BALTIMORE–What happened? Roansy Contreras was one of the final cuts of spring training, and for five months, he waited at Triple-A Norfolk for the call to Baltimore.
This week that call finally came, and Contreras put himself into contention for a roster spot on the 2026 Orioles with an outstanding performance.
After Keegan Akin relieved Contreras with a 2-1 lead in the eighth and runners on first and third with none out, he retired the three batters he faced to hold the lead.
But in the ninth, Akin allowed a two-run home run to Ceddanne Rafaelia, and the Orioles’ record on the homestand dropped to 1-6 with a 3-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox before 16,790 at Camden Yards on Wednesday night.
After Dietrich Enns allowed a leadoff home run to Roman Anthony in 2 2/3 innings, Contreras gave up three hits in 4 1/3 scoreless innings, with a big assist from Akin in the eighth.
Contreras (1-0) might not ascend to the starting rotation, but the 25-year-old right-hander is versatile. He struck out two and walked one.
The Orioles (60-73), scored twice against Boston starter Brayan Bello with Dylan Beavers factoring into both runs.
In the second, Beavers’ sinking line drive to center popped out of the glove to Rafaela, who nearly made a diving catch, allowing Coby Mayo to score.
In the seventh, Dylan Carlson’s double scored Beavers, who was on first with two outs. Carlson’s ball fell between leftfielder Jarren Duran and Rafaela, who both pulled up as the ball landed against the wall.
Beavers has reached base 19 times in his first 10 games.
“I definitely feel more comfortable in the box,” Beavers said. “Just feel like the more at-bats and the more games I log on defense, just going to settle in a little more. But compared to my first game to now, I feel a whole lot better.”
Contreras walked Connor Wong and David Hamilton singled to begin the eighth. With first and third and none out, Akin struck out Anthony and Alex Bregman. Trevor Story hit into a force play, and the Orioles held a 2-1 lead after 7 ½.
Duran singled against Akin (4-4) to begin the ninth and Rafaela hit his 15th home run to left on a high changeup.
Greg Weissert (6-4) pitched a scoreless eighth. Aroldis Chapman registered his 26th save in the ninth by striking out the side. Mayo, the final batter, battled Chapman, seeing 12 pitches before he took a called third strike.
Boston (74-60) has won six of seven.
How did Contreras feel about his outing? It was Contreras’ longest outing since May 21st, 2023.
“I felt really good, especially because I had worked with [catcher Samuel] Basallo down in Triple-A, so I think that made it much easier to go out there today and get the job done,” Contreras said through a team translator.
He watched numerous teammates summoned to the Orioles, but said it didn’t bother him.
“I still felt patient and wasn’t in any sort of rush to get up here,” he said. “I continue to trust in my work and the results that I was getting and that was my focus, not trying to get too ahead of myself. Didn’t feel rushed in any sort of way to get up here.”
Interim manager Tony Mansolino said he was pleased with Contreras’ outing.
“I thought it was pretty good,” he said. “That’s a nice outing right there. Ball came out hot right out of the gates. Some [98 mphs] thrown up on the board.
“I think that kind of caught a lot of our eyes. I liked the different breaking pitches. The changeups to the lefties were good. Sixty-something pitches, rolled through six innings and got us into the eighth after the opener situation. I thought he threw the ball great.”
Why was Akin out in the ninth? Akin had pitched in three of the last four games. On Sunday, he recorded a five-out save against Houston. After retiring three batters to preserve the lead in a high-adrenaline eighth, Mansolino wanted Akin to start the ninth.
“So the first two hitters, Duran and Rafaela, historically and this year much better against right-handed pitching. Significantly better,” Mansolino said.
“So lefties are the play on him. Akin’s neutral. The idea was to get through those two guys with Akin and then most likely they would have pinch-hit one of the righties, probably Romy Gonzalez right there for Lowe, at which point we had Rico Garcia up.
“We just didn’t want to send Rico out basically against four straight hitters that are really tough on right-handed pitching. And then on top of that, just the idea that Akin had a five-out save a few days ago. We felt like he was kind of primed for it.”
What does it mean? After Akin’s emotional eighth inning, it seemed risky to bring him out for the ninth, and it didn’t work out.
What’s the stat of the day? Contreras, the 65th player used by the Orioles this season, was on the roster of five teams in the offseason: The Los Angeles Angels, Texas, Cincinnati, the New York Yankees and the Orioles. He was claimed by the Orioles twice within a month.
What’s the word? “He felt great, he wanted the ball. Just trying to get him through two hitters most likely there was kind of the idea with the two guys being so much better. We felt very comfortable with it. Just didn’t work out.”–Mansolino on the decision to bring Akin back for the ninth.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Tyler Wells allowed two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings in Triple-A Norfolk’s 2-1 loss to Gwinnett. The Tides had just two hits, a double by Jorge Mateo and TT Bowens’ 15th home run.
Zach Fruit pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up one run on two hits in Double-A Chesapeake’s 5-1 win over Reading. Enrique Bradfield Jr. had three hits and Douglas Hodo III homered.
Boston Bateman allowed two runs on two hits and walked five in two innings in High-A Aberdeen’s 4-3 win over Jersey Shore.
Wehiwa Aloy had three hits as Single-A Delmarva lost to Carolina, 7-5
Riley Cooper, the Orioles’ 13th-round pick in 2023 who pitched the ninth inning of a spring training no-hitter in March, was released earlier this month.
What’s next? Cade Povich (2-7, 5.13) will face Garrett Crochet (14-5, 2.38) on Thursday at 1:05 p.m.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com