BALTIMORE — What happened? On Boston’s offday on Tuesday, the Red Sox signed ace Garrett Crochet to a six-year, $170 million extension. On Wednesday night against the Orioles, the 25-year-old left-hander made it look like a bargain. Crochet pitched eight shutout innings, striking out eight and allowing the Orioles’ leadoff hitter to reach just once, in the eighth, in a 3-0 win before an announced crowd of 18,146 at chilly Camden Yards.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said sometimes you just have to “tip your hat. That’s outstanding stuff. Four pitches he throws for strikes with tempo, plus stuff, crossfire, physical. It’s a tough at-bat.”
Oriole starter Zach Eflin allowed all three runs in six innings. It was his ninth quality start in 11 since joining the Orioles last July. Eflin was good, but Crochet was better. “He pitched really well,” Eflin told reporters after the game. “There’s no denying that. But at the end of the day, it’s the game of baseball. We play 162 games and they’re not all going to go in our favor. He pitched really well tonight, and they put some good swings on that scored enough runs to win the game.”
How was Eflin’s start? Eflin, who was the Opening Day starter, has gone six innings in both of his starts. He kept the Orioles in the game, but the offense was overmatched. He gave up a second-inning home run to Trevor Story and two runs in the fourth. Rafael Devers was 0-for-21 before a two-out, RBI double to right field. Tyler O’Neill tried for the out at second instead of hitting cutoff man Jordan Westburg and Ceddanne Rafaela, whose single scored Kristian Campbell, scored from first.
“Eflin threw the ball great,” Hyde said. “Ef does what he normally does. He gives us a chance to win every time out. He did a great job mixing speeds. Just kind of that one pitch to Story got a little bit too much of the plate. I’m really satisfied with how he threw the ball. He’s off to a good start this year.”
Eflin threw 87 pitches, 60 of which were strikes.
“I felt like I was commanding the ball pretty well,” he said. “They came out aggressive, they came out swinging. I was able to get through three, four pretty quick, and then, it kind of caught up to me a little bit. They were putting some better swings on it, getting more of the barrel. Kind of a tough day, but show up tomorrow and win the series.”
How was the defense? Eflin didn’t get any support from the offense, but he got plenty from the defense. Westburg made an outstanding diving stop to rob Alex Bregman of a hit and save a run in the fifth. In the sixth, centerfielder Cedric Mullins made an exceptional diving catch on a short flyball by Triston Casas, and Ramón Laureano made an excellent throw to Westburg at second to cut down Story trying to stretch a single.
“It was incredible,” Eflin said. “I definitely thought the one to Cedric late in the game was going to fall, and then he Superman caught it. And then Story got another base hit off me and tried to stretch it into a double and I was kind of thinking, ‘Ramón’s got a rocket out there,’ and he just let it eat and got the guy at second. I mean, it completely changes the game for me, personally, and obviously, the team, when one out, runner on second or two outs with nobody on, it’s a completely different ballgame there. So hats off to those guys for continuing to play hard late in the game like that.”
How was the bullpen? The bullpen kept it to a three-run deficit. Bryan Baker looked impressive with a 1-2-3 seventh, Gregory Soto allowed two hits and no runs, and Cionel Pérez pulled off the great escape, walking the bases loaded before getting Jarren Duran to hit into an inning-ending double play.
What was being discussed in the broadcast booth? Ben McDonald did an excellent job of explaining the torpedo bat, which has become a hot topic. He held up two bats, one of which was a torpedo bat, to show how the bat thickens near the label, providing more mass than at the end of the bat. When Baker was pitching, McDonald and Jim Palmer demonstrated the different grips for changeups, citing Baker’s new grip this season, which is more of a palm ball. They also addressed the Crochet extension for a pitcher with just 33 starts but acknowledged it looked like a wise move on Wednesday night.
What’s the number: 3 The Orioles are 3-3 going into Thursday’s afternoon game against the Red Sox.
What about Gunnar? Shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who’s recovering from a strained right intercostal muscle, was 0-for-3 for Norfolk. He is eligible to return to the Orioles on Thursday.
What’s next? Charlie Morton will face Boston’s Tanner Houck Thursday at 1:05 p.m. before the Orioles head to Kansas City and Arizona for a six-game road trip.