BALTIMORE–What happened? Last Friday night, Brandon Young threw 7 2/3 perfect innings before he allowed his first baserunner. Ramón Urías reached on a single to the left of the mound that was fielded by Young, whose hurried throw to first was wide, allowing Urías to take second. After striking out Taylor Trammell, Young left the game.
Six days later, Young recorded just one out before Carlos Correa singled in the first and two before Christian Walker homered.
Young equaled career highs by allowing seven runs and nine hits in the Orioles’ 7-2 loss to the Houston Astros before 18,061 at Camden Yards on Thursday night.
Correa drove two runs with a single in the second. Jesús Sánchez, who took away a pair of home runs from the Orioles on Sunday, drove in a run with a single in the third, and Walker followed with a two-run home run.
Sánchez entered the game without a hit in his last 29 at-bats, and he tied a career high with five hits.
Young (1-7) made it through 5 1/3 innings and left with hamstring discomfort after covering first on Jacob Melton’s grounder.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino didn’t know how badly Young was hurt.
“I don’t know yet. Bad enough to where we had to pull him off right there,” Mansolino said. “So we’ll get more information. I’m sure they’ll get the thing examined and we’ll have a better idea of the severity of it tomorrow.”
Facing the Astros (70-58) twice within six days was a challenge for the 27-year-old right-hander.
“A little different command than he had last time,” Mansolino said. “He commanded his fastball a lot better last time out. A couple of those splits in the first inning, I don’t know if those were the best pitches in those spots.
“You can second-guess that a little bit. But it’s all fastball command for me. You’ve got to command your fastball in this game, and if you don’t, especially against that team, seen him twice in the span of a week, it’s gonna be a challenge.”
In his first home game, Dylan Beavers hit his first major league home run in his first at-bat in the second. Samuel Basallo, who was also playing his first home game, was 1-for-4.
Beavers drove in the Orioles’ second run when he hit into a force play that scored Colton Cowser in the sixth.
Houston starter Jason Alexander (4-1) allowed two runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Each of the Orioles’ nine starters had one hit. Beavers had the only extra-base hit.
“A lot of singles, a lot of soft contact,” Mansolino said.
The Orioles (59-68) had won six of their previous seven.
How much fun was the moment for Beavers? Beavers hit a 3-2 pitch 390 feet for the home run.
“It was awesome,” Beavers said. “Yeah, that was a good at-bat. I got to see him in my debut, so I kind of knew what to expect and I got the 3-2, I knew something slow was probably coming. So, was going to let it travel a little bit and then I saw the changeup out of the hand and jumped on it.”
Beavers didn’t remember his trip around the bases.
“I kind of blacked out,” he said. “I was just running, but when I got back in the dugout, it was one of the cooler things I’ve ever experienced. Best home run I’ve ever hit, for sure.”
What does it mean? If Young goes on the injured list, the Orioles could call up an extra reliever until Kyle Bradish is activated from the 60-day injured list to start, perhaps next Tuesday against Boston. Right-handers Elvin Rodriguez and Jose Espada are possibilities since they’re on the 40-man roster.
What’s the stat of the day? Beavers was the third Oriole to hit their first major league home run in their first plate appearance at home. The others were Jeff Fiorentino on May 20th, 2005, and Ken Gerhart on September 19th, 1986.
What’s the word? “He’s a good player, he’s interesting. He’s a guy that you haven’t heard a whole lot about here over the last few years. All these young kids that have come up, probably the least heralded up until maybe the last couple months. It’s a really short swing. He’s hanging in there on defense. He looks good out there. Naïve in a good way. Very confident.-Mansolino on Beavers.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Nestor German pitched five scoreless innings, giving up three hits in Double-A Chesapeake’s 6-0 win over Richmond.
Carter Baumler, Alex Pham and Tyson Neighbors completed the shutout. Creed Willems hit his 14th home run.
Yeiber Cartaya pitched five scoreless innings, allowing one hit. as High-A Aberdeen beat Brooklyn, 6-3. Anderson De Los Santos drove in three runs.
Brandon Downer gave up six runs in four innings as Single-A Delmarva lost to Kannapolis, 8-2.
What’s next? Cade Povich (2-6, 4.98) will face Lance McCullers (2-4, 6.90) on Friday night at 7:05.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com