Anthony Santander tied the game with an 8th-inning homer but the Orioles couldn’t capitalize. They lost 5-3 in extras.
The highly anticipated series between the Orioles and Phillies started with a bang but the Orioles came out on the wrong side tonight. If you were looking for excitement, you got it. Solid pitching through most of the game kept things close. Late-inning comebacks. Extra innings. Overturned challenges. This game had everything other than an Orioles win.
A bigger bummer than the final score was the news from Brandon Hyde that Kyle Bradish left the game after five innings due to elbow discomfort. Bradish will undergo additional tests but for a guy who started the season late due to a UCL sprain, it’s really not what you want to hear. With that said, on to the game.
The very first batter of the game was a Kyle vs. Kyle battle. The pitcher Kyle, Kyle Bradish, went 2-1 on the batter Kyle, Kyle Schwarber. The fourth pitch of the at-bat was a curveball that Schwarber demolished. It sailed into the stand just inside the flag court, a 406-foot shot that gave the Phillies an early lead.
After that, though, our Kyle settled in. Bradish then retired the next 11 batters he faced before he allowed a two-out single to Alec Boehm in the fourth inning. He followed that with his first walk of the game, but got a ground out from Edmundo Sosa to end the inning.
Ranger Suárez was good tonight, but the Orioles did have their chances against him. They had base runners via walk in each of the first two innings, and they were able to tie the game in the third inning thanks to a few doubles. Cedric Mullins started the inning with a double to right field and I’ll never stop being happy when he gets hits. Jordan Westburg moved Mullins to third on a fly ball out.
Adley Rutschman smacked a ball just inside third base for a double of his own. Cedric raced home and the game was tied. Unfortunately, neither Ryan Mountcastle nor Gunnar Henderson were able to bring Adley home and the inning ended at 1-1.
The fourth inning started with back-to-back singles from Anthony Santander and Austin Hays, but Jorge Mateo bunted poorly and Santander got thrown out at third. James McCann grounded into a double play and that was that.
In the fifth inning, the Phillies went ahead on a home run from an unlikely source. Namely, catcher Rafael Marchán. Tonight was just Marchán’s second game of the year, and he hadn’t had a hit in the majors since his last MLB stint in 2021. His first hit was a big one. He took a big swing on a Bradish slider and deposited it into the bleacher seats in right-center field. That made the score 2-1 in favor of the Phillies, where it stayed until the bottom of the 8th inning.
Keegan Akin came on to pitch after Bradish’s exit and I have to give credit where it is due. Akin was excellent tonight. He faced nine batters over three innings and didn’t allow a single base runner. He picked up four strikeouts and was a big reason the game even had the chance to go into extras.
Suárez began to look stronger as the game went on, so it felt like a relief when he was pulled from the game with two outs in the seventh inning. The Orioles at that point hadn’t done much with him since those fourth-inning singles. Jordan Westburg immediately doubled off of relief pitcher Jeff Hoffman but Rutschman made the final out.
In the eighth inning, with the team running out of time, Anthony Santander came through. With two outs, facing Matt Strahm and his 0.67 ERA, Santander hit a ridiculous home run. Strahm threw a 1-2 fastball above the strike zone. Santander reached out for that high pitch and sent the ball over Mount Walltimore. WHAT! That’s a home run in 30 out of 30 ballparks and we had ourselves a tie game.
Craig Kimbrel came on to pitch the top of the ninth in a 2-2 tie. This felt like high drama. Kimbrel was the closer for the Phillies in 2023 and had his ups and downs. The down specifically came in the playoffs when he took the loss in both games three and four of the NLCS.
I felt certain that the Phillies were going to exact some revenge tonight, but they did not. Kimbrel got some defensive help on a smashed ground ball by Nick Castellanos for the first out. The ball was hit 104 mph and Henderson made a great pick to get the ball and make the play. Kimbrel got out of the inning with little drama. A 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth sent the game to extras.
Yennier Cano came on to pitch for the Orioles and things got dicey. With the Manfred Man on second, Henderson couldn’t get a throw off on a ground ball, leaving runners at the corners with no outs. They almost got out of it. With the infield in, Jorge Mateo fielded and threw out the runner at third trying to score. Cano walked a batter to load the bases but struck out Marchán for the second out.
With the dangerous Schwarber coming up, Brandon Hyde turned to Cionel Pérez. Pérez has looked good this year but was coming off of a bad game yesterday. Schwarber singled in the go-ahead run. The Phillies tried to sneak in another run on the play but Santandar made a great throw from right field to nab the runner and end the inning.
Even down a run, the Orioles were in good position in the bottom of the 10th. Speedster Mullins was on second as the Manfred Man and the 1-2-3 batters were coming to the plate. New pitcher Orion Kerkering hit Westburg to put the winning run on base but struck out Rutschman and pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn.
Gunnar Henderson worked a full-count walk to keep the game going and move the tying run to third base. With Santander up to bat and the game on the line, Kerkering threw a wild pitch. Mullins raced home. The ball took a fast bounce back toward the plate off the brick, Marchán tried to apply the tag and the home plate umpire, Charlie Ramos, called Mullins out. Mullins immediately signaled for a review and after a quick one, the call was overturned and Camden Yards went wild. The score was tied at 3-3.
It would have been really great if Santander could have ended the game there. But he couldn’t. He flew out to end the inning and moments later the skies opened and the rain, which had been coming down for a bit already, really started to dump onto the field. The tarp went onto the field and we waited.
After a 71-minute delay, the game resumed and Jacob Webb immediately blew it. After a pop-up for out number one, the Orioles elected to intentionally walk Bryce Harper. This was a mistake. Alec Bohm launched a ball to the LF bullpen corner. He crushed it at 105.6 mph. Austin Hays got close enough that it felt like he should have caught it, but I think that’s an illusion.
Both Phillies runners scored to make the score 5-3. Webb did no more damage but none was needed as the loss was cemented. The bottom of the Orioles lineup was due and after a flyout by Hays, pinch hitters Colton Cowser and Kyle Stowers both struck out.
Orioles lose. It was an exciting game, that’s for sure. The two teams are back at it tomorrow at 4:10 p.m. with Grayson Rodriguez pitching for the Orioles and Taijuan Walker for the Phillies.