Nestor Cortes barely had made it out of spring training when his monthslong tenure with the Orioles ended. Franchy Cordero didn’t even last that long.
Both former members of the organization helped the New York Yankees take the first series of the season at Camden Yards with contributions in Sunday’s 5-3 rubber match, as Adley Rutschman’s four-hit day wasn’t enough to give Baltimore a series victory.
Taken in the 2017 Rule 5 draft, Cortes made his first four major league appearances as an Oriole before being returned to New York. The left-hander has since dominated the Orioles, with his 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball Sunday leaving his ERA against them as 1.38 in eight outings, six of them starts.
Half of his run support came from Cordero. Signed as a minor league free agent in December, Cordero was among the Orioles’ bevy of left-handed-hitting candidates this spring but opted out of his deal after hitting .413 with a 1.099 OPS in camp. Days later, the outfielder and first baseman signed with the Yankees, hitting a three-run homer from them in the Orioles’ home opener Friday. He went deep again Sunday, taking Tyler Wells deep in the fifth inning to double New York’s two-run lead.
Making his first start of the year after throwing five no-hit innings in an emergency relief appearance against the Texas Rangers, Wells fell behind early when he allowed three straight hits with one out in the first. The second of those, a blooper from Anthony Rizzo that third baseman Gunnar Henderson and left fielder Austin Hays miscommunicated on after losing it in the sun, had an expected batting average of .000, according to Baseball Savant, with none of the previous 94 balls hit with a matching launch angle and similar exit velocity falling for hits since Statcast was introduced in 2015.
Wells didn’t allow another hit until the third, when Aaron Judge followed two strikeouts with a home run to center field. Having set an AL record for single-season home runs last year, Judge is 8-for-17 with three home runs against Wells. He added another solo shot off Logan Gillaspie in the eighth, with nine of his 28 career multi-homer games coming against Baltimore.
Cordero’s two-run homer came in the fifth, but Wells retired the next six batters he faced, getting help when center fielder Cedric Mullins leapt at the wall to deny Rizzo of an extra-base hit to begin the sixth.
The Orioles were twice robbed of home runs against Cortes by their field’s configurations. Both Hays and Ryan Mountcastle hit drives to left that likely would have been home runs had the Orioles not moved back Camden Yards’ left field wall before last season; both instead were caught.
Rutschman, serving as Baltimore’s designated hitter as James McCann made his team debut after being reinstated from the injured list, recorded Baltimore’s first three hits against Cortes before Mountcastle followed the last with a double, chasing Cortes. Anthony Santander smacked reliever Albert Abreu’s first pitch into right for a double to score both Rutschman and Mountcastle, but the Orioles couldn’t claw closer as they finished the day 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They went 5-for-28 in those situations in the series.
Rutschman hit a home run in the eighth to improve to 4-for-4 in the game. In 12 career games against the Yankees, he’s hit .405/.519/.595. After going 5-for-5 on opening day, Rutschman became the first player in Orioles history to record two four-hit games within the team’s first nine contests.
To open a roster spot for McCann, the Orioles optioned outfielder Kyle Stowers to Triple-A Norfolk. Manager Brandon Hyde said the organization wanted to give him “everyday at-bats.”
Ranked as the Orioles’ No. 9 prospect by Baseball America, Stowers started only one of Baltimore’s first eight games with two pinch-hit appearances, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and two walks. The 25-year-old also received inconsistent playing time while in the majors last season. In addition to Cortes on Sunday, the Orioles are scheduled to face three straight left-handed starters to open their series with the Oakland Athletics, and despite Stowers’ left-on-left success last year, Baltimore has been hesitant to use him into situations in the majors.
“We want to see Kyle get everyday at-bats, see him get four at-bats a game,” Hyde said before Sunday’s contest. “Still really early in his career, and with a row of left-handed starters that we’re going to be facing here, not only today but in the Oakland series, we thought it was important for Kyle to get go get some everyday at-bats in Triple-A. I’m sure he’ll be up here at some point.”
Asked what it will take for Stowers to get consistent at-bats in the majors, Hyde said he needs to “just keep doing what he’s doing, honestly.” In 118 plate appearances against left-handers last season between Triple-A and the majors, Stowers had a 1.018 OPS, with only four of those plate appearances coming with the Orioles. Hyde cited his other outfield options in switch-hitter Santander and right-handers Hays and Ryan McKenna, as well as Mullins’ 2021 success in left-on-left matchups, in explaining why Stowers had trouble getting those opportunities in the majors.
“We have guys we want to play, and we want to see Kyle play, too,” Hyde said. “When you get more talented in the big leagues, it’s harder to break through, and we have a bunch of guys in Triple-A right now that are off to good starts and playing well and have a lot of talent, and that’s what good teams, good organizations have.”
This story will be updated.
Athletics at Orioles
Monday, 6:35 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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