Stewart breaks through with 2 HRs to lift O's

Before he opened the floodgates against the highest paid pitcher on the planet, DJ Stewart was having the strangest of seasons, even by 2020 standards. Limited by inconsistent playing time, Stewart strode to the plate in the sixth inning Saturday hitless on the year but reaching base at a very solid .370 clip. Of Stewart’s 29 plate appearances to that point, 21 ended in either a strikeout, a walk or a hit-by-pitch. There are three true outcomes, then there was what Stewart was doing.

It was against that backdrop that Stewart broke his hitless season in the unlikeliest of ways -- against a pitcher who, for much of the night, had been virtually unhittable. That’s what happened when Stewart homered off Gerrit Cole, spearheading a five-run sixth-inning rally that turned a pitchers’ duel into a rout. Stewart homered again later off Miguel Yajure to put the finishing touches on Baltimore’s 6-1 win over the Yankees.

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“It was very satisfying,” Stewart said. “Any time you start slow, it weighs on the back of your head. But I have a great support staff believing in me and giving me the confidence to go out there every at-bat and keep swinging.”

The first multihomer game of Stewart’s career and Keegan Akin’s 5 1/3 shutout innings highlighted arguably the most complete effort the Orioles have put together against the Yankees in at least two years, coming a night after they snapped their 19-game losing streak against New York. It also came hours after the Orioles learned they’d be without breakout slugger Anthony Santander for the rest of the year, his right oblique injury opening up everyday opportunities for Stewart in right field.

And it was a shocking turnaround against Cole, who struck out eight of his first nine hitters and faced one over the minimum through five innings. The Orioles then tagged him for five in the sixth on Stewart’s homer and two-out run-scoring hits from Ryan Mountcastle and Rio Ruiz. Akin held New York to three hits while striking out eight and walking four, outpitching Cole in his second Major League start.

“It was very exciting,” Akin said. “That caliber of a pitcher on the mound, you have to go out and keep your team in the ballgame and put up runs like we did.”

Akin, the Orioles’ No. 15 prospect per MLB Pipeline, has not allowed an earned run in his last 10 innings. His ERA through four appearances is 2.08.

Said manager Brandon Hyde: “I was really impressed by Keegan Akin’s poise and how he attacked a good lineup.”

That Akin remains looking for his first MLB win is because Hyde lifted him for Dillon Tate at 91 pitches; more important for the Orioles is the conviction with which he’s thrown the baseball since being recalled from their alternate training site for the second time late last month. Like they did with Mountcastle and probably-on-the-way-soon Dean Kremer, the Orioles slow-played Akin at the alternate site until they were completely sure of his readiness from a development standpoint. They also had few qualms sending Stewart back there, shortly after penciling him in as their Opening Day left fielder.

“Credit to [Stewart] for going down to our secondary site and really putting the work in,” Hyde said. “He made some adjustments, made some improvements and came back here with some confidence.”

The results have been plain to see. Even though their hot start faded and they sold heavy at the Trade Deadline, the rebuilding Orioles are now 18-21 and three games behind the Yankees and Blue Jays for the final American League Wild Card spot with three weeks to play. They can point to young players improving up and down the roster, from the now-injured Santander to Tate and Stewart and beyond, and to the way prospects like Akin and Mountcastle produced instantly once promoted.

On a night like Saturday, when those youngsters come together to topple a division giant, it can begin to look like a glimpse of really good times still to come.

“We’re building a nice foundation right now,” Hyde said. “You start looking around the field and seeing young players getting here, having some success, getting experience, playing against great teams. Go down the list of guys who have improved from last year. … I think we’re starting to see some talented guys get here, get some great experience, and get a little glimpse of what this could look like with some added pieces. It’s fun now and it’s exciting to watch.”