John Means astounds in his return, Reds leave bases loaded in ninth to give O’s a 2-1 win

Means was brilliant in his return and the bullpen didn’t blow it for him in the ninth. Wins all around!

Happy May the Fourth Day to all who celebrate! The Orioles certainly had themselves a festive day. This morning, the team dropped an excellent light saber-themed promo (bonus points if you can spot Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg struggling to stay in character). Flexing a custom May 4^th-themed bat on his Instagram was known fan Gunnar Henderson (seriously—the guy hid an engagement ring inside a completed Millennium Falcon before proposing). Manager Brandon Hyde supplied some comedy by playing the bemused old guy who doesn’t get what the fuss is about. The force is strong with this team, indeed.

But with apologies, the real cause for celebration was John Means’s incredible return to the mound in his first start of 2024. John Means wasn’t just back, he was incredible. Asked postgame whether Means could have given his team any more, Brandon Hyde emphatically replied, “No way. That was unbelievable.” Means silenced the Reds offense with seven shutout innings where he conceded just three hits and no walks. For the first time since September 26, 2021, he racked up eight strikeouts, and his whiff rate of 43% was a career high. He only needed 83 pitches to do it, too. Undoubtedly if it weren’t May and his first start, he could have tossed a complete game.

The Orioles endured a minor fright in the ninth, thanks to a wayward Craig Kimbrel, but we’ll get to that later. Tonight’s story was about starting pitching.

Stuff-wise, the Means fastball remains no missile, hovering at around 91.7 mph. Per Baseball Savant, though, it has hovered at 91.7 for Means’s last two seasons, and the location was great today. But most crucially, his offspeed stuff was absolutely on point. Out of his 19 swing and misses, eight were on the changeup, and six on a slider that was so filthy it got the Pitching Ninja’s notice:

Means scattered just three hits to the Reds today. One was a second-inning single to first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Another was a noisy double to Jonathan India in the third—but it came with two outs and the Reds made nothing of it.

India cracked another hit off Means with one out in the sixth, a sharp grounder to Jordan Westburg, who made a good backhanded grab but spiked the throw past Mountcastle at first. India made a sharp turn and broke for second, but he did not count on Jorge Mateo alertly backing up the throw and firing a bullet to second base, where Gunnar tagged out India, late by several feet. Good teams win games by paying attention to the details. Thanks, Jorge. Means followed up this webgem with another swinging strikeout.

Means was looking like the Terminator at this point. In fact, from the fourth to the sixth innings, the Reds gifted him four first-pitch outs. Whatever the scouting report on Means says, well, we’re grateful.

“This is brutal efficiency,” proclaimed Kevin Brown. “John Means is racking up quick outs like they’re going out of style.”

Great defense never hurts, even when a pitcher is rolling. Gunnar Henderson contributed another web gem in the seventh, showing major hops as he snagged a liner to end the inning (and John Means’s night, thanks to a cautious Brandon Hyde).

All the while, Cincinnati Andrew Abbott was proving a worthy opponent for this offense. After surrendering back-to-back singles to lead off the game, Abbott got a timely flyout plus two strikeouts to keep the Orioles off the scoreboard.

The Orioles didn’t have another hit off the second-year lefty until the third inning, when Rutschman and Mountcastle notched back-to-back two-out singles. Unfortunately for them, Anthony Santander hit a rocket right at the first baseman Encarnacion-Strand and the rally was snuffed.

But Baltimore cracked the Abbott code in the fourth. And this was just the man to do it: Jorge Mateo, launching his second home run in two days. Mateo timed up a changeup and let it rip, putting the Orioles up 1-0. (By the way, as Orioles beat writer Jacob Meyer noted, it’s been a tough week for Mateo haters—Meyer sends his condolences.)

Lots of Orioles were having trouble seeing Abbott’s stuff. It’s rare for Jordan Westburg to strike out twice in any game, but he did today, one of eight strikeouts Abbott had on the day.

One Oriole who was not having trouble seeing Abbott was Adley Rutschman, who went 3-for-3 off of the southpaw, including this first-pitch blast in the fourth inning to put the Birds up 2-0.

That was all the offense the Orioles would muster tonight. With Means mowing down hitters, it felt like a real lead, but much less so come the eighth inning, when lefty reliever Cionel Pérez, in his first appearance since March 31, allowed a leadoff single to bring the tying man to the plate in Santiago Espinal. But Espinal’s grounder up the middle was easily scooped up by Gunnar, who proceeded to complete an unassisted double play.

The nerves were really firing come the ninth inning. Closer Craig Kimbrel, untouchable on Friday night, was much less so on Saturday. Kimbrel allowed a leadoff single, then walked Jonathan India on four pitches. He caught Cincy phenom Elly de la Cruz looking, but the talented Spencer Steer didn’t miss a fastball that caught way too much of the plate, singling home the Reds’ first run (and only a good play by Santander to cut off the ball in right kept it from being a two-run double).

With just one out and the lead down to a run, Brandon Hyde yanked his Hall of Fame closer and brought in Yennier Cano. Bold move, Cotton—but it did pay off. Cano was huge tonight, despite walking Tyler Stephenson to load the bases (in fairness, Cano painted the corner with a 2-2 changeup, but home ump Jansen Visconti simply missed it). With the bases loaded, Cano got a gigantic K of Encarnacion-Strand, and Jeimer Candelario ended the game with a flyout. And … exhale!

Other than the lesson that Craig Kimbrel seemingly should not be used in back-to-back nights, today was a huge day for the Baltimore Orioles. Above all, it was wonderful to see the Orioles take this series behind a dominant John Means, who carved up a talented lineup showing command and a great pitch mix. Can’t wait to see more of Means this season.