ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Brandon Hyde was under fire for his pinch-hit decisions Tuesday.
He wasn’t Saturday, because his choice paid off when Ramón Urías blasted a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning — leading to the Orioles’ 7-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays rather than frustration regarding his decision-making.
On Tuesday, Hyde controversially subbed in Austin Slater and Coby Mayo — the former with a batting average below the Mendoza line, the latter a rookie still searching for his first career hit — for Jackson Holliday and Colton Cowser, two of the club’s hottest hitters, in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Hyde’s reasoning was to get the platoon advantage, subbing in right-handed hitters to face a left-handed pitcher. Defending his decisions the next day, Hyde referenced that the Orioles’ batting average when pinch hitting was .375 entering the game — easily the best in MLB.
His hitters, of course, deserve the lion’s share of the credit for Baltimore being baseball’s best pinch-hitting team, and Hyde’s decisions haven’t always worked this year — with Tuesday a prime example. But the numbers also incontrovertibly show that Hyde has largely pushed the right buttons this season, and he did so again in Saturday’s eighth inning.
After Jackson Holliday drew a nine-pitch leadoff walk against left-hander Colin Poche, Hyde stuck with Urías, his No. 9 hitter, despite the third baseman’s struggles against lefties this season and the hot-hitting Eloy Jiménez, who was acquired to hit southpaws, and the right-handed Mayo sitting on his bench.
Urías, who entered Saturday hitting .192 with a .513 OPS against left-handers, then proved his skipper right — and made up for his own defensive miscue earlier in the game — by demolishing a center-cut 0-2 fastball over the left-center field wall. It was Urías’ first homer off a lefty since August 2022, and with a projected distance of 418 feet, it was his farthest since September 2022.
“I love the defense, so not really a hunch, just wanted to keep him in the game,” Hyde said about sticking with Urías. “And he came through in a big way. Huge homer for us.”
The long ball staved off a Rays comeback after the Orioles squandered an early 4-0 lead. Baltimore improved to 70-48, moving on game ahead of the New York Yankees — who split their doubleheader against the Texas Rangers on Saturday — atop the American League standings.
The Orioles needed Urías’ big fly because of a merry-go-round fifth that included a string of hits against Corbin Burnes, the ace’s disinterest in holding runners and a fumble from Urías at third. Tampa Bay (58-58) scored three runs in the frame that wouldn’t have crossed the plate had Urías not bobbled a slow ground ball that was questionably ruled a hit.
“Happy to help the team with the bat there,” said Urías, who is now 3-for-10 with three homers against Poche in his career. “I know I made that misplay there, of course I’m happy to help.”
Urías’ playing time this season has been more sparse than in previous years. But with Jordan Westburg on the injured list and Mayo struggling during his first stint in the show, Urías is receiving more playing time.
“I just gotta compete,” he said. “It’s not like it’s given to me. I still have to perform on the field and help the team win.”
Before that frame, Burnes was as stellar as he’s been all season, cruising into the fifth with a no-hit bid. Josh Lowe broke it up with a single that began the rally that included four Rays hits and two stolen bases off Burnes. Still, the 29-year-old right-hander delivered his 19th quality start, allowing three runs across six frames.
The inning was exacerbated by Burnes’ struggles controlling the running game. He’s allowed an MLB-high 33 stolen bases this season in 24 starts — the third-most by a pitcher in Orioles history — after surrendering only 51 across his first six seasons.
“The minute I take too much focus away is when I break down mechanically. I start walking guys and putting more guys on base,” he said. “That’s something I’m going to see more and more of, especially when we get to postseason, so I’ve just got to do a good job of putting myself in good spots to help slow it down a little bit.”
Baltimore’s bats provided him a cushion with an early 4-0 lead. The Orioles started hot with three runs in the first inning thanks to four opposite-field hits. Colton Cowser, who led off Friday’s win with a homer, kickstarted the rally with a single to left field. Gunnar Henderson slapped a one-out single to left field to break an 0-for-16 skid, and Adley Rutschman lined an RBI double to left-center field to begin his first three-hit game since June 21. Ryan Mountcastle then flicked a two-run single to right field to put Baltimore up 3-0. Mountcastle later drove in the Orioles’ final run with an RBI single in the eighth.
“We can beat you in a lot of ways,” Hyde said after his team matched its 2023 home run total of 183 with seven weeks remaining in the season. “We do hit homers, but it’s nice to see us get a bunch of base hits the other way and keep the rally going.”
Holliday continued his tear in the second inning with his fifth homer in 10 games since being recalled from Triple-A on July 31, making the 20-year-old the only player in Orioles history to do so before turning 21 years old. Over that time, he’s been perhaps the Orioles’ best player and one of the best hitters in MLB. He is the youngest player with four homers in a six-game span since Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with the Blue Jays in 2019.
The second baseman clobbered a sinker from bulk reliever Tyler Alexander, who followed opener Drew Rasmussen, for a 408-foot bomb to right-center field. Four of Holliday’s five long balls have traveled farther than 400 feet. It was his first left-on-left homer after beginning his career 1-for-8 against southpaws.
“I’m not trying to hit homers,” Holliday said with a smile. “I’m just trying to hit the ball hard on the barrel. Just trying to hit the ball hard and wherever it goes, it just happens to be going over the fence at a pretty high rate right now.”
The Rays tied the game in the seventh with José Caballero’s solo homer off Burch Smith. After Baltimore’s three-run eighth, Tampa Bay threatened again in the bottom half against Yennier Cano and Cionel Pérez, who walked in one of Cano’s runners to cut the Orioles’ lead to 7-5.
Seranthony Domínguez, pitching the ninth instead of Craig Kimbrel, slammed the door with a scoreless ninth. It’s Domínguez’s first save as an Oriole since they acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies in the Austin Hays trade last month. Kimbrel’s last save opportunity was July 25. His last save was July 7.
Kimbrel’s past several appearances have come in low-leverage situations, but he’s pitched three straight scoreless innings. Hyde said he’s “trying to get Kimbrel going a little bit,” similar to how he pulled the veteran back during his skid in early May. It’s a luxury, Hyde said, to have Domínguez, a right-hander with ample high-leverage experience who is “unfazed by big moments.”
“He got in a little bit of a rough patch and I don’t want to put the pressure on him,” Hyde said of Kimbrel. “We have a lot of faith in Craig. Like I said, he should have made the All-Star team. Seranthony’s been throwing the ball great, and he did again tonight.”
The Orioles haven’t played like themselves for the past two months with a 21-23 record since June 21. Despite that, they’ll wake up Sunday as MLB’s best team with a .593 winning percentage, ahead of the Phillies (.590) and Yankees (.585).
“I saw that. That’s pretty awesome,” Holliday said of the Orioles being the majors’ first team to reach 70 wins. “That’s the goal is to be able to play on a winning team. And to be able to come up here and do so, it’s awesome to help the team win.”
Orioles at Rays
Sunday, 1:40 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
