Orioles grab huge win over the Dodgers with a pair of home runs and a lockdown bullpen, 3-2

Cole Irvin pitched great, the bullpen covered five innings, and the Birds closed the AL East gap with the Yankees to one game.

Was something going on? Both Jack Flaherty and Cole Irvin scooted through the first inning almost like they had somewhere to be, on less than ten pitches each. Matt Bowman retired the side in the sixth on seven pitches. Cionel Pérez threw just eight pitches in the seventh.

I am convinced that both teams knew it was getting late for fans back on the East Coast so they made it a quick one. The hitters were swinging hard and early, and the starters were throwing strikes (better than 64%). Overall, despite a 10:10 ET start, this was a tight, well-played game for the Orioles. And even better: it was a win!

Against the NL’s best offense, the Birds got an unlikely strong performance from Cole Irvin and a lockdown 4 2/3 innings from the bullpen, and against LA’s Jack Flaherty in a career renaissance year, they got just enough early runs, courtesy of Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Urías, who went deep in the second and fifth innings, respectively.

Cole Irvin set the tone tonight. Irvin is no strikeout pitcher, so I don’t doubt why the Dodgers chose to go aggressive against him. I was sure at the start of the game that this meant he’d be a sitting duck. But you know? Credit where credit is due. Despite the short outing (4 1/3 innings, 2 earned runs) Irvin looked like a perfectly decent fifth starter. His hook was huge, his fastball was hitting the zone, and he wasn’t getting lit up. I was pretty darn impressed when Irvin threw lefty Max Muncy five consecutive curveballs in a row, then retired him on a sinker.

Come the second, the Dodgers did break through for a run off Irvin, although on a rather fluky rally. A one-out Tommy Edman bouncer down the third base line became a really stupid-looking triple as left fielder Colton Cowser misplayed the carom off the wall. Then a sac fly tied the game, 1-1.

Irvin got tagged for a second run by the Dodgers’ devastating 1-2-3 hitters: Shohei Ohtani singled for a second time, Mookie Betts walked and Teoscar Hernández smacked the first pitch he got into left field. 2-1, Dodgers.

The Orioles had made it a 1-1 game the inning before courtesy of one swing. The veteran Jack Flaherty was landing his pitches for strikes, but against lefty Ryan O’Hearn, Flaherty went 3-1 and heaved a fastball over the middle. The O’s first baseman cracked it into the stands, the first four-bagger for Brohearn since July 20. Yay!

After that, it looked like Jack Flaherty was seeming to heat up, especially in the fourth, when he struck out the Birds in order. But Birdland has seen Jack Flaherty suddenly lose steam before, and now he did it for another team. The first three Orioles in the fifth smoked the ball off of the starter, Cedric Mullins doing so literally, with a 97-mph comebacker that ended up right in Flaherty’s glove. But the next two blows did damage: Jackson Holliday scorched a 104-mph single into center field and Ramón Urías blasted a slider 385 feet, his tenth homer of the season and fifth RBI this week. The O’s had their first lead, all three runs coming on the long ball.

Flaherty was out after six innings, and—Spoiler Alert—the Orioles got runners on but didn’t score any more runs against the Dodgers’ bullpen, which includes a lot of great arms, particularly a ridiculous-looking former starter Michael Kopech, who now throws 100.

A one-run lead in the care of the Orioles bullpen for over four innings is a scary thing, even if you aren’t playing the Dodgers. It means no reliever can have a bad night. It’s a good thing that Matt Bowman, Cionel Pérez and Yennier Cano did not have bad nights. At one point, this group retired nine straight Dodgers, and none was scored on.

If you don’t know Matt Bowman like an old family friend, there’s no shame. He’s only been an Oriole since August 22 and he’d pitched for three teams this season before that. “Big Out Bowman” (Kevin Browns’ attempted nickname from the booth) was brilliant, keeping the score 3-2 in the fifth and retiring three Dodgers hitters on seven pitches in the sixth. Cionel Pérez was maybe even better: he retired the side in the seventh, then caught Shohei Ohtani looking to give his team a difficult out in the eighth. Yennier Cano made it a little scary, allowing a Mookie Betts single and stolen base, but he whiffed Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith to end the threat. (Dodger Stadium booed home plate ump Jansen Visconti’s large strike zone; what do you think?)

Finally, there was Seranthony Domínguez. The righty has potent stuff but has had mixed success for the Orioles in the closer role. This time, he allowed a one-out single to Miguel Rojas, then with two outs, the Dodgers pinch-hit Gavin Lux, a southpaw who can hit righties. It was a highly stressful at-bat. Down 0-2, Lux made himself a pest, working the count to 3-2 before Domínguez walked him with a slider on Ball Four. This is the sort of at-bat that drives Brandon Hyde nuts, an 0-2 count that his pitcher can’t close out. No. 9 hitter Chris Taylor had the chance to play hero. Like Lux, he also went down 0-2, fouled off a bunch of pitches, and gave reason to think Domínguez might blow it. The O’s closer prepared to throw his 32nd pitch and then, just like that, a flyout. Cowser locked it up, and the Orioles locked up their 77th win.

They all count the same, but this win was really important! Despite this being the worst starter matchup for Baltimore in the series, the Orioles just beat the best team in baseball on the road and closed the gap in the AL East to one game. Let’s keep the momentum going!