CLEVELAND – Five runs scored against Corbin Burnes today, his most with the Orioles. Any chance at a 19th quality landed in the center field seats in the fifth inning. An abnormal result from the reliable ace.
Eloy Jiménez was in the lineup against a right-hander and collected three hits in his first three at-bats, including a run-scoring single in the third. Didn’t see that one coming, either.
Baseball’s unpredictability surfaced again today and the Orioles were happy to settle for a split of their four-game series against the Guardians, with home runs by Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson contributing to a 9-5 victory before an announced crowd of 33,628 at Progressive Field.
"It’s tough to be consistent offensively, but the quality of the at-bat was much better these past two days," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Give our guys a lot of credit for getting a split out of here. That’s a tough place to play, a tough team to play. Kind of getting our butts kicked the first two games, the way we responded and swung the bat the last two games has been nice.”
Henderson’s two-run shot in the fourth inning was his 29th homer and first since the break, and the Orioles raised their record to 67-46 heading into an off-day in Toronto.
"Yeah, it’s been a while," he said. "It was nice to get that one, and hopefully, more to come."
Their lead down to 6-5 in the sixth, the Orioles scored twice with two outs on a pinch-hit RBI single from Ryan Mountcastle and double from Adley Rutschman. Gregory Soto allowed two hits in a scoreless sixth, with Burch Smith stranding a runner after Cedric Mullins threw out Andrés Giménez trying to stretch a single into a double. Cionel Pérez stranded one in the seventh and Yennier Cano did the same in the eighth.
Seranthony Domínguez did his own stranding in the ninth after a walk, and the Orioles stayed tied with the Yankees, who beat the Blue Jays in 10 innings.
Burnes (12-4) was charged with four earned runs, tying his season high, and seven hits in five innings. Josh Naylor launched a changeup 420 feet to center field for a three-run homer with two outs in the fifth, shaving the Orioles’ lead to 6-5. The inning included two of the five stolen bases against Burnes, and José Ramírez’s infield single on a slow roller to third that Coby Mayo couldn’t grip.
Burnes recorded his 1,000th career strikeout in the third when Lane Thomas whiffed on a cutter after Steven Kwan’s RBI single. A second run scored when Burnes reached for Ramírez’s liner and the ball deflected off his glove, he slid to retrieve it and whipped a throw to the Orioles’ dugout.
The man is entitled to an occasional glitch. Today’s outing, on the heels of six quality starts in a row, was unrecognizable.
“Well, I think he’s a human being," Hyde said, "so every once in a while he’s going to have, he’s going to leave a changeup there for Naylor. Just made a bad pitch in a 2-0 spot there. Besides that, it was pretty good. His stuff was, good cutter, good sinker, good curveball. Team battles and they put the ball in play and he left a bad pitch for Naylor there.”
Holliday got a run back in the fourth with his second major league homer. He also singled and walked and has seven hits in 18 at-bats since the Orioles recalled him.
"Showing a lot more confidence," Hyde said. "The way he can stay on the baseball is much improved. Besides that first at-bat where he was late to the heater, he took some really good swings the rest of the day so he’s got a ton of ability, he’s going to have some ups and downs. He’s a really, really young player. But it’s great to see him swing the bat this way this series."
"He’s been good," Jiménez said. "Long way to go. I know he’s going to be one of the great players and he just needs to keep working. He’s been putting in the work and he’s just so young, he’s going to find his rhythm and I know he’s going to have success."
The Orioles loaded the bases against Gavin Williams with no outs in the third on Colton Cowser’s walk that extended his on-base streak to 19 games, Anthony Santander’s double and Henderson’s walk. Plate umpire Cory Blaser called out Ryan O’Hearn on a pitch that missed outside, but Rutschman followed with a sacrifice fly and Jiménez singled to score Santander.
Cowser singled in the fourth to stretch his hitting streak to 17 games, tying Trey Mancini’s club rookie record, and Henderson reached the right-center field seats at 104.7 mph off the bat. The curveball never had a chance.
Jiménez led off the second inning with a double and Cedric Mullins’ sacrifice bunt moved him to third base, but Mayo and Holliday struck out.
Mayo fanned three times and is 0-for-9 in the majors.
“It’s not easy up here," Hyde said. "It’s not easy. You’ve just got to take the best at-bats you can.”
"Every player who’s come up, they always hit some type of struggle and it just depends on when," Henderson said. "Obviously, it’s been just what, two, three games? I wouldn’t say there’s anything to worry about right now, just let him get his feet wet and let him catch his breath out there."
Jiménez produced his first three-hit game since June 30 and is 5-for-9 since the deadline trade with the White Sox.
"You know, I’ve been working and just feel comfortable. Just feel like all the work I’ve put in has just paid off," he said.
"We have a group of good talent, great talent, and so young. They give you a little bit of good vibes. That’s pretty much when you come on a new team that’s what you want to see and that’s what you want to feel. So for me, that is good."
A fresh start can do wonders for a struggling player.
"I got good memories over there," he said, "but now I’m here and this is going to be fun."
Rutschman added a run-scoring single in the eighth. His last multi-hit game was July 9.
Burnes was staked to a 1-0 lead in the first on Henderson’s two-out single and O’Hearn’s double. Henderson singled again in the sixth for back-to-back three-hit games.
The downturn from Burnes was the exception for the Orioles. Guys are heating up or staying at a high temperature. They get a day to chill before facing the Blue Jays and Rays on the rest of the trip.
"A lot of us love to come out here and just play the game, and it’s just a matter of time before we’re all starting to get it clicking again," Henderson said. "Looking forward to seeing where it goes."
* Left-hander Cole Irvin cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.
* The Orioles are starting Grayson Rodriguez, Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer in Toronto. The Blue Jays haven’t listed their starters.
