During the Orioles’ surge this summer to the top of the American League standings, manager Brandon Hyde has frequently said he’s wary of how much he’s used his dominant relief duo of Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista.
The vast majority of the Orioles’ wins have been close, and the middle of Hyde’s bullpen has shown cracks, causing the fifth-year skipper to oftentimes overuse Cano and Bautista in high-leverage situations. Entering Sunday, Cano had pitched in over half the games he’s been on Baltimore’s roster for, while Bautista had pitched on back-to-back days 10 times and more than one inning on eight occasions.
On Sunday afternoon against the New York Mets, Hyde managed his bullpen as if its middle relievers have the same fortitude as the All-Star pairing on the back end. Orioles relievers Cionel Pérez, Cole Irvin and Shintaro Fujinami — all of whom have struggled this season — combined to pitch 3 1/3 scoreless innings to lead the Orioles to a 2-0 win at Camden Yards.
Pérez recorded four outs after Kyle Bradish battled through 4 2/3 scoreless — but inefficient — innings, including the biggest one of the game with the bases loaded in the fifth. Irvin, a converted starting pitcher, and Fujinami, also a former starter who Baltimore acquired from the Oakland Athletics, retired the side in order in the seventh and eighth, respectively.
Irvin retired the Mets’ Nos. 9, 1 and 2 hitters, including star shortstop Francisco Lindor to end the inning. Fujinami, the club’s lone bullpen addition at the deadline, pounded the zone with nine strikes, including six fastballs over 100 mph, for two strikeouts and a popout.
The effective middle relief, a group that has been hit or miss this season, bridged the game to Bautista, who tossed a scoreless ninth for his 30th save of the season. The outing was Bautista’s only appearance of the series, which Baltimore swept against the Buck Showalter-led Mets. The sweep is the Orioles’ seventh this year while not being swept in a league-best 75 straight series.
After totaling 10 or more hits in five of their previous seven games, the Orioles won despite registering just six with no run-scoring knocks. Their two runs scored on RBI groundouts from Adley Rutschman and Ryan O’Hearn that Mets infielders bobbled to aid Jorge Mateo and James McCann, respectively, to cross the plate.
Sunday was Baltimore’s sixth shutout victory this season. The Orioles have won four straight and seven of their past eight. They’re 16-7 since the All-Star break. At 70-42, the Orioles are 3 games up on the Tampa Bay Rays atop the AL East standings.
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