What happened? Charlie Morton, the Orioles’ bounce-back player of the year, led the Orioles to an impressive 4-1 bounce-back win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Colton Cowser gave him the offensive support he needed with a three-run homer on an 0-2 pitch in the sixth, snapping a 1-1 tie.
The win came a night after the Orioles blew an 8-0 lead and lost, 12-8, to the Rays. It gave them a split of the four-game series with Tampa Bay and put them 10 games under .500 (32-42) heading into a three-game series with the Yankees in New York.
But the show of resilience wasn’t the first thing on the Orioles’ mind after the game. It was the health of Tampa Bay relief pitcher Hunter Bigge, who was hit in the face by a 105-mph foul ball off the bat of Adley Rutschman in the seventh inning. Rutschman pulled an inside pitch into the Rays’ dugout and immediately looked distraught.
“Yeah, I mean, I saw it off my bat,” Rutschman said to the media in Tampa. “It’s really, really scary. Praying for him and for his recovery and hope he’s doing OK. Just … It’s scary.”
The game was halted nearly 10 minutes as emergency medical personnel treated Bigge in the dugout while a cart was brought in to take him off the field. When Bigge was placed on the cart, he gave a thumbs up, providing an anxious crowd with a reason to cheer.
Rays manager Kevin Cash said Bigge was hit in the side of the face, but never lost consciousness. He is coherent and undergoing tests at a hospital, Cash said.
When Cowser was interviewed by MASN after the game, his first comment was: “Prayers to Hunter Bigge.” Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino called the moment “terrifying.” When asked if it’s difficult to focus on playing after such an incident, he said, “I would be concerned if it wasn’t difficult.”
MASN broadcaster Brian Roberts gave his perspective: “This is a time when it’s hard to get back to playing baseball. It’s a family. Baseball is a family.”
When the game did resume, an Orioles bullpen that gave up nine runs in what appeared to be a crushing 12-8 loss to Tampa Bay the night before, showed its toughness. Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto, and Bryan Baker worked out of jams in the seventh and eighth before Félix Bautista struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth for his 15th save.
Ryan O’Hearn drove in the Orioles other run with a two-out single up the middle off Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen in the fourth, tying the game, 1-1. O’Hearn’s hit scored Gunnar Henderson.
How good was Morton? Morton (4-7) seems to have a created a new category — comeback player of the year in the same season. The 41-year-old right-hander was booted from the starting rotation in April and ran his record to 0-7 before picking up his first win. But a move to the bullpen, coupled with the Orioles’ need for starting pitchers provided a second chance, and he’s made the most of it.
A night after the Orioles’ bullpen covered 5 2/3 innings, Morton went six innings, giving up only a single run in the third while striking out seven and not allowing a walk. His curveball, which he couldn’t control early in the season, induced a number of bad swings by the Rays and made his fastball even more effective. He appeared in his 400th major league game, and gave the Orioles the start they needed.
“For the better part of a month now, I’ve been locating well, I’ve been throwing strikes,” Morton told reporters in Tampa. “I mean, I’ll have an outing here or there where it’s like maybe the command is a little bit of an issue, but I don’t think that’s abnormal for anybody. I think everybody kind of runs into an outing. I think I made some adjustments a while back with my delivery and my timing, and since then, I’ve felt pretty good.”
How hot is Cowser? Cowser hit a home run for the third night in a row, and came through again on an 0-2 pitch.
“I mean, I’m in a lot of them, so, you know, sometimes it happens,” Cowser told reporters. “Finding the swing again, the approach started to get a little bit more fine-tuned. Just kind of game planning on what to expect. And I really wasn’t expecting that pitch there, but that just kind of tells me that I was, you know, timed up where I needed to be, and the approach was right.”
Cowser got a fastball from Edwin Uceta, who has an excellent changeup. He fouled off a changeup before hitting the home run.
What does it mean? “We know how good that Tampa team is, this is a really good team and they’re probably playing better than anyone in baseball right now. So, to walk in here and take two of four and really put yourself in position to take three of four, it just gives us a lot of confidence and makes us feel really good on this next trip in New York, which is going to be a tough one.” — Mansolino on the importance of the win.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Heston Kjerstad was removed from Triple-A Norfolk’s game against Memphis after fouling a ball off of his right knee. The Tides lost 9-3 despite a homer from Dylan Beavers.
Nestor German surrendered four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings as Double-A Chesapeake lost to Erie, 6-4. Enrique Bradfield went 0-for-4, lowering his average to .226 and OPS to .696.
High-A Aberdeen lost 6-4 to Brooklyn despite two innings of scoreless relief from Carter Baumler. Vance Honeycutt went 0-for-4 with a walk and run scored, lowering his average to .195 and OPS to .623.
Low-A Delmarva was the lone Orioles’ affiliate to win Thursday, 5-4 over Hickory.
What’s next? The Orioles open a three-game series at Yankee Stadium on Friday night with Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4, 3.38 ERA) facing LHP Max Fried (9-2, 1.89).