BALTIMORE—Though the Orioles’ season could end on Wednesday, manager Brandon Hyde was in a light mood during his pregame interview session. A reporter asked if there was anything Hyde could try, suggesting that coaches in other sports could make radical changes.
Hyde, who’s an avid fan of football and basketball, joked about his options.
“I’m picking a spot to onside [kick],” Hyde cracked. “Try to get the ball back as quick as I possibly can in field position, or run a — I’m going to try to be like UNLV back in the early ’90s with Stacey Augmon and Larry Johnson and try to get up-and-down the court as fast as possible.”
He quickly returned to the sport he’s paid to manage.
“Besides that I’m going to use my relievers as best I possibly can, try to put some zeroes up and try to score some runs,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Orioles wasted an outstanding pitching performance by ace Corbin Burnes, who allowed only one run on five hits in eight-plus innings. That one run was enough to give the Kansas City Royals a 1-0 win in Game 1 of the best-of-three Wild Card Series. The Orioles’ situational hitting was awful again; they went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and chased a number of pitches outside the strike zone.
They’ll have to do better if they’re going to support starter Zach Eflin in Game 2 on Wednesday. The Orioles need to win on Wednesday and Thursday to advance to the Division Series.
Hyde noted that the clubhouse mood seemed light, nearly five hours ahead of the scheduled 4:38 p.m. first pitch.
“I think it’s totally business as usual, “ he said. “Just kind of walking around the weight room a little bit and the clubhouse, I think guys are in great spirits and ready to get after it today.”
The Orioles were held to just five hits against left-hander Cole Ragans and three relievers and lost their ninth straight postseason game.
“I think you have to give Kansas City, their pitchers, a ton of credit,” Hyde said. “I thought rewatching that game, I thought Ragans was probably the best, if not the best, starts we’ve seen against us all year.Hopefully we can get some runs early. I think that always kind of relaxes the nerves a little bit and get guys got to press, and hopefully we can score some runs and get a lead early.”
Wednesday’s lineup features Ryan O’Hearn as the designated hitter against Royals right-hander Seth Lugo. In Game 1, Adley Rutschman was the DH and James McCann caught.
“We’ve got to win today,” Hyde said. “Everybody is available except for Burnes, and we’re going to do everything we can to try to win.”
Lugo allowed four runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 5-0 loss to the Orioles on April 20th. He’s pitched only once before in Baltimore, a one-inning relief appearance when he was with the New York Mets in 2021.
“It’s a turn-the-page day,” Hyde said. “It’s Day 2. I feel good about Eflin on the mound. We saw Lugo in Kansas City. He’s got the 12 pitches. We know what kind of year he’s had and how good he is, and we’ve just got to scrap and we’ve got to battle and put the ball in play, and hopefully we can get some momentum going.”