Grayson continues hot start in wintry PNC Park conditions

PITTSBURGH -- On a bitter-cold Friday afternoon at PNC Park that featured repeated flurries of snow, an unexpected hailstorm and some sporadic slivers of sunshine, the two starting pitchers for the Orioles-Pirates series opener took care of providing the heat.

Baltimore right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and Pittsburgh righty Jared Jones are two of the brightest young flamethrowers in baseball, and each likely has a long, successful career ahead of him.

“If you like baseball and you like young, big arms, you would really like to watch our game today,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said.

In the first meeting of the two electric hurlers, the more experienced Rodriguez won the duel. He struck out seven while allowing only two runs over 6 1/3 innings in the Orioles’ 5-2 victory -- and he did so in a game that started at a temperature of 40 degrees and continued to drop.

“I’m from Texas, so I don’t see that a whole lot. The hail was different. That was a first, that was for sure,” Rodriguez said. “It got a little hard to see home plate there for a second, but it ultimately kind of let off. That was fine. I mean, other than being a little cold, the conditions were fine.”

It sure didn’t stop the 24-year-old Rodriguez from continuing his impressive start to the season. In his 2024 debut on Saturday, he fanned nine over six innings of one-run ball against the Angels.

Before Rodriguez, only two O’s pitchers had recorded an ERA of 2.19 or better with 16-plus strikeouts in 12 1/3 or more innings over his first two outings of a season -- Dave McNally (2.12 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 17 innings in 1970) and Bob Turley (1.50 ERA and 23 K’s in 18 innings in ‘54).

“He went out there and just shoved,” said shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who hit one of Baltimore’s three solo homers in the victory. “He’s starting to throw everything for strikes, and if one pitch isn’t working, then he has three others that he can get in there. He’s been finding that and sticking to it, and he’s done really well.”

The only damage the Pirates did vs. Rodriguez came via a pair of solo homers -- blasts by Oneil Cruz in the fifth and Jared Triolo in the seventh. Rodriguez struck out five of the final six batters he faced, which included fanning the side in the sixth. He also leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball, using it for 45 of his 97 pitches and getting nine of his 14 whiffs with a heater that averaged 95.5 mph and touched 97.5.

Rodriguez’s changeup generated nine whiffs in his first start of the season, but he didn’t get any with the pitch against the Bucs. But his other secondary stuff was working well, recording two swing-and-misses apiece with his curveball and cutter and one with a sinker.

“From the first pitch, I thought he was on,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Great pitch mix, kept them off-balance, really good fastball throughout. Outstanding performance.”

Jones also recorded seven strikeouts and allowed only two runs while pitching six innings. Like Rodriguez, Jones yielded a pair of solo home runs -- one to Ryan O’Hearn in the second and another to Henderson to lead off the third.

Although the O’s swung and missed at 21 of Jones’ 80 pitches -- 41 of which were four-seam fastballs that averaged 96.9 mph -- they held a 2-1 lead when the 22-year-old’s second MLB start was complete.

“A young pitcher that is going to be in this league for a long time, and it was a lot of fun to see him pitch,” Rodriguez said.

Others have said the same about Rodriguez over the past year, especially since he returned to the Majors last July following a disappointing debut stint across last April and May (7.35 ERA in 10 starts). In the second half of ‘23, he showed his ace potential by recording a 2.58 ERA over 13 starts.

At the start of ‘24, Rodriguez has picked up right where he left off.

“To me, now it’s just another baseball game,” Rodriguez said. “Being in the big leagues for a little bit, I mean, this is normal. Now that I’m just relaxed and go out there and get the ball, I hopefully put my team in the best chance to win.”

Rodriguez did so again on Friday through the unfavorable weather, and the way he handled it impressed his skipper.

“So well,” Hyde said. “That was really, really tough conditions to play in. We had every sort of weather, I think possible.”