Orioles nearly blow another Corbin Burnes gem, salvage a 7-6 series finale win in Miami in extras

Asked to play the stopper, Corbin Burnes was magnificent, but a bunch of late runs turned a 6-0 lead into a narrow win in the tenth inning.

We start this tale of twists and turns in the fourth inning with Connor Norby, just called up a day ago with infielder Jorge Mateo nursing a sore elbow, at the plate against Miami starter Roddery Muñoz. Norby put a beautiful swing on a fastball, and bam, the Orioles had a 6-0 lead. Meanwhile, from the bullpen, lefty Cionel Pérez stretched out his cap and casually snagged the home run ball on the fly.

From that same cap, Cionel Pérez would have to pull something else, a little Orioles magic in the tenth inning to stave off an embarrassing sweep at the hands of one of the worst teams in the league. With the ghost runner on, Pérez (who’d been super shaky Wednesday night) was nails, striking out two, including pinch-hitter Nick Gordon with two outs and the tying run on third base. It was a win, even if, as MASN’s Geoff Arnold put it, it didn’t feel like one.

From a 6-0 lead in the sixth to a 6-6 tie after nine… how did we get here?

I’ll tell you, but it gets a little ugly. Corbin Burnes had tossed seven dominant innings, but unfortunately the eighth inning got a little screwy, for him and the O’s alike. Burnes allowed a single to the No. 9 hitter, catcher Nick Fortes, then a groundball that ricocheted off his leg. Splitting the infielders on the right side, that stubborn ball rolled so far into the outfield that Fortes (the catcher!) could come around to score. Out came Burnes, the game now 6-2, and in came Jacob Webb. Webb struck out two, but he also allowed a Bryan de la Cruz double to make it 6-3, all three runs pinned on Burnes.

Would you believe the ninth was even worse? The Marlins tied the game with three runs. There was some bad luck, yes—an infield single that Norby kind of stumbled fielding, and Gunnar Henderson booting a ready-made double-play ball with one out and the bases loaded. OK. But future HOF closer Craig Kimbrel also shoulders much of the blame. After the single, he walked a batter, walked a second, let in the fifth run on a sac fly, and then gave up a game-tying single to Josh Bell! Kimbrel, who last pitched five days ago, looked, as they say, washed. It took Yennier Cano, with a swinging K, to preserve the tie.

Even the way the Birds won it in the tenth was tinged with ridiculousness. With Jordan Westburg, a fairly speedy ghost runner, on second, Anthony Santander singled him to third. Tony Taters was lifted for pinch runner Cedric Mullins, who quickly stole second to put two in scoring position. Ryan Mountcastle came through with his third hit of the night, scoring Westburg. But the throw beat Mullins at home plate! Then Mountcastle got thrown out trying for second to end the inning! It was a pretty stupid look, and certainly would have been worse without Cionel’s lockdown performance in the bottom half of the inning.

Naturally, the wackiness of the last three innings puts a heavy pall over a start by Corbin Burnes who was, as usual, automatic. Here’s what I wrote before that:

Is Burnes’ consistency getting boring to you? I hope not. Today he went a season-high 7 1/3 innings, his 18th start as an Oriole of six innings or more. Plus he allowed just seven baserunners, and kept his ERA at a sparkling 2.45 after 21 starts on the year.

While nothing about the way this game ended was boring, let’s still take a minute to appreciate another great outing by what is definitely the best Orioles pitcher since Mike Mussina. Today, Burnes’ cutter hit 97 mph, his curveball was basically unhittable with six swings and misses, and his slider, which showed up later, had an 80% whiff percentage, too.

His only real mistake was a sixth-inning, two-strike solo home run allowed to Josh Bell. It came on a Corbin Cutter that caught too much of the plate, and at this stage in his career, the veteran slugger doesn’t miss those.

Even so, this was seven innings of dominance, and when Burnes walked off the mound one more time, having thrown 86 pitches, the thought crossed my mind that he might try for his first-ever complete game (how does he not have one already?). Too bad about that sideways eighth, which wasn’t his fault. If Burnes is not likely to challenge for the AL Cy Young, it’s because we’re all obsessed with strikeouts, but in terms of results, he’s devastating, with a 99th percentile run value and an ERA topped by only five other pitchers. Basically, when Burnes is on the mound, the Orioles can comfortably expect to win. And isn’t that the whole point of starting pitching?

Good news, also, for Orioles bats, which finally woke up, thanks to Miami rookie starter Roddery Muñoz pitching like, well, a rookie. In a LoanDepot Park that seemed more full of orange than…whatever color it is that Marlins fans wear to the ballpark (White? Teal?), Baltimore delivered a convincing six quick runs off the starter on three long balls.

Anthony Santander delivered the first blow with an absolute tank in the first inning off a 91-mph cutter. The ball traveled 415 feet and landed in the second deck in right field. That gorgeous blast was Santander’s 28th, tied with Gunnar for third in the Majors.

In the second inning, Muñoz walked Cowser on four uncompetitive pitches, and Austin Hays singled him over to second. In the nine hole, James McCann had me expecting nothing, but he delivered a great two-strike approach and singled home the Orioles’ second run.

The Orioles scored three off Muñoz in the third inning off a bomb by Colton Cowser that certainly felt like the high point of the game (cue lots of mooing) until the last few innings made our collective heads spin. By the way, the Orioles would almost certainly have scored another run that same inning, but for the antics of Miami centerfielder Jazz Chisholm, Jr. covering miles of ground to rob Santander of extra bases. He robbed Jordan Westburg of a hit with a second web gem of a catch in the seventh. He may be a Marlin, but he is fun to watch.

And then there was Norby’s oppo-taco in the fourth, a beautiful swing that was almost matched by the slick grab of Cionel Pérez in the bullpen. Normally, six runs off the starter will do you for a win. The Orioles need to straighten out their pitching issues fast—let’s hope there’s movement on that by next Tuesday.