With homer off pillar, Rutschman continues to impress

BALTIMORE -- As Adley Rutschman nears the anniversary of his MLB debut, the 25-year-old catcher continues to do amazing things in his first full calendar year with the Orioles.

Rutschman’s latest feat: another impressive home run -- with some unreal pinpoint accuracy. That is if a rarely hit spot at Camden Yards was his target. And knowing how proficient he is with a bat, it just may have been.

In the seventh inning of the Orioles’ 6-5 loss to the Angels on Thursday afternoon, Rutschman belted a two-run homer that traveled a Statcast-projected 424 feet. The ball didn’t make it to Eutaw Street, but that’s only because its path was blocked by a brick pillar.

Instead, the ball hit directly off the concrete cap atop that pillar -- stationed between two gates and behind a sign that appropriately reads, “Watch out for batted balls” -- and then bounced back toward the right-field flag court.

Rutschman’s seventh home run of the season put Baltimore ahead, 5-4, in a back-and-forth contest. Only two of his first 20 big league homers had been longer -- both coming during his 2022 rookie campaign, which began when he debuted on May 21, 2022.

After finishing as the runner-up for the American League Rookie of the Year Award last year, Rutschman has played in all of the Orioles’ first 44 games in his sophomore season, slashing .285/.407/.462 with 14 extra-base hits, 24 RBIs and a team-high 34 walks.

The biggest lesson Rutschman said he’s learned so far in the big leagues doesn’t have to do with himself, though. Rather, it's about those around him in Baltimore’s clubhouse.

“It’s a team game, and you’ve got to find a way to compete and win every single day,” Rutschman said earlier this week. “The guys in the locker room, the coaches, everyone that we’ve got here makes up for the experience you have, and I’m very fortunate to be in the presence of some great guys, some great character people.”

During their strong start, the Orioles (28-16) have shown they have a lot of players who will compete at all times. They already have 15 comeback wins this season, so it was a bit surprising when they didn’t hold on following Rutschman’s clutch homer Thursday.

Baltimore erased a 3-0 deficit with a three-run fifth, tying the game on Anthony Santander's two-run homer. It again fell behind, 4-3, to Los Angeles on Zach Neto’s RBI single in the sixth, before Rutschman put the O’s back ahead the following inning.

But in the eighth, the Halos responded with two more runs. They retied the game on Gio Urshela’s RBI single, then took the lead for good on Shohei Ohtani’s bases-loaded infield RBI single. First baseman Ryan Mountcastle made a nice diving stop on the play, but when he got up, there was nobody to throw the ball to as reliever Danny Coulombe hadn’t yet made it to the bag.

Not that it likely would have mattered, though.

“It's so hard to beat [Ohtani] to the bag, he's so fast,” Mountcastle said. “I dove and looked up, and it's one of those things, it's tip your cap. He's insanely fast, so he was probably going to beat it out no matter what."

Baltimore stayed aggressive in the ninth. Adam Frazier knocked a one-out single to right field, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Then, Cedric Mullins belted a pinch-hit double and Rutschman was intentionally walked, giving the Orioles a chance to prevail in another close game.

Instead, Mountcastle struck out looking at a 99.4 mph four-seam fastball from Carlos Estévez to end it, as Baltimore and Los Angeles split the four-game set -- only the fourth of 14 series that the O’s haven’t won in 2023.

“As long as we continue to go out there each and every day and give our best effort, I think that we’re going to continue to put together some close ballgames,” said starter Tyler Wells, who allowed three runs in five innings. “If they go our way, great. But we’re going to keep battling regardless.”

Although the Orioles couldn’t take three of four from the Angels, they previously won two of three against both the Rays and Pirates on their season-long 10-game homestand, which they finished 6-4. They still have the second-best record in the AL behind only Tampa Bay (32-13).

Now, Baltimore embarks on a six-game AL East road trip through Toronto and New York, beginning with its first meeting of the season vs. the potent Blue Jays (25-18) this weekend. The O’s, having proven they’re never out of games, are ready for more challenges.

“I feel like our pitching’s been doing really well, we’ve been having some key hits,” Mountcastle said. “Hopefully, we can keep it going into Toronto.”