 100,” Henderson said. “I just let the throw get away from me right there. It’s pretty unfortunate.”
After a day off Monday, Baltimore travels to Boston for both clubs’ first American League East series of the season. Burnes will start Tuesday for the Red Sox’s home opener, as the Orioles ace is swapping places in the rotation with No. 5 starter Cole Irvin to prevent Burnes from having too much rest from his start Wednesday.
Orioles at Red Sox
Tuesday, 2:10 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
