Yennier Cano’s trademark stare ended the eighth inning. It also brought an end to the Detroit Tigers’ final scoring chance Sunday.
A day after the Orioles’ pitching staff covered two games, their bullpen delivered 4 1/3 scoreless innings in a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers, with Cano recording the final four outs to earn his second save with closer Félix Bautista unavailable.
The Orioles (19-9) have won six straight series. They scored single runs each inning from the second through fifth, getting an RBI single from Ryan O’Hearn, back-to-back doubles from Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle, a home run from Adam Frazier, and a sacrifice fly from Austin Hays. But after four scoreless innings, right-hander Kyle Bradish nearly gave all those runs back in the fifth.
Jake Rogers’ two-run home run ended the shutout, but Bradish responded with consecutive outs. However, Javier Báez doubled home Riley Greene, who singled, before Bradish hit Spencer Torkelson with a pitch to end his outing.
Left-hander Cionel Pérez, a key reliever for the 2022 Orioles who has struggled to open the year, stranded both runners he inherited from Bradish by striking out Nick Maton, with third base umpire Edwin Moscoso questionably ruling that Maton swung on a two-strike check-swing attempt.
Austin Voth worked two scoreless frames before a leadoff walk in the eighth ended his day. In his past four appearances, Austin Voth has pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks, while striking out seven.
With back-to-back lefties due up for the Tigers, manager Brandon Hyde brought in left-hander Danny Coulombe, but Detroit sent up right-handed pinch-hitters for both. Coulombe struck out the first but allowed a single to the second. He came back to strike out right-hander Matt Vierling on a borderline full-count pitch for the inning’s second out.
Hyde brought in Cano, who closed the eighth, then retired the Tigers in order in the ninth, after Jorge Mateo provided an insurance run with a home run in the top of the ninth. Opposing hitters are 0-for-32 with a hit-by-pitch against Cano.
Hyde was clear the promotion of infielder Joey Ortiz for this came without a promise of longevity. The Orioles were set to face three left-handed starters to open the series; Ortiz is a right-hander infielder, and they would make any decisions from there. Sunday, with Detroit’s run of lefties complete, Baltimore optioned Ortiz to Triple-A Norfolk and recalled outfielder Kyle Stowers, who excelled with the Tides after he was optioned in early April to get consistent playing time.
In 17 Triple-A games, Stowers hit .293/.427/.569 with five home runs. With Anthony Santander getting a day off, Stowers made his second start for the Orioles this year as their cleanup hitter.
“I think obviously reps are key, so it was good to get back to playing every day and just kind of getting in a rhythm,” Stowers said. “Obviously, hopefully, I can continue to build off of what was going on down there.”
Stowers went 1-for-4 with an eighth-inning single.
“Whenever you send a guy down, you want to make sure they’re not going down with a pessimistic attitude or disgruntled, but kind of a little bit of a fire to get back up, and he did that,” Hyde said.
Ortiz went 2-for-8 across three games, driving in three runs Thursday to tie the franchise record for RBIs in a major league debut. He also impressed with his defense and ability to hit the ball hard.
“He played a great brand of baseball,” Hyde said. “I loved how he played, loved the at-bats he took. Had some huge hits for us. The defense was outstanding. The double play turn that we didn’t get, just how fast, that was probably the fastest I’ve seen this year. But he showed extremely well. I’m sure he’ll be back up here at some point, but it was fun to watch him the last couple days.”
This story will be updated.
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